Clogged Ears From Flying 'link' < FHD >

She swallowed. Nothing.

Maya took the gum. She chewed wide, moving her jaw side to side, forcing her throat muscles to work. Then she combined it with a sip of water from her bottle—swallowing hard with her nose pinched. This created a powerful vacuum and muscle pull in the back of the throat. clogged ears from flying

Click. A soft, wet, glorious pop .

Her eardrum was now pulled taut inward. That’s why sounds were muffled—the drum couldn’t vibrate properly. And the sharp, stabbing pain she began to feel? That was the eardrum stretching to its limit, like a plastic bag being vacuum-sealed from the inside. She swallowed

The pressure grew. It wasn’t pain yet, but a strange, full sensation, as if her ear was slowly filling with concrete. She could hear her own breathing, amplified and echoey inside her head, while the flight attendant’s safety reminders sounded like distant, garbled radio static. She chewed wide, moving her jaw side to