returnoftheyeti

And I thought really hard about it, and I think shes correct, my ears almost never pop anymore.

Did something about pressurization change? Did we just get old? Are we wrong and do your ears still pop all the time?

kale73

Mine do. I'm 63 and I still carry gum whenever I fly.

Mine also pop when I drive from home (6,400 ft) to Phoenix (~1,100 ft).

Boggie Dog

Although I'm not current on the more modern airplanes my training was that pressurization systems in aircraft are designed to keep cabin altitude below 10,000 feet, more typically around 8,000 feet or so. Pushing cabin altitude lower increases the pressure differential between actual altitude and cabin altitude to the point of stressing the structure of the aircraft. Basically air is pumped into the aircraft and rate of air expelled is controlled to increase pressure inside the airplanes cabin. Think repeatedly inflating a ballon and releasing the air. Enough cycles and the ballon will fail. You might also ask a pilot what cabin altitude is typical if they are standing outside of the flight station when boarding.

I know of no reason that your ears wouldn't pop and would considering consulting with your doctor when convenient.

CPRich

Bodies change. Or are you flying 787 and 350XWBs? They are the only planes I know of that are pressurized below the standard 8,000 feet, coming in at 6,000 ft.

Composite fuselages reduce the fatigue and corrosion issues.

(That are in commercial service. The Concorde also was - combined with flying at up to 60,000 ft., this large pressure differential was one reason it was very heavy.)

chrisl137

You may have learned to equalize better than you used to, or even just more automatically. I've noticed that as well - I notice the pressure difference developing and then equalize right away so they never really develop much pressure difference and pop. Occasionally if I fly with a stuffy nose or ears (which hasn't happened in a long time), I can't equalize as well and do feel the pressure build up.

LapLap

Perhaps the loss of elasticity in the ears that comes with age affects the tendency of the inner ear to maintain an air bubble inside it.
If that’s the case it might be like a very, very subtle version of an ageing sphincter losing it’s younger precocious capacity to hold in farts.

My ears also hurt a lot less at altitude than before. I do like this idea that there might be this upside at least to getting older. Not sure if it offsets the loss of treble in our hearing.

LarryJ

The more you fly, the better you do at equalizing the pressure in your ears, even without knowing that you're doing it. Fly enough, and you rarely notice the normal pressure changes.

As a pilot, when I do feel the pressure change, I look immediately at the pressurization panel to make sure it's working correctly. It's usually just a transient spike of higher-than-normal cabin climb/descent.

chrisl137

I follow various youtube channels that cover old air travel incident reports and just recently watched one about a commercial flight where the pilots didn't realize that the cabin pressurization switch had been set to manual, despite a number of alarms and other indications.

LarryJ

Those incidents always confuse me. If we aren't pressurizing on initial climb, I'll feel it right away. I don't understand how that happens without them noticing it.

Maybe my 15 years flying old Douglas DC8 and DC9 aircraft, with the old analog pressurization controllers, made me more aware of it?

chrisl137

The whole incident was very confusing. The start of it was a “not in takeoff configuration” (which could only occur on the ground) alarm using the same sound as the cabin pressure warning, and somehow they got single-minded focus on the configuration warning, despite the whole event occurring in the air. IIRC, it was in the early 80s and the warnings were changed afterwards.

luxefarer

Funny, haven't thought about this until reading this thread... Guess the more you travel, the more you get used to the difference in pressure.

nd2010

I fly every week and don’t have my ears pop anymore

luxefarer

Does anyone ever get that isolated incident of excruciating stabbing pressure in their ears randomly? Never understood this; it happens to me seldomly, but when it does..... dear god.

SPN Lifer

I agree that ease of adjustment comes with experience. Fortunately, no, I've never had that sort of pain.