painful pressure today

[Flying Illini]

cforst, I feel your pain...literally.

I was working on my commercial and we were returning to the airport. I'd had a great flight (pre-checkride checkride) and we were relaxed and chatting. I will preface this with the fact that I do have allergies and my nose is completely clear only about 4 months out of the year (I just walk around with a kleenex in my pocket, it sucks). I find that sudafed works wonders for me as well. Anyway...we were in the descent and were doing it fairly rapidly (can't remember why) but the pain started out slowly but then became severe very very quickly. It was like someone was stabbing me with an ice pick just above my left eye. It felt like my eye was going to pop out of it's socket! My left cheek felt like it was going to explode and my teeth...well that pain is seared in my mind forever. As the pain progessed from bad to severe I began to level off. I admit I was starting to get a little scared, this had never happened before and the pain was worse than anything I could ever imagine. My left eye had begun watering and my vision was blurry to boot. My instructor asked me what I was doing and all I got out was "sinuses." At that point I pulled back on the yoke to initiate a climb my thought being that I needed to get back up to equalize the pressure. The pain then became debilitating, seriously. I said "your airplane, climb." I was also grunting a bit. He took control and we climbed as rapidly as an arrow will climb, about 2000'. After a thousand, the pain eased and after 2000 I regained my vision and composure. It was incredibly scary to me, I had never been debilitated by pain...ever and never have I felt out of control in an airplane. My instructor was an older guy who was a career instructor. (he actually went to HS with my dad, it was fun to find that out) he said he had seen a lot but that I scared him. He figured out what was wrong when I said "sinuses" but he had no idea how bad it was and was shocked when I said "your plane" and released the controls.
After this, we initiated a slow descent. I had slight pain and was very scared that the pain would return. I asked him to fly us the rest of the way home. He landed and it took the better part of that day for my sinuses to come down. This was pretty scary to me since I thought my flying dream was over.
I have since flown with more stuffiness than I had that day and have never had a problem like that. A few times, at the first hint of pain coming down from the flight levels, as we turn the cabin down towards field elevation, I will adjust the cabin rate of descent to 200-300 fpm, just so it doesn't happen.

I feel for ya, get some afrin and sudafed is freakin' amazing but only lasts me about 3-4 hrs. Welcome to the club!

 

[cforst513]

see, that is interesting, b/c i don't have sinus issues nor do i have allergies. they have non-drowsy sudafed, right? i tend to avoid cold medicines b/c of the jittery feeling that i get. what about afrin? does it make you drowsy or jittery or anything?

 

[FN FAL]

i tried the valvoline method but it didn't do anything to help ease the pain. the weirdest thing was that it felt like my jaw bone and teeth were hollow and filled with pins. i've been as high as 9,000 but had no issues coming down.

Try making the trip to 12,500 agl 10 or 15 times in a day. If you're having difficulties, it's not fun.

 

[Flying Illini]

I have no problems with sudafed. No jitters and yes, it's non-drowsy. Just be careful, when you buy it they think you're a meth dealer. Play along, it's fun. I like to dress up in really nasty clothes and not wash my hair for a week so I look the part. I then look around nervously while buying it. After I get it I run out of the store. You should try to disguise your purchase with some alcohol, condoms, and cigarettes. It may throw them off of your trail!
I was very concerned about having problems with my sinuses when I went to Ok City for the altitude chamber. I took sudafed about an hour before we entered the chamber and once inside, I gave myself a squirt of afrin. (they allow and promote you to take the afrin with you, no pressurization probs with the bottle). I was probably being overcautious but you never no. Never had a problem. Ocassionally afrin will make me feel very dried out, on the plus side it seems to work very quickly.

 

[Fury220]

see, that is interesting, b/c i don't have sinus issues nor do i have allergies. they have non-drowsy sudafed, right? i tend to avoid cold medicines b/c of the jittery feeling that i get. what about afrin? does it make you drowsy or jittery or anything?

Afrin is ok, but it's NOT a med to use on a regular basis. Around work, it's commonly called a "get me down" aid, and Afrin use by USAF aircrew is an automatic 3 day DNIF. Continuous Afrin use will make any tubular problem worse over time. Just as with every other OTC med in the plane, be careful.

 

[Nolife]

Blockage

Try Sudafed non-drying sinus... carry lots of tissues as your nose will leak but you won't get a squeeze. Also I tried wasabi, the green sushi horse radish. You can buy a tube of it and squeeze a bit on your tongue when you feel the squeeze coming. It clears you sinus's right up but it will burn your tongue for a few seconds.



If you use the Valsalva maneuver do it early and often in little bursts. That's one of the biggest problem with first time divers as well... they don't equalize the pressure early and often. It only takes a few feet to get a blockage and once it's there it's very hard to clear. Start the maneuver before you actually descend or as soon as you feel the slightest pressure.




If you don't clear the squeeze the symptoms can range from severe pain to blown eardrums.

 

[Flying Illini]

can you really buy wasabi in a tube? I would be interested in that, seriously!

 

[cforst513]

man, i had no idea what wasabi was and slathered it all over a shrimp at a japanese restaurant.... one of the most painful food experiences i've ever had, but like he said, it does the trick!!! i remember my nose clearing up instantly.

 

[Nolife]

Wasabi

I get mine in a regular grocery store... however if you can't find it look for an Asian market and they usually have it there.

 

[Immelman]

I've had this happen cforst in similar circumstances. I nearly lost all vision. I immediately arrested the descent and climbed and the pain subsided as quickly as it came on. I recall a VERY slight congestion for the trip but nothing I had not flown with before without any problems. If I were IFR I would not have hesitated to declare an emergency... really if this ever happens in the future and there is no 2nd pilot on board I think you have no choice but to immediately climb at the onset of such pain... especially IFR.

 

[starchkr]

I have had that problem a few times...a couple of the times i was grounded by my doc for a week. As has been said, it is a sinus problem. They get blocked and will not equalize as you come down from altitude. Apparently, if this happens to you, the ears will begin to produce a fluid which collects in the ear(sometimes noticable, sometimes not) and this fluid becomes infected with bacteria and can cause some serious problems. My first time this happened i did not realize what was happening and flew for days with it clearing up as we climbed and got worse every time we came down. It was as if you were in a tunnel, and i could not hear out of the affected ear. I went to the doc and he said it was Barotitus (also known as sinusitus to the non flying public). I had to get a steroid shot and was put on antibiotics for a week. Cleared right up and i was back in business. Then again about 2 years later it happened again, with the same result from the doc. I have had small bouts of it over the past 3 years, but nothing as bad as the first couple times. I now keep a pretty much complete drug store in my flight bag, i am always prepared for anything. I make sure i use it sparingly, and usually only sudafed or the generic brand my company has on hand, they both work great. As far as the nasal spray goes, i used it a couple of times with varied success, but stopped after my doc told me that it really was not a good idea for continued use because your body then becomes reliant on it and can make things worse. So, i too know your pain, but my suggestion would be next time it happens to go to the doc immediately and discuss these problems with him, before relying on the advice of us here on this board, because he might have a beter idea of the problem and a fix for it.

 

[FN FAL]

If I were IFR I would not have hesitated to declare an emergency...

What would that do?

 

[Tram]

man, i had no idea what wasabi was and slathered it all over a shrimp at a japanese restaurant.... one of the most painful food experiences i've ever had, but like he said, it does the trick!!! i remember my nose clearing up instantly.

I know a guy who snorted several.. "lines" of wasabi.. His nose hated him.. It was horrible..

I guess wasabi is best left on sushi.

 

[cforst513]

are you serious?! i know how much pain i was in just by eating it. wtf is wrong with this guy?!

 

[Immelman]

What would that do?

Oh not much, just emergency authority to deviate from clearance (stop descent & climb), have atc get traffic out of the way.