I’ve never understood to logistics of it, what happens to the eardrum during that time. Why (got me personally at least) is there more pain underwater than planes. I just don’t get it.
In: Biology
As you go up in altitude, the higher pressure air wants to get out and this is usually the easier popping because the air outside is less pressurized. The tendency is for the air to leave. As you descent the opposite is true, the pressurized air (remember this: high pressure is ALWAYS attracted to low pressure) wants to get into the ear where the air is lower pressured. The eustachian tube is small, and the low pressure gas can actually get trapped in there under the onslaught of the higher pressure air. The solution is to equalize by blowing through your nose while clamping your nose shut. That presses air up enough to open the passage way so the gas can equalize normally. It is like sealing shut a candle by putting the lid on it while the flame is still burning. Because the flame consumes oxygen and the oxygen is trapped into the ash, the air pressure inside the candle is less than the outside. That lid vacuums to the candle because all the air trying to get in is pressing against the very lid you are trying to get off. Once you let just a little air into it, the whole thing pops open super easily, with a little popping sound.
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