My ears hurt on the plane!

ok, everytime the plane takes off or lands my ears hurt really bad! do and then the seem to get sore afterwards. Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do? please give me good advice...really need it!

Ya you need to equalise the pressure in your ears, its the same as when you are driving and you go down a steep hill or open a window. I generally either swallow (gulp) or hold my nose and try to blow through it. It may be some more advise can be found on diving sites as thats where I learnt about it.

I remember one time when I was on a plane a flight attendant gave me a good thing to do and its the only thing that has ever worked for me. She gave me two paper cups and at the bottom of each cup was a wet paper towel (wet them with hot water). You hold the cups over your ears (yes it looks a little silly lol) and wala! After a couple minutes of holding the cups over your ears it should feel better. The moisture from the heat really helps your ears pop faster and easier. You can ask a flight attendant for all of those things, or she may even know about it and make them for you.

The paper cup trick is nice for treating the presure. But my ENT suggested that I treat the real issue, my congestion in my eustachian tube. Use Afrin nasal spray 20 minutes before take off (and/or landing). In addition he recommended using sudafed. This combo has worked wonders for me. In addition you could try perscription nasal sprays with steroids like flonase on a regular basis if your issues are persistant.