Motion sickness: Effective preventive tips

Do you mostly feel sick when you travel by bus, car, train, boat, or plane? Well we got you covered. Motion sickness can affect anybody. While this condition is usually brief, it causes enough discomfort during the short duration it lasts. Guess you been looking for ways to stop motion sickness. If so, then you are on the right page. The preventive tips listed in this article will help you prevent as well as put motion sickness at bay. Continue reading to know more about them.

What is motion sickness?

Motion sickness is a sensation of sickness or nausea that occurs when you are traveling by car, boat, plane, or train. It is a very common disturbance of the inner ear. Individuals prone to motion sickness usually become nauseous due to any kind of prolonged movements.

What are the causes of motion sickness?

This is as a result of conflict between your senses. It happens when your brain receives conflicting messages about motion and your body’s position in space. The conflicting messages are delivered from your inner ear, eyes, skin and muscles.

Risk factors

• Long distance traveling
• Young children mostly those between age 2 and 12 years.
• Women are at a higher risk than men.
• Inadequate sleep before embarking on the journey
• Alcohol
• Smoking
• Headache
• Pregnant women
• Poor ventilation

Types of motion sickness

• To begin with, motion sickness due to motion that is felt but not seen. Mostly occurs when you are traveling by road, air or sea.
• Additionally, motion sickness due to motion that is seen but not felt. This type occurs when susceptible individuals are watching movies such as in a theater or in space.
• Furthermore, motion sickness caused by motion that is seen and felt but fails to correspond.

Signs & symptoms of motion sickness

• Breaking out in cold sweat
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• An increase in salivary secretion
• Skin becomes pale
• Loss of appetite
• Tiredness
• Headaches
• Breathing problems
• Vomiting may also occur

What can I do to prevent or minimize it’s occurrence?

If you know you have motion sickness or might be prone to it, consider this advice:

• When making your reservations in a ship, choose a cabin in the middle of the ship and near the waterline. When on board, go up on deck and focus on the horizon.
• Sit by a window when traveling by plane and look out the window. A seat over the front edge of the wing is the most preferable spot because the degree of motion is the lowest here. Direct the air vent to blow cool air on your face.
• Always face forward and sit near a window in a train.
• When traveling by car, take the front seat. If you are the passenger, look at the scenery in the distance. For others, driving the vehicle themselves is an instant remedy.

Additional preventive tips

• Avoid reading in a moving vehicle. If you are prone, reading is likely to make it worse.
• Get a good night’s sleep the evening before you travel. Being exhausted can make you more prone to motion sickness.
• Avoid eating heavy, greasy, and acidic foods in the hours before you travel. These types of foods such as coffee, orange juice/grapefruit juice, sausage, pancakes digest slowly. Whiles in the case of coffee, it can speed up dehydration. Eat breads, cereals, grains, milk, water, apple juice, apples, or bananas. Eat but not too much.
• Drink plenty of water to keep your mouth moist.
• Avoid drinking alcohol the evening before you travel. Alcohol speeds up dehydration and generally lowers your body’s resistance to motion sickness, if you are prone to it.
• Stand if you feel queasy. Stand up, if you can, and look out over the horizon. Despite what you might think, sitting or lying down actually may make you feel worse.
• Don’t smoke before or whiles traveling.
• Lean your head against the back of the seat or head rest when traveling in vehicles with seats to minimize head movements.