Ears Flying “Pass the Ear Plugs Please”!

Posted on | January 12, 2009 |

Ear plugs have been one of my best friends on commercial flights. It’s rare that I do not have a pair of them with me for my ears flying, when I travel. One of the more frequented routes I fly is southeastern Florida to the northeastern United States. Lots of babies and children travel this route, that means every aircraft has the potential to become a real scream fest. A frightening and sometimes unending cacophony of uncomfortable infants and children. For an added bonus, mostly to my sanity, I will often wear my full muff headphones on my ears flying as well and further reduce the sound of the wailers that are at times, eerily in sync with each other. I know that noise cancellation headphones will work for engine noise but for screaming babies?

I really don’t know why it has happened but it is impossible today to find disposable ear plugs at the airport anymore.

They used to be sold along with the aspirin and antacids in the bookstores. I usually find them at gun shops and a few select hardware stores. Some of the big chain and big box retailers sell a very limited selection of them.

Be careful which kind of disposable ear plugs you buy. I stay away from the waxy types and go with the soft foam. The kind you roll between your fingers to make them small before inserting into your ear. They expand and conform to the shape of your ear canal. I’m not so sure that the waxy ones allow your ears to equalize air pressure fully during ascent and descent. If you don’t like sticking anything into your ear canal nor like to wear headphones then by all means, wear what is comfortable to you.

I wait until after the safety announcements are complete before employing my disposable ear plugs. If passengers on the flight are especially cranky before takeoff I will put them in and wear my headphones too, thus protection from everything for my ears flying. The flight attendants don’t have much to say when they ask me to turn off my electronic equipment when I simply show them the unplugged connector.

One final thing about ear plugs and your ears flying. On a long flight, wearing your disposable ear plugs will help reduce the amount of fatigue and stress you feel when you arrive at your destination. The amount of pounding your ears get on a 5 to 6 hour flight across the United States might be enough to make you “batty”. You will feel this effect even more if you are seated aft of the engines where it is much louder. Some people find disposable ear plugs rather uncomfortable but it might be helpful if you put them in for as long as you can stand to bear it. Protect your hearing, your ears flying and your sanity with the use of carefully selected ear plugs and hearing protection.

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Hello and welcome to my blog. It’s all about travel, My Travel Tips For Travel. I travel a lot and what better way to express my opinions about my travels, whatever it may be by: car, plane, bus, train, or boat and yes, even walking and bicycle; It all fits here. Your comments are also welcomed and are appreciated, good bad or ugly, write it here! Maybe you’ll find some common thread on your own travels and share it with us all.

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