Motion sickness is a common problem of people of all ages. Medically, it's called kinetosis and caused by a disagreement between your visually perceived movement and your system's sense of movement, also called the vestibular system. Your vestibular system is the sensory system that provides the input for your movement and sense of balance as well as your sense of spatial orientation. It's located in your inner ear. During repeated motion such as the swelling of the sea , car movement, or amusement park rides, there can be a disturbance in your inner ear that affects your sense of balance and equilibrium, putting you in that familiar sense of sickness.
Causes of Motion Sickness
In order to better understand what causes motion sickness, it is important to know how motion works. The human brain has three different pathways of sensing motion. These pathways are parts of your nervous system and they send signals coming from the inner ear (which senses the motion, acceleration, and gravity), the eyes (your vision), and body surface's deeper tissues (called proprioceptors). When you move intentionally, like when you walk, these three pathways send signals coordinated by the brain. When there is an unintentional movement of the body, such as when you're inside a moving vehicle, the brain may not be able to properly coordinate the motion input, so there is a confusion among the three pathways, resulting in conflict.
Experts hypothesize that the conflict causes motion sickness, although the cause of motion sickness is far more complex than this. For example, blind people can still feel motion sickness, indicating that the vision pathway takes on a lesser role. However, without the motion-sensing organ of the inner ear, no motion sickness occurs, suggesting that it is critical to its development. Also, motion sickness seems to occur more likely in a complex movement, especially if said movement is slow or involves two directions at once (vertical and horizontal).
In any case, any conflicting input in the brain seems to involve the activity of neurotransmitters—substances that mediate signal transmission within the brain and the nervous system. That is why most of the drugs available today that are used to treat motion sickness act by influencing the levels of these compounds within the brain.
The most common symptoms of motion sickness include:
•nausea
•dizziness or vertigo
•vomiting
•sweating, usually cold
•malaise
Getting Rid of Motion Sickness
If you can't seem to enjoy a journey because 90% of the time, you're bunched up over a paper bag vomiting and generally feeling a bit under the weather, here are some tips to help you out:
•Take anti-nausea and anti-motion sickness medications. The most common medications for treating motion sickness are antihistamines such as Dramamine and Marezine. Take them an hour before you travel. There is also a medicated skin patch designed to combat the sickness, called Transderm Scop. The patch is applied behind the ear a few hours before you travel.
•Plan ahead. Whenever you need to travel, make sure that you are sitting or situated in a place where your eyes will see the same motion that your body and your inner ears are experiencing. This way, you won't feel disoriented. If you're going by ship, make sure you're in a cabin that is in the upper or middle deck, where you can see the horizon. If by car, sit in the front passenger's seat. In a plane, sit by the window and over the front edge of the wing.
•Don't read while traveling. If you read a book or some other reading material while in a moving vehicle, your eyes will try to stay fixed on a stationary object and yet, your body feels motion, setting your equilibrium in that contradictory mode. Focus instead on a distant object so all of your senses are in one page.
•Avoid strong odors and spicy foods. The smell of greasy or spicy foods and other strong odors can add to the barrage of sensory overload, triggering motion sickness. Instead, try dry crackers or carbonated drink.
•Stay away from other people who suffer motion sickness. You know what they say: “Monkey see, monkey do”. If you see someone getting motion sickness, chances are you will have it, too. Look somewhere else instead, like the horizon.
•Minimize any sudden head movements. These can aggravate motion sickness. Instead, rest on something while looking outside.
•Keep yourself busy. Talk with a companion, imagine other things, create a story in your head—anything to keep you busy. Doing so will keep your thoughts away from being sick.
Motion sickness is not life-threatening, but it can seriously cramp your lifestyle and maybe even affect it. If you can't bear to get on anything that moves because you feel seriously sick, then you'll be stuck in one place for the rest of your life. Condition your mind to get over motion sickness and you'll be happier.