Oh, good posts on this topic. A thought; I think that about half of the posts are referring to general sinus/nasal pressure imbalances, etc. That is NOT what I am referring to.

I.e., I have skied dozens of times, and have experienced rapid decompression in aircraft several times. Meaning that I do understand the general pressure issues and the standard chew gum, pinch your nose and blow, etc., type of suggestions. These all work for pressurization issues.

The other half of the posters to this issue know what I am referring to. The knitting needle through the eye pain is way beyond any decompression that I ever experienced. In referencing the broken leg above, let me say that the pain in the eyeball was the rough equivalent to when the rescue workers were prying the car door off of my leg and grinding the open bones into the opposing door. While I only passed out one time during the process...I wish that it had been for the whole time.

That eyeball feeling is roughly the same. Ain't fun and it is my belief that this is not the same as the general decompression type gig. Just my two cents.