How to Prevent Earblock

Earblock, known medically as Barotrauma, is a phenomenon experienced by a person when the airplane descends from a high altitude to lower altitudes. It usually occurs when the plane is landing to the airport. As it lands, the pressure inside the plane increases until the eardrums can’t bear the difference of pressure inside and outside the ears.

People having earblock experience deafness and pain inside the ears, specifically at the eardrums. Earblock is usually felt in small pressurized airplanes. It may also be felt in large commercial planes, albeit milder than in smaller planes.

There is no medicine to remove the pain accompanied by earblock. The only solution is to equalize the pressure in the inner ear with the pressure outside so as to ease the tension experienced by the eardrums. Here are some of the ways to combat earblock while the plane lands:

1) Yaaaaawn

Yes, yawning is not just being done when you are sleepy. It has other purposes and its main purpose is to equalize the pressure inside the ears with that of the environment. When you yawn, sometimes you may hear a popping sound inside your ears. That sound is caused by the air rushing to your ears from the Eustachian tube, otherwise known as the auditory tube. This tube connects the inner ear with the pharynx.

2) Pinch Your Nose then Blow

If yawning can’t ease the earblock, the next thing you can do is to force air to your inner ear. To do this, you have to pinch your nose and blow hard through it. The air will have no place to go but to pass through the auditory tube and enter the inner ear. You may feel uneasy doing this but it is the best way of easing the pressure for your eardrums.

3) Chew Gum

As the plane lands, it is suggested that you chew bubble gum to prevent earblock. Chewing makes the muscle around the auditory tube to move so as to allow the opening of the tube. The air will easily enter the inner ear and normalize the pressure.

Reminders

Be careful when doing the above techniques to ease earblocks, especially the second suggestion. Do not blow too hard or you may break your eardrums. You will know that you blew enough air if your ears feel much better and your hearing returned to normal.

It is also suggest that you refrain from chewing gum while the plane is ascending to higher altitudes. The reason for this is that the pressure in the inner ear will decrease, as the pressure inside the plane decreases. When this happens, it is more likely that you will experience earblock when the plane descends.

See a doctor if pain and deafness persist after following the suggestions mentioned above.

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Picture of Ear taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Commuting Danger Zone: Litex Area

 Map of Litex Area

Litex is the area that is located at the intersection of three roads. These roads are the Payatas Roads (formerly Gravel Pit Road), Batasan Road, and the Commonwealth Avenue. Payatas Road pass through Barangay Payatas then along the La Mesa Watershed and ends in the town of Montalban (Rodriguez) in Rizal Province. The infamous Payatas can be seen when you pass the Payatas Road. This road is used by many people who live in Montalban and other areas near the Montalban-Quezon City boundary but work or study in Metro Manila.

Batasan Road, on the other hand, leads to the House of Representative.

Litex is alive 24 hours a day due to the fact that many people pass through this area. Consequently, Litex is filled with pedestrians and street vendors that hogged the sidewalks. Thieves and snatchers prowl this area and look for unwary commuters that brandish their cellular phones.

When passing or commuting through Litex, make sure that your valuables are well hidden. Never bring your cellphone out in this area especially when the jeepney runs slow due to heavy traffic. The congested streets and the slowing down of jeepneys are the opportunities waited upon by snatcher to snatch up their targets.

You should also avoid wearing valuable earrings when you are in Litex. Many girls got their ears torn because thieves snatched their earrings away.

As much as possible, avoid Litex and Payatas Road during late nights because many criminals board public jeepneys to hijack the jeepney and steal everything valuable from the passengers.

When you are in a car, it is safer to roll up the windows and lock all doors.

Remember, when traveling and commuting, you can never be too careful. Be extra cautious when you are Commuting Danger Zones and that includes Litex.

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Map of Litex Area obatined from Google Maps

How to Get Stronger Signal with Your Smart Bro Plug-its

Portable and easy to use, these are some of the advantages that the broadband plug-it modems have over other means of having an internet connection like DSL or Antenna modems. Because of this, many people are now having their internet by buying broadband plug-it modems from internet service providers. Smart Telecom, Globe Telecom, and Sun Telecom are all offering broadband plug-it modems.

 

Plug-its work by receiving and transmitting broadband signals to and from the telecommunication towers of internet service providers like the way cellular phones receive signal. However, the problem is that indoors, the signal deteriorates and the internet speed get slow. Walls usually blocks broadband signals causing its deterioration. Other obstructions like roof and trees contributes to the deterioration of broadband signal.

Here are some of my tips to make the signal that your plug-it receives stronger. For each of the tips, you will need USB Extension Cord. This cord could be bought from shops that sell computer parts and accessories like CD-R King. A cord with a length of 3 meters usually cost about 100 pesos. USB extension cords with signal booster are not required.


Tip #1: Take It Outdoors

As I had said, the walls of your house contribute to the deterioration of broadband signal. To solve these, your plug-it modem must be placed outside of your home. This could easily be done if you are using a laptop computer since it could be taken anywhere. For desktop computers, the solution is to buy a USB extension cord and place your broadband plug-it modem out through the window.

Just make sure that the plug-it modem will not be too exposed to rain or direct heat of the sun. Leaving the plug-it modem too exposed to the elements may cause it to malfunction.



Tip #2: Place It on Higher Elevation

Since trees and roof of houses also blocks broadband signal, a good solution would be to place the plug-it higher than these obstructions. For my plug-it modem, we used a pole to prop up the plug-it modem above the roof of our house. I used two 3-meter long USB extension cords to connect the plug-it modem to the USB port. This solved the problem of weak signal that we are experiencing when we are connecting to the internet.

To protect the plug-it modem, we created a housing using ice cream plastic container, plastic jar, and Styrofoam bowl. The ice cream container serves as the outermost roofing to protect the plug-it modem from rain. The Styrofoam serves as the insulator to protect the modem from the extreme heat of the sun.

These are some of the things I did to get a strong signal for my internet at home. I know that there are more tips out there to make the broadband signal being received by your plug-it modem stronger. I hope that this tips helped you.

Do have more tips? Please tell me by leaving a comment. Thanks!

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