Why does chewing gum reduce your ears popping on a plane?
In: Biology
Your head has tubes connecting the insides of your ears to your nose/throat, and from there to the outside air. The inside of your head is wet and squishy, so the tubes can collapse and form a seal. Then, if you change altitude, there’s now more/less air pressure outside your head than before, and your eardrums have to stretch in/out to make up the difference, which is painful. Chewing moves your jaw up and down, which gives the tubes a better chance of un-sticking and letting air pressure equalize.
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