What is Motion Sickness?

If you often feel dizzy or nauseated while travelling, there is a chance that you are suffering from motion sickness. Also, known as sea-sickness or travel-sickness it is basically a disturbance of the inner ear caused by continuous motion. It happens when there is misalignment or miscoordination between the eyes, ears and brain. It also happens when there are two types of motion in different directions at the same time, as when you sit south-facing in a bus which is bound northwards.

The symptoms of motion sickness mostly stop when the motion stops, although rarely they can continue for some more days after the trip.

Motion sickness can also be caused by watching 3-D movies and other videos showing dramatic movements like racing cars or roller coasters in action.

Who are more vulnerable to motion sickness?

• Women, especially pregnant ladies
• People suffering from migraine headaches
• Men who have  labyrinthitis or other ear disorders.

Precautions to be taken to avoid motion sickness:

♦ Consume less foods, especially spicy ones, and drink less before a long travel and also during the tour.

♦ Try to take a seat, where you will fell minimum movement and also minimum engine disturbance. For instance, in a car, sit in the front, while in a train, plane or bus choose the window seat somewhere near the front portion of the vehicle, while on a ship, lower level cabins near the center of the ship is preferable.

♦ Do not read or smoke during travel

♦ Allow proper ventilation by keeping the doors open, as far as possible.

♦ Never sit facing backwards if the vehicle is moving forward.

♦ Keep your head still while in motion.

♦ Always sleep well before a long travel to avoid tiredness.

Helpful Remedies to Handle Motion Sickness

• Ginger tea and lemon are great home-remedies for combating motionsickness. Also, simply chewing gum can prevent motion sickness.
• Always keep drugs like Dramamine handy for treatment in case of an emergency