I have been looking into this. I suffer from nasty seasonal allergies and my ears get plugged up sometimes. I don't seem to get any infections but from time to time I have a problem clearing my ears while flying. They'll be fine for a month and then they start acting up. Not sure if anyone has had this problem. It's kind of weird but I can't really get any answers. I mean, heck my ears will be absolutely fine for half the climb then they just plug up for a little while finally clearing a little while later.

Anyone else had weird issues that just seem to pop up once in a while? How do the tubes affect your hearing?