Earplugs And Airplanes

Here's why earplugs are so great. When you go in an airplane, there's this constant horrifying noise, and painful pressure changes. These make everyone miserable.

There's a type of earplug that's sort of a porous 'memory foam' material. Aside from blocking the noise, these can really help with the pressure changes. What you do is, you roll one tightly between your thumb and finger, into a slender stalk. It'll keep this shape for a few moments, so with one hand you can tug your ear gently back, opening the canal, and with the other you can send the earplug into that canal - but not far enough to hurt. Do this before the airplane doors close, so you're not fighting cabin pressure to open your ear canal. Then do the same with the other ear.

What this does is, aside from blocking sound, it keeps the canal open, and keeps air passing through the porous material of the earplug. So as the cabin pressure changes, the sinus pressure in your head adjusts with it. You don't have the uncomfortable feeling of your ears simply closing up or releasing in extreme ways, because the earplug keeps that passageway open for the air to pass through as needed.

Here's a simple experiment you can do from home. When your friend is about to go on a trip, give them some of these ear plugs and ask them to use them on the flight. When they get home, you can test the results of your experiment by asking your friend if they had any pressure problems on the flight.

A slightly more expensive experiment is also possible. Buy a plane ticket and some earplugs. Use the earplugs on the flight and see if they behave as I've said. This version of the experiment is much more reliable than the other version, because it doesn't rely on second hand information.