Is it Safe to Fly With a Perforated Eardrum?
One of the most common questions our ENT doctors get from our ear patients is how their diagnosis will affect their travel plans. You may be asking “can I fly with a ruptured eardrum?”
The most important way to answer this question is to make sure that you know for certain what’s wrong with your ear. If you are wondering how to tell if you have a ruptured eardrum, symptoms are not limited to just ear pain. If you have a ruptured eardrum, you may experience the following symptoms:
- Bloody or clear drainage
- Pus
- Severe earache or pain
- Unexplained noise or ringing in the ears
- Hearing loss in the affected ear
- Dizziness
- Facial weakness
A perforated eardrum is when a hole or tear develops in the thin piece of tissue that divides your middle ear, and this condition can occur due to an ear infection or when too much pressure is put against the eardrum, causing it to rupture. This pressure can be due to sinus congestion or blunt force trauma.
The ear is very fragile, and your doctor will tell you to avoid certain activities. However, whether or not you can fly depends on where in the treatment process you are for your ruptured eardrum. Flying with a perforated eardrum is debated due to this.
When you fly, the air pressure around you changes quickly, which is why you may feel pressure changes in your ears during takeoff and landing. If you have a perforated eardrum, you’ll find that air pressure actually balances out better due to the air’s easier passage from inside your body to the outside. If you are flying with a ruptured eardrum, you will actually experience less discomfort than usual.
However, if you recently had surgery on your ear, then you shouldn’t fly. Flying after a recent surgery comes with a number of risks, including pain and blood clotting. If you need to travel when you have a ruptured eardrum, we recommend that you speak to our ENT for ear problems in Los Angeles beforehand.