Motion sickness

Motion sickness

Motion sickness is nausea and unwellness that some people experience when traveling by car, boat, train or plane. Motion sickness is easier to prevent than to treat. Simple advice can reduce motion sickness.

What is motion sickness?

Motion sickness is discomfort in connection with travel (transport/movement). Some people only experience a mild feeling of unwellness, while others experience nausea, vomiting, weakness, pallor and palpitations. Motion sickness is not dangerous, but can be very uncomfortable.

Motion sickness can also be triggered in virtual environments. Then the body is at rest, but the field of vision is in great motion. This is called "cyber-nausea".

Causes of motion sickness

Motion sickness is probably caused by the fact that the signals you get from the balance organ in the inner ear and what you see do not agree with each other. In addition, sensory impressions such as smell, sight, hearing and taste can worsen nausea and malaise. In the same way, anxiety or negative expectations can intensify motion sickness. A typical example of the latter is children who vomit before they have sat in the car.

Good advice against motion sickness

• Try to fix your gaze on a stable point, for example far ahead on the road if you are sitting in a car or on the horizon if you are in a boat.

• Sit in the direction of travel.

• Avoid reading or other activities during the journey, this can increase the conflict between movement and vision.

• Provide fresh air.

• Don't eat too much before your trip, but don't travel on an empty stomach either.

• Avoid clothes that are tight over the stomach or neck.

• Avoid strong smells.

• For many, motion sickness is experienced better when lying down

• Sit far forward in the car/bus and follow the road.

• Sit above or by the wings of planes, here the movements are the least.

• Sit in the middle of the boat, where there is the least movement.

Treatment of motion sickness

Motion sickness is more difficult to treat than to prevent, so preventative treatment is best. Repetition of situations where you get motion sickness often leads to getting used to it eventually and recovery from motion sickness in the long term. Medicines against motion sickness can help to delay such adaptation.

Travel sickness tablets

Travel sickness tablets can be bought without a prescription at the pharmacy. They have a preventive effect by inhibiting the balance center and also have an anti-nausea effect. Travel sickness tablets must be taken before the journey.

Travel sickness tablets can make you tired and drowsy, and should therefore not be used by anyone who is going to be a driver. Simultaneous consumption of alcohol and travel sickness tablets should be avoided.

Ginger

Ginger is used against mild nausea and motion sickness. Ginger has been used in Chinese folk medicine for many hundreds of years and can be a good alternative to travel sickness tablets. Pregnant women should consult a doctor before use.