A few years ago I caught a bad cold while I was traveling in Europe. I had to fly back while I still had bad congestion so that I wouldn’t be separated from my group. By the time we landed in the U.S., I felt like hell. I could barely hear—it sounded like everything was underwater.

I thought this was a freak situation, but my friend recently experienced the same thing, even after taking some sudafed before the flight.

I’m flying next week and I have a bit of a cold. What should I do if this gets worse? Is there any medicine I can take to prevent the pressure from doing so much damage? Or should I just not fly? And how can I tell if my cold and congestion is bad enough to merit missing my important flight?

Topics: travel, airplanes, congestion, ear pain, ear drums