WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Ear pain during flight training is more common among pilots who have allergic rhinitis and is more prevalent during spring, according to a study in the October issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. The findings indicate treatment is important for both aircraft passengers and pilots, an editorial suggests.
Nobuhiro Ohrui of the Aeromedical Laboratory of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Tachikawa, Japan, and colleagues reviewed records for 7,047 flight trainees over a period of nine years.
In all, 429 (6.1%) of subjects reported ear pain during hypobaric chamber training and it was more common in spring than in the other three seasons. Ear pain in spring was also more frequently reported among those who had allergic rhinitis than among those who did not.
"It is important to treat pilots and passengers to prevent high-grade eustachian tube obstruction not only to lessen discomfort, but also to avoid the true risk to pilots who may become incapacitated during descent from altitude," according to an editorial by George R. Green, M.D., of Abington, Pa.
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