The term is little known to most. However, many of us have suffered from it at some point, to a greater or lesser extent. And it is that a barotrauma is the medical way of defining plugging, beeps either earache that appear when there is sudden pressure changes. For example, when doing scuba diving or fly in plane. There are mild cases but also serious ones. We give you a series of tips to avoid barotrauma.
In barotrauma, symptoms occur that range from the initial sensation of blockage, through a slight deafness (hypoacusis) and the feeling of annoying noises in the ear (tinnitus) until the earache and, in the most serious cases, the ruptured eardrum, bleeding and even some peripheral vertigo.
In the case of the planemost of the problems occur upon landing and the most common symptom is the simple blockage produced by the difference in pressure between the outside and inside of the ear, which strains the eardrum without injuring it. Things can get complicated in people who have a cold., since in this case pressure compensation becomes more difficult due to this pathology associated with secretions. Therefore, The first piece of advice is to avoid the plane, if possible, when you have a cold.. Then, both in takeoff as in the landingit is convenient ventilate the ear with yawning, jaw movements, or chewing. And in the babies and children small, the pacifier sucking either feeding bottle they may be enough.
In those cases in which chewing or moving the jaw is not enough, what is known as Vasalva maneuverconsisting of cover your nose and mouth and blowthus increasing the pressure in the pharynx.
It is also not advisable to fall asleep either during takeoff or landing, since during sleep the swallowing mechanism slows down.
EXTERNAL BAROTITS
In the case of people who practice scuba divingthe condition may be a external barotitiswhich occurs when divers descend with ear canal filled with wax or plugs, which causes compression. The result is that the affected person will feel pain during immersion and will notice a bloody discharge when the pressure in the middle ear is higher than that in the canal. In these cases, if the eardrum is examined, petechiae, hemorrhagic blisters and perforation can be observed.
