Christopher Columbus on a Mission Against Motion Sickness

Get the Better of Motion Sickness by Repeated Exposure to It

Which mode of transport best suits your preferences? Flights are a fantasy for many, some are passionate about car travels, few love the seas and look forward to the soothing waves that stay throughout the cruise trip while for a limited few travelling is sickening. Vacation trips are the perfect gateway to relaxation and spending quality time with your beloved ones. More than the trip itself, it’s the prior planning and purchasing of stuffs that’s even more exciting and refreshing. Children are busy listing down their needs, moms are busy visiting Zara and Mango for their Western outfits and dads are of course busy sorting financial needs while buying a shirt or two for themselves. On the day of journey, you start your vacation in high spirits and board the car. You feel a bit dizzy but stabilize yourself looking forward to your trip. But once you board the flight for the journey, you feel sick in your stomach and start puking. Motion sickness has got the better of you!

Motion Sickness
Any mode of transportation-car, bus, train, sea or air- can cause motion sickness. Though sickness caused when travelling by boat or ship is called as sea sickness, in large it is motion sickness only. There are no prior indications and it strikes you suddenly starting with uneasiness and cold sweats resulting in dizziness and vomiting but stops as suddenly as it started once your travel stops. Serious symptoms include short breaths, sweating, pallor and nausea. Motion sickness can affect any person who has a functional vestibular system but is more common in pregnant/menstruating women, children and people under certain medications.

Any disturbances in the inner ear causes motion sickness. Our brain senses any movement via signals from the ears, eyes and muscles. When the signals don’t match it results in motion sickness. Any person who lacks the motion-sensing organs of the inner ear can never be victimized to motion sickness. For example, sitting inside a train your ears sense movements around you but your eyes don’t see any movements miraged by a static view. This conflict between sensory organs triggers motion sickness.

Prevention
There are effective ways in which we can reduce motion sickness and they include:

1. Where you sit can cause a huge difference. Always sit in the front seat in a car and look at the road/scenery ahead of you, choose the upper deck in a ship or make yourself comfortable on a wing seat in a plane.
2. Once seated, look at a distance and never read a book, watch something on your electronic gadget or sit in a seat facing backwards (i.e., on seats that are placed opposite to the driver’s seat direction).
3. Never watch or talk with a fellow traveler who suffers from motion sickness.
4. Avoid strong odor and refrain from eating spicy foods prior to your journey
5. Don’t smoke or drink alcohol before your journey
6. Repeatedly travelling or exposure to motion sickness triggers reduces symptoms over time
7. Eat lighter meals and stick to eating small meals frequently. Visit the website www.firsteatright.com for simple and healthy tips on preparing snacks/meals that serve your purpose.
8. It’s easy to distract children. Divert a motion sickness-prone child’s attention by talking something funny, singing songs or listening to music.
9. Carry ginger in any form of your choice. This is one of the best ways to avoid sickness. Ginger-based candies, ales, tea, biscuits or tablets too help
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Treatment
Treatment generally includes prescribing medications depending on different factors such as intensity of sickness, duration of stimuli and the individual taking these medications. Any medication for soothing motion sickness works better when consumed before the actual symptoms of the sickness begin. Antihistamines are the commonly prescribed medications for motion sickness although these are not approved by the FDA for dispensing them to children.

We might not be Cristopher Columbus on a voyage mission around the world. But each of us love to explore the world around us, meet people from different cultures, visit beautiful places, experience different cuisines and bring home memorable memories. Taking prior care to reduce/prevent motion sickness helps us enjoy or trips and tours without much discomfort and pain. 

Sea Sickness in Large is Motion Sickness

Sit in the Front to Avoid the Brunt of Sickness