The cabin pressure began its slow, algorithmic climb as the plane pushed back from the gate. For the 150 other passengers, this was a quiet prelude to sleep. For me, it was the tightening of a vise.
Flying with barotrauma can be a painful and potentially damaging experience. Barotrauma refers to tissue damage caused by a difference in pressure between an air space inside or outside the body and the surrounding environment. flying with barotrauma
I felt it first as a dull recognition, a fullness like cotton soaked in seawater. Then, as the Boeing’s landing gear retracted with a thud, the fullness crystallized into a needle. Not a sharp prick, but a slow, rotating drill bit pushing from my eardrum inward toward my jaw. My own head had become a pressure chamber, and the only valve was jammed. The cabin pressure began its slow, algorithmic climb