Understanding Motion Sickness: When Senses Clash and Travel Plans Falter
Aman Puri, Founder, Steadfast Nutrition Do you love travelling but are afraid of motion sickness spoiling your plans? Motion sickness occurs when our brain cannot interpret conflicting signals sent by the eyes, ears, and body. Our eyes tend to see one thing, whilst the muscles feel another thing, and our ears tend to sense something different. This can confuse the brain and make us feel dizzy and sick.
Motion Sickness Triggers and Symptoms: Understanding the Culprits and Finding Relief
There could be various actions that can trigger motion sickness, such as taking rides at an amusement park, using a phone/tablet, reading while in motion, boat, car, bus, train, or plane ride, certain video games, movies, and others. Motion sickness can make you experience symptoms such as cold sweats, fatigue, headache, irritability, increased urge to vomit due to nausea, dizziness, and inability to focus. However, there are effective measures that can help ease your symptoms of motion sickness.
Natural Remedies and Strategies to Combat Motion Sickness: From Soothing Herbs to Acupressure Techniques
You can breathe in soothing herbs like mint, ginger, peppermint, and lavender, or scents with notes of these herbs. Refrain from having a heavy and spicy meal as it can slow down the digestion process, resulting in nausea. Distract your mind by indulging in some good music or by talking to someone. Have chamomile tea as it can also help soothe gastric acid in the body, curing motion sickness. Using licorice root in form of a tablet of 75-100 milligrams with water before starting your travel can also help reduce the severity of motion sickness. Ensure you stay hydrated, choose low-fat, bland, and lighter meals, and avoid alcohol or smoke. Try to get some fresh air, always make sure that you face forward while travelling, put down the phone or book to avoid strain on the eyes, lie back and try closing your eyes to ease the symptoms. Wearing an acupressure band may also be helpful as it applies pressure on a particular spot of your wrist that helps lower motion sickness. The same can also be done by pressing your wrist with the opposite hand’s thumb.
