Dealing with travel sickness

Travel sickness, also called motion sickness, is very common. It can include travelling in a vehicle, such as a car, plane or boat, or on a fairground ride. In these situations you are in a fixed position, sitting on the ride or in the vehicle, but you can see and feel that you are moving, whether it is along the road, across the sea or in the air.

Children tend to experience travel sickness more often than adults, but they often grow out of it as they get older. The symptoms may include: nausea, vomiting, becoming cold and sweaty, excess saliva and headaches.

These symptoms often worsen as the journey continues, but usually get better quickly, once the journey is over. But in some cases, symptoms can go on for a few hours, or even days, after the journey ends.

How it works
Travel sickness affects people because the repeated movements caused by travel, such as going over bumps or round corners or roundabouts, send messages to the brain. The person’s eyes lead them to think one thing about the position of their body, while their inner balance mechanisms, in their ear, feel something different.

This sends the brain mixed messages and the conflict in the person’s senses can make them feel sick. As well as travel itself, travel sickness can be triggered by anxiety or smells, such as food or petrol. Sometimes trying to read a book or a map triggers travel sickness.

Be prepared
You can combat travel sickness by either preventing it or treating it, or a combination of both.

Ways to prevent travel sickness include the following:

• Don’t eat large meals before or during travelling
• Avoid alcohol
• Sit in the front seat of the car so you can get a clear view of the road
• Don’t focus on something close such as a book or film
• Look at objects in the distance
• Close your eyes and try to sleep
• Make sure the car is well ventilated
• Stop for regular breaks

Travel sickness medicine
There are also a range of medicinal treatments for motion sickness, available both by prescription from a doctor, and over-the-counter at a pharmacy. It's always best to seek medical advice before selecting treatments, as a medical practitioner or pharmacist will help you to choose the right one, depending on your age, the severity of the sickness and other medicines you are taking.

Alternative therapies
There are a number of ways to treat travel sickness that do not require medication, and among these are:

• Fresh air
• Sipping cold water
• Taking a short walk
• Eating ginger in the form of a biscuit, in tea or crystallised
• Peppermint, sucked as a sweet or drunk as a tea
• Deep, slow and focused breathing
• Listening to relaxing music on a portable player
• Wearing acupressure bands on the wrists
  

Sources
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

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