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
There’s air outside your eardrum, and there’s air in your ear. Your middle ear is connected to the outside via your sinuses.
As pressure changes outside your ear, the eardrum pushes one way or the other depending on the pressure. This is uncomfortable. When you swallow (or in some other way open the channels through your sinuses to your ears), the pressure equalizes, and the feeling goes away as the eardrum returns to its normal position.
If the pressure is too great, and you cannot equalize the pressure (clogged sinuses?), your eardrum may rupture.
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