Flying & Child w/ear infection

[MarineGrunt]

My brother and sister-and-law flew in from ATL with their 1yr 1/2 old son and he has a bad ear infection. I was wondering, on their way back, if they let the flight crew know about the situation if there is anything they can do about it (i.e. - slower climb/descent rates). He seems to be pretty uncomfortable, and I told them to talk to their doctor before the flight home and to let the flight crewmembers know about it.

Any advice you can give would be great.

Merry Christmas!

 

[skyking1976]

It will be a miserable experience for all parties to say the least. Fill the kid up with ibuprofen before the trip, make sure the antibiotics are packed and maybe slip the kid a Nytol. A slow pressure increase in the cabin may help, but that may only help minimally if his ears aren't able to get uncleared.

Hope the little guy feels better. It sucks to be sick on Christmas.

Merry, merry...

SK

 

[IFlyOU]

yeah, usually a 500fpm cabin climb/descent is good enough to keep your ears from popping and such, but since he's just a lil guy, i would diffidently ask!

i got slam dunked into dayton once while on an IFR flight. I didn't know i had an ear infection until i got on the ground... i felt fine before the flight. made a trip to the emergency room and found out that i now have permanent damage in my right ear... so be careful!

 

[Snoopy58]

There's not much the crew can do.

If the aircraft has a digital pressurization controller (most do), there is NOTHING they can do. Nada.

If the aircraft has an older analog controller, they might be able to use a standby mode, which MIGHT reduce the cabin rates a LITTLE. Except that nobody practices using standby mode, an airline may have a policy in place that forbids it, AND if they make a mistake with it they WILL cause themselves & all the pax BIG problems. I'd be VERY hesitant to agree to using the standby mode. Particularly if the individual on the flight wasn't flying due to a greater medical need.

You can always ASK the flightcrew, but the chance that it'll do any good is pretty slim.

BEST thing for the kid is to NOT FLY until his ear is better. Period. Rent or borrow a car, go Amtrack, take a bus, extend the vacation, do whatever, but DO NOT make the kid fly with an ear infection. The damage that can be done is pretty severe and runs way, way beyond discomfort during the flight. Many month to heal, perhaps worse.

If it was my kid, I would not permit him to fly, and I wouldn't budge. I'd drive across the country if that's what it took (including calling in sick to do so), but flying with an ear infection is inviting, no, BEGGING, for disaster.

Don't just talk to the family doc, talk to an AME about the wisdom of letting the kid fly. I wouldn't do it, no way.

Snoopy

 

[IFlyOU]

me neither... i still remember the pain. nothing a couple of vicodin and a shot into the ear canal couldn't handle.

 

[Singlecoil]

If they are flying on an MD-80, there is a knob that the crew can adjust to change the standard rates of climb/descent. They just have to make sure they don't catch the cabin if they set it too low. I don't know about that new-fangled digital stuff, though.

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

Two weeks ago I was nonreving on a flight with a bad cold/fever etc. On descent my right ear wouldn't clear. It hurt pretty bad and I couldn't hear in that ear. Eventually after about an hour the pain subsided to a numb ache. My ear didn't clear for about 48 hours. This also happened to me about 4 years ago when I was flying freight in an unpressurized Navajo. Back then I went to the emergency room and the doctor said I had some damage to the ear drum and to just take time for it to equalize. This latest time two weeks ago I didn't realize my ears were blocked when I boarded the flight. When we began descending I immediately understood what was happening having experienced it 4 years before. I endured the pain but if I had known it was going to happen I would have waited to travel till I was well. I can't imagine what a little baby would be experiencing that didn't know what was going on. The pain is amazing and not fun. I agree with others to not travel. Wait till their ears clear. If it were you feeling that sort of pain there's no way you'd travel. Changing the pressurization rate does nothing to the alleviate pain. If the eustachion tube isn't equalizing the pressure then it doesn't matter what rate the cabin changes at. By the way, climb out is less of a problem because the ear equalizes better on climb out. It's descent that causes the problems since the eustachion tube is kind of like a one-way valve when it's clogged. It's let the excess air out of the inner ear but won't let it back in on descent. Thus the ear drum gets pushed in more and more on descent. It hurts. Don't put your brother's baby through that kind of misery if it's possible. Pain killers just mask a real problem and damage can be done to their ear. Plus the ears won't equalize till their congestion lessens, which in my case was 48 hours later. Not fun.

 

[wingnutt]

...gotta go with the majority here. if this kid is uncomfortable on the ground, the parents are risking some major ear damage during the descent. get the kid to a doctor and cancel the flight for him.

 

[hydroflyer]

I have also had a good amount of ear problems in my life and just reading the posts and thinking about the pain just about makes my eyes water. If there is any way possible, DO NOT LET HIM FLY!! When I instructed I tried to do an instructional flight with a couple of students, but limited the flight to the traffic pattern-1000’ AGL. Even that little altitude/elevation change caused a good amount of pain.

Notice the reference to elevation. Depending on where he is now, driving or taking a train could be uncomfortable as well, especially if the ear won’t equalize. If the trip back to ATL requires crossing mountains, especially the continental divide (about 7000’), you would likely want to delay. A previous post said how it took 48 hours for his ears to equalize. At that time, it doesn’t matter if you are driving or on a train, it is still going to hurt.

There are ear drops that can numb the ear, but that is only so you don’t feel the damage being caused. A suggestion by my last doctor was to have tubes inserted. He said many pilots have them (he was a pilot as well) and they provide a constant pressure relief. For adults, it could be done in an office visit, however the ones I had about 20 years ago required a hospital visit. There have certainly been medical advances over the last 20 years and it may not be as big of a deal even for a child now. It is a thought, especially if the child is showing a history of ear trouble.

 

[Dieterly]

If the aircraft has a digital pressurization controller (most do), there is NOTHING they can do. Nada.

You gotta love the internet...

 

[350DRIVER]

Let a doctor make the call, not a bunch of pilots on a message board. I have personally been asked the question by a few pax that I have flown regarding kids who were sick and that had similar problems and my answer was very simple and very elementary, "take the child to a doctor and let him make the call on whether or not the child is OK to fly." In many cases the doctor can prescribe the appropriate medication (s), antibiotics, etc, etc, and the children will still be able to make the flight with minimal pain and discomfort. If you raise the question to a flight crew, alarm them, etc, etc, then they may want to remove the child from the flight so don't think this would make much sense to even inquire with any crew members. Any pilot that I know would not knowingly "accept" a sick child or person who they may deem a "medical risk" since most would realize that it could make things worse if they would take them.... This surely is a medical issue and in no way, shape, or form, a "pilot issue". Make smaller corrections, change pressurization rates, blah, blah, blah, give me a break.

Tell them to seek out medical advice, and from that information a logical plan can be established. In many cases a doctor will be able to help reduce the pain for the flight home with minimal discomfort.


3 5 0

 

[TonyC]

... 1yr 1/2 old son and he has a bad ear infection.

For a healthy kid, I'd recommend giving him his pacifier / bottle / chewing gum (depending on age and preference) to keep the kid sucking, or at least his jaw moving, during a descent. For a kid with an ear infection... well - - think about it. Would YOU fly with an ear infection???? And YOU supposedly already KNOW how to valsalva, right?

Ear infection = GROUNDED PERIOD

 

[A1FlyBoy]

Don't bother the flight crew with such nonsense..

Your brother should be renting a car.