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airplanes and gum.

okay why does chewing gum on an airplane help your ears not pop?

it don’t help mine, mine still do every know and than and than they get really sore and I can barely hear anything. but why is it supposed to help?

thanks.

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Answer #1

By constantly chewing and swallowing, your body has a chance to equalize the pressure in your inner ear. (Airplane cabin pressure falls fairly quickly, and the pressure difference can only equalize through a small tube that connects your inner ear with your throat.) If you can’t encourage a slow equalization by chewing and swallowing, the pressure builds up until it’s great enough to “POP”, often times with some discomfort. This is most likely to happen if you have a cold. An experienced flyer can show you other ways to “clear” your ears so as to avoid the “POP”.

And the reason you can’t hear very well is that your eardrum is stretched when you can’t clear your ears, and can’t respond to sound waves very well. That is temporary.

Enjoy your trip, take care and Good Luck!!

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