Should I Be Concerned About Driving Through Mountains? Will This Increase My Tinnitus?

Hey friends. I'm planning a family trip to Myrtle beach but the drive has lots of mountains. I'm concerned about my ears and my tinnitus. Do you think this will be an issue? I should also add that I developed tinnitus from a ruptured ear drum 5 months ago that I think is fully healed

 

No, I drove through West Virginia with no issues. I suppose you can take a steroid nasal spray before you go through the mountains and chew gum.

 

You might try using those "EarPlanes" earplugs that are recommended for people who fly...

 

you'd have to drive really, really, really, really fast for the pressure change to rupture your eardrum. Like, hundreds of miles per hour or more.

 

It doesn't have to rupture his eardrum. It just needs to have a negative impact on his already compromised inner ear...

 

Driving up and down hills is pretty similar to riding an elevator or something.

I'm not aware of any data indicating that such things are dangerous, prior damage or not.

I've done a lot of driving lately, in the (high) mountains of New Mexico and the (low) mountains of Vermont, up and down, up and down. It's fine. Sometimes you can feel it in your ears, so swallow, presto.

 

It is possible that someone with T could feel bad after riding a high-speed elevator in a skyscraper.

I seem to consistently get the full ear sensation that would take a long time to go away after driving up a hill to get home. Everyone is different, and with T one can't be Too careful.

 

this is where we disagree. I think rational caution is good and irrational caution is bad, and you can find lots of examples of both on this board.

 

Nothing to be concerned of, really.

 

Hi Chris!

Took a road trip a few weeks back to NC and drove through some mountains. No problems I had a cold and I think that was more of the issue than the mountains. Enjoy the view!!

 

Thanks all for the replies. I feel better about this trip. I can always count on the good people on this site to reassure me that I need to just live my life

 

Thanks for posting this question -- I actually live in the mountains and always have to pop my ears (yawning or swallowing or just moving my jaw) during the drive up and down from/to town, even though there are tons of switch backs to regulate speed.

These pressure changes do not affect your inner ear, as someone suggested in a reply. I asked my ENT. Only in severe cases (like your ruptured ear drum) would you be worried about potential inner ear issues. Harvard website on barotrauma also explains this. Pressure changes are happening in the middle ear.