Sinuses are small air filled spaces in the bones of the skull. These sinuses drain into the nasal cavity through small openings, which allow easy ventilation of air during ascent and descent.
Tag: health
My Ears Hurt in Flight – Otitic Barotrauma
Barotrauma of the ears, Otitic Barotruama (a.k.a Otic Barotruama or Aero-otitis media) can occurs during ascent or descent in flying. This can also occur during hypoxia demonstration in decompression chamber. Divers during under-water operations, and patients in hyperbaric chamber may also suffer from barotrauma. The primary reason of Otitic Barotruama is pressure differential, either negative …
My Ears Hurt in Flight – Barotrauma
“In my haste to complete my syllabus sortie, despite of a recovering cold, I went ahead for the sortie that morning. As I climbed, I had some difficulty in clearing my ears. But when I started my descent to come back to land, I realised that I could not equalise pressure in my middle ears, …
Say NO! To Self-Medication: Beware of Effects of Drugs
In deciding whether to temporarily make a pilot unfit to fly while on medication, it is important to analyse the effects of the drug, and then relate these effects to the mission and the likely aviation stresses, besides the individual’s role in the mission. For instance, loose motions and/or vomiting (Gastroenteritis, the commonest cause of …
Sick in the Air: Motion Sickness/Air Sickness
Motion Sickness, characterised by nausea, pallor, cold sweating and vomiting, occurs when humans are exposed to unfamiliar motion stimuli, either real or apparent. The earliest known reference to motion sickness was ‘sea-sickness’ but now this term encompasses symptoms induced by any form of motion or even in the absence of physical motion it is known …