A few years back I wrote one of my more popular blogs on a condition called aerosinusitis, (click here) or plane brain as it was referred to in this article in the Daily Mail. The fact that my blog article was viewed some two and a half thousand times made me realise I wasn't alone.I'm not talking about a minor headache caused by the everyday stresses of flying due to any combination of last minute packing, traffic delays en route, missed connections, having to fight for overhead bin space, or having your personal space invaded by some alien in the next seat. This is much worse.
I am talking about a severe headache some very unlucky people suffer from during take off and landing. The pain is excruciating. You have to live through it to fully appreciate just how bad it is. Don't just take my word for it:
"The pain is not your average run-of-the-mill discomfort. On a scale of 1-10, this is a solid 9.0 just below burning to death or some grisly painful exit. Imagine the person in the seat next to you taking a 6-inch icepick and driving it into your forehead just above your eye and twisting it around." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/642446-sinus-pain-more-like-icepick-my-head.html
I've now found out that it's not dissimilar to a condition called 'sinus squeeze' which is well know in the scuba diving world. Well known to all apart from me it seems. Because with that pearl of wisdom I can now recall a diving trip in Fujeirah in the United Arab Emirates, where I had (i) a cold and (ii) a severe hangover, and I had a very similar headache
"It's sinuses. Basically, you're the telltale reason why people don't go diving with a cold."Here's the technical reason why it happens:
"The sinuses are hollow spaces in the face and skull. Like the middle ear the sinuses are filled with air. The pressure in these cavities is normally equal to the ambient pressure (pressure of the environment), but if the ambient pressure suddenly changes and the body is unable to equalize the pressure in the sinuses, then barotrauma (insert: 'excruciating pain in the head') will occur."
Thankfully the solution I found online was to use a very simple nasal spray, or decongestant, before and during the flight. I've only had one bad case since then, and needless to say it was because I forgot to pack a nasal spray. So it was my own fault. If you do suffer from this condition, and don't have a nasal spray to hand, then here's a temporary fix that the flight attendant can help with.
"A flight attendant was passing by the aisle, we were just starting our descent, while I was in severe pain, she saw my face, I was literally out of it, I wanted to DIE it hurt so much. Poor hubby didn't know what to do with me, I had my head in both hands and kept saying to hubby "I can't go on". I really thought something was going to explode in my head! The attendant immediately went into the galley and came out with 2 styrofoam cups loaded with steaming HOT wet towels, she then told me to place them over my ears and keep them there until we land. I did this and it worked! To my amazement!"If you happen to try that one, please do send me a photo, it would be hilarious :)
A little bit of further research and I've now found out that you more likely to suffer from this if you're a man.
"In a paper published online in the journal Cephalalgia, Italian neurologists report on 75 people who suffer from what they describe as a "peculiar headache." It's peculiar because it tends to occur while on a plane and usually lasts less than 30 minutes. It also seems to mostly affect men, and it typically flares up during the flight's landing." http://www.cnbc.com/id/47226552
To date there has been no official recognition of the condition, but it looks like that may change. I think I'm worthy of being an innovator in the medical world.
"We support its recognition as a new form of headache, to be included in the forthcoming update of the International Headache Society Classification." http://cep.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/03/29/0333102412441720.abstract
SEE ALSO:
You may also like: http://the9to5explorer.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/aerosinusitis-aka-plane-brain.html
I suffer from this to the point it nearly reduced me to tears once. Nasal spray does the trick normally, if still bad had some success with pinching the nose and blowing hard. Keep repeating this until ears pop.
ReplyDeleteI had that happen for first time in my life on my last 2 flights (layover).
ReplyDeleteThe pain is really up there. Never had worse (and I had a tibia fracture by projectile).
Paramedics had no idea - I didn't know what what happening on the first flight.
I was scared. GF was scared.
Only occurred during the descents. On the dot.
I didn't even know I was sick (now that I'm back, I know I have a cold).
I'll bring this up to my doc when I see her and see what she thinks.
Ive flown probably 20 times in my life and this is the second time this has ever happened and its true that its excruciating. Google's it in hopes that I wasnt just crazy and im glad that im not the only one. Sorry to all of the others who suffer from this bizarre pain but its definitely not a good time. Now to get off my flight and go buy some Tylenol 😢
ReplyDeleteYes...I've been a victim too, and I'd rather get punched in the groin by Mike Tyson then feel the pain I do. There's times you really think you're going to die. I'm going to schedule sinus/septoplasty surgery when I get back to Florida. Go have an MRI of your sinuses done, you'll see the blockage.
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