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What Causes Forehead And Eye Socket Pain During A Flight Decent?
Hello Dr I have been frequently travelling by air and for the first time I experienced severe pain in the forehead, eye sockets during the flight decending. I am scared to travel by flight again. Please suggest me how to avoid the pain during the flight decending.
Tue, 12 Apr 2016
Hi,
What you are experiencing is very usual feeling felt by many people travelling by air. Let me explain you what is happening. Our skull has several spaces called sinuses that are filled with air and that make the skull lighter. They are located in the cheek area, forehead, behind eyes etc. When we are on the ground, the pressure of air inside these sinuses and the atmospheric pressure are balanced.
Now when the flight is descending, there are major discrepancies in the pressure inside and outside the body. Due to this reason, the sinuses contract and you feel pressure in the sinuses that is in the head, around eyes etc. It subsides when you reach ground and the pressures balance again.
To avoid this pain, you can take painkillers available over the counter like Ibuprofen (Brufen) 400 mg or Paracetamol (Crocin) 500 mg. Make sure you take them about half an hour to hour before landing so that by the time the flight lands, you have the effects of the medicines. You can also take decongestants like Allegra-D, Claritin-D, Zyrtec-D or use decongestant sprays to relieve sinus pressures. Sometimes sucking a candy while on flight can also help.
You may feel more pain if you are already suffering from sinusitis while travelling by air. I hope this information helps. Thank you for choosing HealthCareMagic. I wish you have comfortable and safe air travels. Take care.
Best regards,
Dr. Viraj Shah
What you are experiencing is very usual feeling felt by many people travelling by air. Let me explain you what is happening. Our skull has several spaces called sinuses that are filled with air and that make the skull lighter. They are located in the cheek area, forehead, behind eyes etc. When we are on the ground, the pressure of air inside these sinuses and the atmospheric pressure are balanced.
Now when the flight is descending, there are major discrepancies in the pressure inside and outside the body. Due to this reason, the sinuses contract and you feel pressure in the sinuses that is in the head, around eyes etc. It subsides when you reach ground and the pressures balance again.
To avoid this pain, you can take painkillers available over the counter like Ibuprofen (Brufen) 400 mg or Paracetamol (Crocin) 500 mg. Make sure you take them about half an hour to hour before landing so that by the time the flight lands, you have the effects of the medicines. You can also take decongestants like Allegra-D, Claritin-D, Zyrtec-D or use decongestant sprays to relieve sinus pressures. Sometimes sucking a candy while on flight can also help.
You may feel more pain if you are already suffering from sinusitis while travelling by air. I hope this information helps. Thank you for choosing HealthCareMagic. I wish you have comfortable and safe air travels. Take care.
Best regards,
Dr. Viraj Shah
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