Feeling woozy?  Best solutions for motion sickness

Have you ever got off of a roller coaster ride or from riding in a boat rolling over 10 foot waves and had that dreaded feeling of being sick to your stomach?  All of us have very like experienced the unpleasant feelings of motion sickness – nausea, dizziness, cold sweats, vomiting, headache, or increased salivation. This fairly common condition can be brought on by any kind of movement, even movement you are anticipating.  The most likely scenarios of why people develop it is often due to rocky motions or turbulent movement on a boat, train, airplane, car ride or an amusement park ride.

Causes of motion sickness

Motion sickness happens when the body, the inner ear, and the eyes send conflicting signals to the brain.  This most often happens when in a car, boat, or airplane.  From inside a ship’s cabin, your eyes may sense movement on a “virtual reality” ride that your body does not feel.  Even viewing a 3D movie may cause symptoms of motion sickness. 

Much of motion sickness is based on balance.  Balance is different from other senses such as sight or smell.  The senses of sight and smell rely on just one input – we see with our eyes and smell with our nose.  But balance is a function of multiple inputs – there are five balance organs in each ear, plus information from the muscles, joints, and vision.

A good way to explain is using an example of attempting to read in a car.  When you are looking down at a book while riding in a car, the book tells your eyes that you are still or not moving, but your balance organs read motion from the moving car.  Another example is when below deck on a ship, your vision sees the rom sitting still while the balance organs in your ear read the rolling motion of the ship.  This creates sensory conflict and it can make some people motion sick.

Everyone will experience sensory conflict from time to time but not everyone will get sick as a result of it.  It is not known why some people are better able to tolerate sensory conflict than others but people who get migraine headaches and those who have experienced traumatic brain injury, are at a higher risk for motion sickness.

How to treat motion sickness

For some, the sick feeling may stop as soon as the motion stops.  For others, it may last for several hours afterwards, ruining your day.  And for those who travel a lot, motion sickness may be a hazard you have to deal with more frequently.  In any case, there are several things one can do to reduce your chance of bringing on the unwelcomed signs of motion sickness rearing its head:

·      Sit in the front of a car with the air-conditioning on or the window rolled down.

·      Keep your eyes on the horizon.

·      Do NOT read, write, work on a laptop or do any other tasks that require even subtle eye movements.

·      Stop often and get out and walk around, as this restores your sense of balance.

·      Avoid heavy meals and alcohol before and during travel.  Avoid strong or unpleasant odors, like cigarette smoke and perfume.

·      Eat light meals or snacks that are low in calories in the 24 hours before air travel.

·      At sea, stay topside and amidships; look at the horizon or some other fixed distant point.  If below deck, close your eyes.

·      When riding in a car or plane, turn the air vents toward your face.

·      Rest your head against the seat back, to keep it still.

·      Try slow, regular “mindful” breathing, where you focus on your breaths.  You can also try using distracting stimuli, such as sniffing lavender or mint scents and listening to music.

·      Many dietary supplements and homeopathic products are promoted for motion sickness with little or no scientific data to back them.  Studies on ginger are mixed.  Try it if you like though large amounts can cause heartburn or other mild gastrointestinal problems.

·      There are several over-the-counter and prescription medications one can try before motion sickness begins.  Scopolamine is a prescription option usually given as a transdermal patch that you place behind your ear six to eight hours before you leave.

·      Some people have had luck avoiding motion sickness by sucking on peppermint hard candy or chewing gum. Even peppermint tea may have some effect at settling the stomach. 

·      Carry and have access to plenty of liquids to prevent dehydration.