Glad to hear I'm not alone with this problem, sorry for your pain. I too have considered driving for fear of the pain. My symptoms are slightly different..my pain gradually gets worse as we ascend and peaks when the plane peaks. My upper left teeth get numb, like I had a shot of Novacaine at the dentist, and the sinus' above my left cheek and eye are in agonizing pain. I've tried everything, and thougt I hit on the magic formula with Prednisone. My Dr convinced me the Sudafed I always relied on was so drying the sinus' could not drain and equalize. I was taking the Prednisone for two days prior to flying and the day of. Also, the day of, I'd use Afrin and take some Tylenol. I flew to Spain from NY this way pain free! Then, on a recent trip to Florida, all the pain and numbness came back. I'm SO discouraged. My pain, by the way, tends to dissipate very soon after the plane begins its descent. I sometimes can clear it during the flight by bending over - the maxillary sinus in your cheek actually drain up, so bending over gives them a gravity assist. Hope these ideas help someone.

Based on my limited exerience, it can take a week to reach maximum benefit. Nothing noticable happened for the first few days. Maybe recheck with your doctor on the timing.

Well, in current week I had two descent time sever pain in my frontal sinus. in two consequent flights.
So at least now I know what you feel !!
Yeah a sharp pain in frontal bone..behind my eyebrows..I was waiting for something to burst...barely stop screaming.
and you know what? I'm a GP doctor !
in 2nd flight I tried pseudoephedrine tab. and claritin...to no avail !!
but I guess the pseudo ephedrine was too early and a bit low dose...

recommended Dose..(yes you have every right not to listen to my advise!.. who couldn't stop his own pain!!!)

pseudoephedrine: 40-80 mg my recommendation is to take the pill 2 hours before start of descent ( that's the time of max effect)
don't take it if you have already hypertension .

benadryl: one pill is enough 2-3 hrs before descent.
not suitable for children under 1 yr.
also in syrup one big teaspoon. 2 hrs befroe d.

nasal wash sprays: one before flight and 2 or 3 times during flight.
if they let liquids into cabin !

nasal drop: phenyl ephrine: 2 drops each nostrill 15 min before descent.
if you have high blood pressure or glaucoma let's forget this drop.

If you are prone to likely pain during descent it is advisable (if you can accept my advise though!!) to take an advil tab 2 hrs before the descent to control probable pain. but don't take if you have allergy to this pill or stomach diseases.

Valsalva can be a help too. especially in ear problem.

if you have a sensitive frontal sinus you may feel the pain behind eyebrows and upper regions..
if the inflicted sinus is sphenoid and ehtmoid those eyepopping pain will show up..
maxillary sinus pain is settled in chick area..
nonetheless the treatment is the same....!

:D

It was allergies for me. I found planes made it worse and landing was the worst. A little benadryl works for me.

Pain doesn't describe it.
 

Lord.

Flying from Cleveland to Savannah, and during the descent, it felt as if the area from my left eyebrow down to my left cheekbone (which, of course, includes the left eye) was going to explode. It was awful, and am I ever glad I found this thread. My left nostril was a little blocked, but it wasn't anything unusual. Earlier in the day, we flew from Allentown, PA to Cleveland, so it was my 2nd flight of the day.

I didn't drink as much water as I usually do, and I ate more cheese than I usually do (damn you, Presidents Club!!!). I'm somewhat lactose intolerant, so maybe the combo of the two did me in? Who the hell knows. All I can say is that I'll do everything in my power to make sure I never, ever go through this again.

- Sung

I've had this pain, but only when I knew I was congested before the flight, never without a reason. I just take a claratin or other decongestant, and the problem goes away.

The former Air Force flight surgeon who is my MD suggested this, and it's worked for me -- especially if you're forced to fly with a head cold and your sinuses are already congested when you board:

1. Get some pump-mist nasal spray and some Neosporin.

2. Pump the mist before take-off, again during flight, and again just before descent.

3. Rub some of the Neosporin on your finger, rub it around the front of each nostril, and inhale.

The spray clears the sinuses; the Neosporin is an anti-biotic that helps prevent bacterial infection. It's the bacteria that bring on sinusitis and/or bronchitis.....

Did a google search and found this thread! Add me to the list of victims. I always thought that this hideous pain came from small pockets of air trapped in my sinuses that were being moved around by pressure changes as the aircraft descended. Massaging the spot that hurts, and my temples, with my fingers, seemed to make it go away temporarily.

I just came off a 4 1/2 hour flight yesterday from Gran Canaria, descending with the worst pain I have ever experienced. I have had this problem before but can't remember it ever being so severe. I was silently crying, convinced my eye was going to explode out it's socket. Then I was jumping around in my seat, thumping myself in the eye to try and release the pressure. I felt like I was the only one on the plane going through anything. I couldn't see to my daughter who had her own ear pain, as any movement I made just made the pain more intense, as though a knife was going through my eyeball and up into my head. It has been good to read some of the suggestions on this forum, which I will try next time I fly. If nothing works I will seriously consider holidaying at home rather than go through that again. Also the sore eye and head stays with me for a couple of days after I get home. Does anyone know if anything can burst? Also, I always seem to get it worse on the way home and was wondering if the fact I have normally been in the water on the last day of my hols had anything to do with this.

Anyone else have problems with their ears?
 

I have problems with my ears when I fly. On my last trip (mdw-pdx), my ears were not equalizing during the descent, and it resulted in unbearable pressure in my ears for the duration of my trip.. It only had just gotten better the day I set off to leave. The flight home aggravated it again a bit, but it wasn't as bad..

I know the common tricks such as pinching your nose and blowing, but that was not helping at all.. On the flight home I tried "earplanes" and that may have helped, as I said the flight home wasn't as bad. But can anyone recommend and really good sinus decongestants, or perhaps you too have this chronic problem and you've discovered a remedy of your own?

It may be something simple, but if you have tried the usual things, and it's not working, personally I'd head to a good ENT specialist, just to be sure! If nothing else, they may need a good cleaning.....

^^^ to wb8iny suggestion of seeing a doctor, and an ENT if possible.

Other advice (restating from above):
1) Keep hydrated! Especially true if you're taking a decongestant, but even if not, keeping the sinuses from getting dry helps a lot! (and it's very healthy for other reasons.)

2) Take a pseudoephedrine-based (NOT phenylephrine-based) decongestant; 2 30mg tablets (the usual "immediate release" dose) last about 4 hours, and take about an hour to start to help. 12 hour (120mg, typically) or 24 hour (240mg, typically) sustained release ones are good too, but at least the OTC ones don't usually really last the full advertised time for me. If you're outside the US and can still get it, consider PPA (phenylpropanolamine) - that was very good stuff before they banned it.

3) If you're at all congested, take the decongestant an hours or two before your flight, don't wait for before descent. Unless it's a very short flight or you're using sustained-release, that probably means a second dose at the 4-6 hour mark.

4) If that doesn't help, try a nasal spray decongestant. These are immediate-acting, and should NOT be used regularly as they can cause BAD rebound congestion, f___ up your sense of smell and are very irritating. The two options are phenylephrine (same chemical as the tablets, but it works better as a nasal spray; of the two options it's shorter acting, a bit milder), and oxymetazoline (aka "Afrin" - longer acting, stronger, but also more prone to causing all the usual problems with these.) Phenylephrine comes in 1/2% and 1% concentrations, and sometimes a 1/4% version which is mildest - I'd recommend trying this first if you can find it.

5) One other oral medication worth trying as an adjunct to a decongestant is guaifenesin (a decongestant) - it thins out mucus both in your chest and nose/sinus, and helps you get it out. Pretty mild drug, but unlikely to help a whole lot either - still, it can't hurt. Usually sold as "cough syrup," but they do make cheap generic tablets, or expensive (but handy) sustained release ones sold as the brand name Mucinex. They also make an expensive "behind the counter" formulation Mucinex-D which combines it with pseudoephedrine. Lastly, if you can get a prescription, there are some prescription formulations of pseudoephedrine+guaifenesin. (In some places outside the US, there are some mucolytics like Acetylcysteine available, and these might help as an alternative)

6) One other route to try would be an antihistamine (allergy medecine), if your issues are allergy based it might help. There are quite a few sedating ones available OTC, but the two big OTC ones these days are loratidine (claritin) and cetirizine (zyrtec) which are non-sedating. There are some other non-sedating ones by prescription only.

7) If you have nasal/sinus issues because of allergies, one other thing which might help is a cromolyn nasal spray (name brand is Nasalcrom); doesn't help me but YMMV.

8) One other thing that's very effective for allergies or other persistent congestion are steroid nasal sprays; in the US these are prescription only, but I believe they may be OTC in some other countries (ignoring places like Thailand where just about everything is OTC.)

Wow, thanks for the tips,.. I'm going to try and do all of that before my next flight.. Lots of good info there..

I REALLY do need to see an ENT.. It's funny you guys say that. I've been having ongoing ear problems for the past 2 years.. I might have to just go ahead and make an appointment..

Welcome!

I'd had ear and sinus problems for most of my life, so I've gotten used to these aches and pains.

Have you talked to your GP about it yet? If so, definitely go to the ENT (or get the referral if your health plan requires you go through your GP for one)... if not, ENT is better but even with plans that allow you to self-refer, it's often easier just to hit your GP first.

I do get severe pain on descent though not above my eye.

It feels rather like someone is jabbing red hot needles into my ears. It is pure agony!

Doesn't end there. Once landed I lose some of my hearing (my hearing is muffled) for several hours until the tubes in my ears "pop". Again this popping is agonizing - feels like someone is slowly pulling the tubes open.

This wasn't always the case with me as I was fine during my teen years. On recommendation of a doctor I tried a nasal decongestant an hour or so before flying. This has more or less resolved the problem, so long as I take the decongestant before each flight.

On another note, don't get me started on air sickness! Again I was fine during my teens, but from then on I couldn't do a longhaul flight without taking airsickness tablets beforehand :( Just the smell of the meal being prepared in the galley was enough to send me rushing to the lavatory.

So my travel bag always contains a nasal decongestant spray, along with a box of airsickness tablets.