wigstheone
Apr 6, 02, 6:50 am
WILL PATERSON knew he was coming down with a cold when he boarded a plane from Denver to Boston in February. "No big deal," recalled Mr. Paterson, a 19-year-old University of Colorado freshman. "It wasn't like I was dying," he said. By the time the plane landed four hours later, he had an entirely different perspective. "It feels like my head is going to explode," he remembers telling his mother from a phone at baggage claim.
Mr. Paterson was certainly not dying, but because his sinuses were clogged and unable to decompress as the plane descended, the pressure in his skull made him feel as if he were. By the time he returned to Denver three days later, the fluid in his sinuses had become infected, leaving him in considerable pain. His doctor prescribed antibiotics, then prednisone, an oral steroid, to reduce swelling. "Getting on a plane definitely made a bad cold worse," said his doctor, Lonny Granston, of University Family Medicine in Boulder, Colo.
While certain conditions preclude flying, dozens of others — like Mr. Paterson's cold — are harder to gauge. Those who suspect that air travel may be imprudent should consult their doctor before flying. Some illnesses become more painful in the air, others can worsen and lead to serious physical damage, and still others are completely unaffected.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/07/travel/07PRAC.html
Mr. Paterson was certainly not dying, but because his sinuses were clogged and unable to decompress as the plane descended, the pressure in his skull made him feel as if he were. By the time he returned to Denver three days later, the fluid in his sinuses had become infected, leaving him in considerable pain. His doctor prescribed antibiotics, then prednisone, an oral steroid, to reduce swelling. "Getting on a plane definitely made a bad cold worse," said his doctor, Lonny Granston, of University Family Medicine in Boulder, Colo.
While certain conditions preclude flying, dozens of others — like Mr. Paterson's cold — are harder to gauge. Those who suspect that air travel may be imprudent should consult their doctor before flying. Some illnesses become more painful in the air, others can worsen and lead to serious physical damage, and still others are completely unaffected.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/07/travel/07PRAC.html