SOMEWHERE OVER HANOI, Vietnam – I’m finally getting some relief.

For the last hour-and-a-half, beginning sometime when the plane reached maximum altitude, I’ve been experiencing some kind of airplane migraine.

I feel like I’ve been on the set of Alien 3, growing some creature in my body like Sigourney Weaver. In my case, it’s in my head just above my right eyebrow.

Now that the plane is descending for a stopover in Hanoi, I can feel some pressure relief. Thank God.

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Back in Beijing, I’m doing a little research into this phenomenon in the interest of business travelers. Now that our business world is global, we can expect to spend more time flying – and possibly – suffering from these airplane head monsters.

The term “airplane headache” was first coined in scientific literature in 2004 when a 28-year-old man reportedly suffered from severe headache associated only with airplane travel. Several more cases have been reported since then.

Symptoms include forehead involvement, severe intensity and the headache having a jabbing or stabbing quality. The causes still are debatable, but may have something to do with rapidly changing pressure in the airplane cabin.

This wasn’t the first time I experienced an airplane headache. My first experience was on a flight from Washington to Costa Rica several years ago. But in both instances, I had suffered from a cold several days prior to boarding. That may mean I felt something other than true airplane headache, as those apparently can occur without any other concurrent medical symptoms.

Last time my cold was still pretty bad on the plane and my airplane headache was so severe that it ruined the first couple days of an otherwise pleasant vacation. The throbbing began on the plane and didn’t stop on the ground for at least a day or two. This time, I had just been getting over a cold, and while the airplane headache was intense, it was almost entirely relieved by the time the plane landed.

Having any pressure-related headache on an airplane is a flightmare – and even more so if you’re on the way to China from a faraway land.

With business travel to China increasing, it’s important to be aware of this new airplane headache phenomenon, and how you can help alleviate it. Here are some ways to cope:

• Ask around for medication. The flight attendant may or may not have any, but you’re surrounded by people. Someone has to have a Tylenol at worst, and hopefully, something stronger. This seemed to help me the most, as on the trip leg from Hanoi to Beijing, I experienced the same airplane headache but with fewer symptoms as I had taken a few oral pain killers by then.




• Drink water. Drink more. Lots of people agree that water is good for you for this kind of thing. It didn’t help me, but swallowing can relieve ear pressure, so maybe it can relieve head pressure too.
• Start pushing/pulling. My airplane companion had done some study of acupressure, and suggested pushing and pulling different areas around the head (push around the eye socket, pull your ear). He looked more like a hippie than a doctor, and that didn’t work for me for the most part. There was one point that I pushed one distinct spot on my eyebrow and that felt a lot better. Pressing with a cold wipe also provides some relief it seems.
• Sleep. During the Hanoi to Beijing leg, I did get some sleep – for about 30 minutes - even with the headache. If you can get hold of some prescription sleep aid, like Ambien, that might be even better.
• Work. I began to do a little work and sure enough, that got my mind off the alien inside me – slightly. You can also try eating. Hopefully the food is either tasty or disgusting so your mind is distracted.
• Pop those ears. I noticed that holding my nose and blowing so that my ears would pop began to alleviate both ear and head pressure during descent, but only during descent.
• Pray. Because airplane headache is only slightly better than a hijacking, and you’d pray in that situation for sure.

If you have a cold ahead of your flight, or anticipate an airplane headache for another reason, check out the following links for preventing head pounding.

http://ask.metafilter.com/74955/What-is-the-best-medicine-for-an-airplane-sinus-headache

http://www.headacheexpert.co.uk/TravelTipsForHeadacheSufferers.html

Considering there’s no Headbangers Ball on the plane, it’s best to just keep headaches at bay.

    Channel: Vital News     |