Originally Posted by mahasamatman
Yes. In the event of a real blockage, you could puncture your eardrum.
The ear has three ways of equalizing pressure on the two sides of the eardrum:
- equalize with air pressure. This is the normal way.
- If that fails, equalize with fluid. This usually means blood, but that's not always possible.
- If that fails, remove the barrier. i.e., puncture the eardrum.
I once had an equalization problem that resorted to #2, though it could just as easily have progressed to #3. In my opinion, it's not worth the risk.
No. 3 has happened to me, i.e, at different times both eardrums have popped due to pressure inside and changing altitude. Bad news was that it hurt so bad that the good news was the eardrum popped. Actually they more kind of tore/split. Gook poured out and then they healed up.
Go ahead and fly.