Common sense ideas offer help with motion sickness

Ben thought sailing would be an attractive, adventurous sport until he found out that he would hurl when the sails unfurled.

Patsy wanted to be a flight attendant, but had to hold the little white bag until her knuckles went white on her first flight. And, then there was Frank who couldn’t keep his breakfast down if he sat down in the back seat of a car.

These people all suffer from motion sickness. But, do you know what causes it? Most commonly affecting children from 2 to 12, motion sickness occurs when your body, your inner ear and eyes send conflicting signals to the brain. It’s kind of like your right hand not knowing what your left hand is doing, but in this case it’s your ears, eyes, skin receptors and muscles.

It’s not just about throwing up, either. Motion sickness symptoms include nausea, pale skin, cold sweats, dizziness, headache, increased salivation and fatigue. If you’ve had these symptoms and aren’t 100 percent sure they were caused by motion sickness, you should see your medical provider.

For the most part, motion sickness is a nuisance. And, for the most part symptoms stop when the motion stops. However, the University of Maryland Medical Center says, “Sometimes just thinking about movement can cause anxiety and symptoms of motion sickness. For example, a person who had motion sickness before might get nauseous on an airplane before take-off.” So much for Patsy’s career choice!

UMMC suggests preventing motion sickness by sitting in the front seat of the car, keeping your eyes on the horizon, not reading while moving, resting your head against the seat back to keep it still, turning the air vents towards your face and not smoking.

They suggest avoiding big meals, greasy or salty foods, alcohol and dairy. They recommend drinking plenty of water and eating small, frequent meals and trying crackers and carbonated beverages such as ginger ale to help avoid nausea.

For those of you who get motion sickness flying, plan to sit towards the front of the aircraft or over the wing and as soon as you’re in your seat, turn the air vent toward your face. On a boat or ship, stay on the deck and look at the horizon or towards land, if you can see it. When booking your stateroom on a ship, request a cabin toward the front of the ship or even better on the upper deck.

Talk to your health care provider about medications for motion sickness. Although they can be very effective, many of them will make you drowsy so are not recommended if you’re the one with the wheel, helm or throttle. Also, bear in mind that most medications need to be taken prior to traveling and that they may have other side effects such as dry mouth and blurred vision.

Some people rave about results they get from herbs such as ginger, peppermint and black horehound. Please discuss taking these herbs with your clinician whether you’re taking them in capsule form, powders or brewing tea with them. They can interact with your prescription medicines. For instance, ginger may increase the risk of bleeding particularly if you’re already taking a blood thinner or aspirin.

You may also want to talk to the medico about acupuncture, biofeedback, meditation, breathing and relaxation techniques. “Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to reduce the anxiety some people have just thinking about movement or motion sickness,” UMMC says.

And then they state the obvious, “Although motion sickness usually goes away after the motion stops and causes no lasting harm, it can be devastating for people whose jobs involve constant movement.” Ya think?

Kathy Hubbard is a trustee on Bonner General Hospital Foundation Board, she can be reached at 264-4029 or kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com.