Barotrauma

Summary

Barotrauma means injury to your body because of changes in barometric (air) or water pressure. One common type happens to your ear. A change in altitude may cause your ears to hurt. This can happen if you are flying in an airplane, driving in the mountains, or scuba diving. Divers can also get decompression sickness, which affects the whole body.

Common symptoms of ear barotrauma include:

Pain
A feeling that your ears are stuffed
Hearing loss
Dizziness

Treatments for ear barotrauma include chewing gum and yawning to relieve the pressure. Medications such as decongestants may also help.

Learn More

Airplane Ear (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Barotrauma (Merck & Co., Inc.)
Decompression sickness (Harvard Medical School)
Ear - blocked at high altitudes (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Ear barotrauma (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Ears and Altitude (Barotrauma) (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
Flying and Your Child's Ears (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Recognizing and Preventing Barotrauma (Divers Alert Network)

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Barotrauma (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

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