Boarding an airplane with a cold is dangerous: pilot warns of consequences

Boarding an airplane with a cold may seem harmless, but Captain Jaime Garcia, a pilot with a large number of TikTok subscribers, warns against it.

In a video that has garnered nearly 800 thousand views, the Avianca pilot emphasized the potential danger to passengers' ears when they decide to take a flight when they are sick, OBOZ.UA reports.

According to him, the air pressure in the cabin can harm your ears, especially if you are fighting a cold. The Eustachian tubes, which are responsible for maintaining the balance of pressure between the middle ear and the outside world, can become inflamed when you have a congestion.

This inflammation can lead to severe ear pain. Captain Garcia warned: "If you have a cold, these Eustachian tubes become inflamed; they can't equalize that pressure and then you feel pain in your ear. This causes a barotrauma, and if it's very serious and you have severe congestion, your eardrum can even rupture. It is very serious."

Ear barotrauma is a condition in which the eardrum is strained due to unequal pressure between the middle ear and the external environment, usually occurring during air travel or scuba diving.

This condition can have quite unpleasant consequences, ranging from minor discomfort to more serious complications if left untreated.

Changes in pressure can cause a feeling of fullness, discomfort, or pain in the affected ears, usually the first and mildest symptom of ear barotrauma. Additionally, pressure imbalances can interfere with the movement of the eardrum and middle ear structures, resulting in muffled or reduced hearing.

In extreme cases, when the pressure difference between the middle ear and the environment is significant, the eardrum can rupture. Symptoms of a ruptured eardrum include sharp pain, sudden hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), or discharge from the ear.

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