Traditional medicine, etc.
On my recent trip to the north of Argentina I set out with stuffed sinuses. As a consequence, changes in atmospheric pressure resulting from variations in elevation above sea level had the effect of plugging up my ears. Too bad, since I had to listen to some of the local music performances in mono instead of stereo (when only one ear would pop). Going up was not as much of a problem as coming back down, so when I returned to Salta (1200m above sea level) from the salt flats (4K+ asl) and passed by some peñas (restaurant with live music) I was desperate for a solution. At the pharmacy, instead of selling me some ear drops, they told me that I had "air stuck in my ears" and recommended a folk remedy. Perhaps I should have tilted the torch downwards so that warm air would go up, as this method, the way applied in the illustration below, did not bear the sought-after results.
