Motion sickness, also known as seasickness, occurs due to a disturbance in your inner ear. The inner ear is the area of the body responsible for balance and equilibrium. Typically, when we are on the move, all our senses – ears, eyes, skin, muscle, and joint – tell the brain that we are in motion either through what we hear, what we see, or what we feel. But if you are moving yet still, like when you travel on a ship, plane, car, train, or bus, the senses get conflicting information, and motion sickness tends to occur. According to the CDC, when the movement you see is different from what your inner ear senses, motion sickness occurs. Even though anyone can suffer from motion sickness, it is more common in pregnant women, children, and people on certain medications. Motion sickness typically starts as a queasy feeling but can quickly progress to cold sweats, dizziness, nausea, and even vomiting.
How Do You Prevent Motion Sickness
1. Know Where to Sit While Traveling
Where you sit makes a difference to the extent of motion sickness you’d experience. Typically, sitting in front of the car and enjoying the outside scenery helps reduce car sickness. If flying, try to get a wing seat on a plane and look out the window if possible. When on a cruise, staying midship or on the upper deck can help keep things balanced in your brain. And if you’re on a train, seating on the forward-moving cars and near a window helps your brain match up what it sees and what the inner ear senses.
2. Know What Not to Do
When you experience motion sickness, especially in a car or a bus, try looking out of the car and focus on things in the distance rather than looking inside the car or reading a book. Your brain typically senses movement by the signals it gets from other parts of the body, like the eyes and inner ear. If you are reading instead of looking out, your ear senses motion but your eyes are focused on a book, which is static. This will make things worse.
3. Keep Hydrated
Drinking enough water seem to be the solution to everything and might begin to sound overrated, but in reality, water is one of the best natural and powerful things we can give our body. Your body is more prone to motion sickness when you are dehydrated. Hydration helps reduce motion sickness when we are on the move. And hydration is also one of the cornerstones for clean eating, which helps you have a better travel experience.
4. Eat Clean
Certain foods will make you more prone to motion sickness, and if you’re already prone to motion sickness, worsen the symptoms. Acidic and greasy foods, such as bacon, fries, and similar foods, are a no-no prior to traveling. Clean eating, including foods like apples, whole foods, and veggies, are a better choice. If you have to, eat some saltine crackers since they are great for calming the stomach. Clean eating will reduce your risk of getting motion sickness and also offer so many other advantages to travelers including strengthening your immunes system against traveler-related illness like Traveler’s Diarrhea.
5. Get Quality Sleep
Getting plenty of rest and a good night's sleep before starting on your trip will help reduce motion sickness. Studies show that the more tired you are, the more likely you are to suffer from motion sickness, and even jet lag! So, get as many hours of sleep as you can prior to heading out of town.
6. Reduce Alcohol Intake
Alcohol can lead to dehydration which predisposes you to motion sickness. Avoid drinking large quantities of alcohol prior to your trip to help reduce the chances or motion sickness.
How Do You Treat Motion Sickness
There are many ways to treat motion sickness, and the treatment options depend on the severity of the motion sickness. Someone with less severe symptoms might need something milder than someone who vomits from motion sickness. Generally, there are three treatment options for motion sickness – non-pharmacological (non-drug), over-the-counter, and prescription medications.
1. Non-Drug Treatment
The recommended first-line therapy for motion sickness is natural and non-drug therapies. Some of the natural options have been proven to work really well, but like all things natural, you’d have to experiment to find out what works best for your body. A few of the popular natural remedies that have had mixed effectiveness include:
• Acupressure wrist band to prevent nausea
• Ginger essential oils
• Lavender essential oils
• Mint aromatherapy
• Oral peppermint to ease stomach upset
• Oral ginger
Most of these can be found in health and wellness food stores.
2. Over-The-Counter Options
When non-drug treatments fail, motion sickness is often treated with over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications. Most over-the-counter treatments are antihistamines, which most of us are used to. The most common side effect of antihistamine is drowsiness, and this sedation effect is one of the reasons this class of medications works for motion sickness. In fact, non-sedating antihistamines like Allegra®, also known as fexofenadine, are not effective for motion sickness. Fortunately, most of the approved OTC medications for motion sickness are older and readily available medications. They are available as a manufacturer brand or generic/store brand formulations, which are all equally effective.
Examples of some commonly used OTC medications include:
• Antivert® and Bonine ® - Meclizine (generic name) – this is an antihistamine that works by calming the neurons in our motion and balance center. It is used to prevent dizziness, nausea, and vomiting related to motion sickness. Since it also has dizziness as a side effect, you should not take it with alcohol or other sedatives. Not recommended for young children 12 years and younger.
• Benadryl® - Diphenhydramine (generic name) – this is also an antihistamine that is available OTC for children and adults over the age of 2. It works by blocking the action of histamine and works to relieve the symptoms of motion sickness. It can be used in recommended for ages 2 and older.
• Dramanine ® - Dimenhydrinate – this is an OTC antihistamine that treats and prevents dizziness, vomiting, queasiness, and nausea that come with motion sickness for ages 2 and older.
3. Prescription Medications
The last resort for treating motion sickness or treating severe motion sickness is prescription medications. Most travelers, especially cruisers, might already know about the “behind the ear patch” or “skin patch” for seasickness. This patch, officially known by the brand name of Transderm Scop ®, contains a medication known as scopolamine, which can either be used in the patch form or taken as a pill. Typically, the traveler has to apply the patch on the skin behind the ear and it can prevent motion sickness for up to three days before needing to be changed. One patch should be worn at a time, and do not cut since that might cause an overdose. The major side effect of this medication is dry mouth, and even though this medication is generally safe, you should consult your physician prior to using it.
Motion sickness can diminish your travel experience and make travel unpleasant for you. However, most people that have motion sickness already know they suffer from it and frequently prepare ahead of time or have learned coping mechanisms for dealing with it. Knowing how to prevent motion sickness as well as knowing how to treat it will go a long way in making your travel experience better and more fun. And knowing how to access medical help while traveling will help put your mind at ease should you need additional medical help.
Casey Barbles 
Jeff Yelton 