Introduction Travel Sickness or motion Sickness
Travel sickness, another name for motion sickness, is a frequent illness that many individuals experience when traveling. When the body’s sensation of motion collides with what the eyes perceive, the inner ear senses, and other sensory information, it can cause nausea, dizziness, and pain.
This kind of motion sickness can affect practically anyone, even dogs and toddlers. Research indicates that over 50% of those who travel in cars get carsickness. According to recent polls conducted amongst Icelandic fisherman, South Carolina marine biologists, and members of the Indian Navy, up to 80% of people who work on boats experience seasickness occasionally.
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Why Motion Sickness Occurs during Travelling?
Why some people can read lengthy novels while travelling in the backseat of a car, while others feel sick the moment they set foot on a boat, is a mystery to scientists. However, they have a few hypotheses.
It is thought that a conflict between the various sensory information the brain perceives is the root cause of motion sickness. Your inner ear detects motion, for instance, even though your eyes may see the interior of the car as still. Due to this contradicting information, the brain may interpret the sensory data as possibly toxic or poisonous, which could result in symptoms including nausea, vertigo, and vomiting.
Some scientists, on the other hand, contend that those who experience motion sickness do so because they are unable to naturally adjust their posture or gait when riding a moving vehicle. You become sick because of that disconnect.
Signs and symptoms of Travel Sickness
Motion sickness mostly causes dizziness, yet it can also cause a range of other symptoms, such as:
Cold chills, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and headaches
Best Ways to Avoid Motion Sickness when travelling in car
Using Methods for Self-Care
- Look Outside the window often
- Examine a steady object, like the horizon. Your brain will be able to synchronise the physical cues of the swaying vehicle with the visual cues of movement.
- If you are driving, it might not be a good idea to concentrate on something that is too close for you to see properly, such trees at the side of the road. Shut your eyes if you are unable to see the horizon due to obstacles like twisting roads.
- Avoid reading and playing games as these can exacerbate your symptoms.
- Prior to your trip, eat a small lunch because being overly full or empty can increase your risk of experiencing nausea and vomiting.
- Be sure you are drinking enough water because dehydration can exacerbate nausea and vomiting.
- When travelling ahead, avoid sitting in a seat that faces backward.
How to Avoid Getting Motion Sick on a Boat
It is often known that your chances of experiencing motion sickness, sometimes known as seasickness, increase if you are below the deck of the boat. This is thought to be connected to the fact that, unlike when you are on the boat’s deck, you do not have a reference point for the horizon. Additional measures to lessen sickness on a boat include:
Lozenges, especially the ginger variety (which facilitates better food passage through the digestive tract)
Approximately eight deep belly (diaphragmatic) breaths each minute
Locating a potential reference point for a horizon simulation
Treatment
Consider using these drugs if you have motion sickness nonetheless, but first consult your doctor or chemist.
- Melamine
- Consume ginger root to perhaps speed up the emptying of your stomach.
- Diphenhydramine
- Scopolamine (prescription only)
- Metoclopramide (on prescription)
Even though a lot of these drugs are OTC, they may conflict with other prescription and OTC drugs. Additionally, you should consult your pediatrician before giving any of these drugs to your child for motion sickness as some of them are not meant for use in young patients.
This blog is contributed by Ankit Raj