Boarding a flight with a cold might seem innocuous – but Captain Jaimes García, a pilot with a hefty TikTok following of over 156,000, has warned against it.
In a video that’s garnered close to 800,000 views, the Avianca airline pilot highlighted the potential dangers to passengers’ ears when they overlook sniffles and board a plane.
The viral clip explains that the cabin’s air pressure can wreak havoc on your ears, particularly if you’re battling a cold. The Eustachian tubes, responsible for maintaining pressure equilibrium between the middle ear and the outside world, can become inflamed when you’re congested.
This inflammation can lead to intense ear pain. Captain García cautioned: “If I have a cold, those Eustachian tubes become inflamed; they can’t equalise those pressures, and that’s when you feel ear pain.
“This causes barotrauma, and if it’s very severe and you’re very congested, your eardrum could even rupture. It’s very serious.”
Ear Barotrauma is a condition where the eardrum is stressed due to unequal pressure between the middle ear and the external environment, commonly experienced during air travel or scuba diving.
This condition can pose a range of risks, from minor discomfort to more severe complications if left untreated.
Changes in pressure can cause a feeling of fullness, discomfort, or pain in the affected ears, typically the first and mildest symptom of ear barotrauma.
Additionally, the imbalance in pressure can hinder the movement of the eardrum and middle ear structures, resulting in muffled or diminished hearing.
In extreme cases where the pressure difference between the middle ear and the environment is significant, the eardrum may rupture. Symptoms of a ruptured eardrum include sharp pain, sudden hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), or discharge from the ear.
Other serious but less frequent consequences include bleeding in the middle ear and chronic ear dysfunction. If you experience persistent ear pain, dizziness or hearing loss, it’s crucial to seek medical help.
Captain García warned: “A passenger flying with congestion might experience significant discomfort, but we pilots who makeup to five or six trips daily face greater risk if we’re not in optimal condition.”
However, the seasoned pilot does offer some advice to mitigate risk. If flying is unavoidable, he suggests taking decongestants, chewing gum, and performing exercises to alleviate ear pressure.
He added: “Passengers make only one trip but still need to be careful – take something to decongest, chew gum, and do exercises to equalise pressure.”
The pilot also encouraged his colleagues to prioritise their health over work commitments, revealing his own recent absence from the cockpit: “That’s why today is my first flight of the year.
“I was supposed to fly on December 30th, 31st, January 1st and 2nd but couldn’t because I had a cold. It’s better to take leave; otherwise, with barotrauma, we could be incapacitated for almost a month.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
