Why Does Motion Sickness Affect Some People?

By Author: MedBag Team
Total Articles: 9
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Motion sickness occurs in many people during different forms of travel. Whether it is during a flight, during road travel or by flight. The typical symptoms are uneasiness, nausea, dizziness, headache and cold sweats. Motion sickness can be treated through medication and some home remedies.

During motion sickness, the brain receives conflicting signals from the motion-sensing organs of the body such as the eyes and inner ear. While traveling on an airplane, car or boat for example, you are sometimes unable to see the movement of the mean of transportation carrying you, but your body senses the motion. The conflict between ‘not seeing/hearing’ and ‘feeling’ the movement is the number one cause of motion sickness.

This is very typical during turbulence on a plane. The eyes are unable to see what is causing the motion but the brain gets the message from the inner ear that there is movement. Motion sickness can also occur when the signals are reversed, like during a car journey. What happens here is that your eyes see rapid movement as the vehicle moves quickly along, but your body is generally still. ...
... This conflict in the brain causes motion sickness as well.

The effects of motion sickness vary in people. Some have less severe symptoms like mild nausea while others suffer from serious distress. Usually, it first starts as a feeling of uneasiness and a queasy stomach. Gradually, the symptoms may become more severe leading to nausea, vomiting, dizziness, abdominal discomfort, headache and cold sweats. Sometimes people just feel the urge to throw up but don’t actually vomit.

For those who do often vomit from motion sickness, sickness bags come in handy to discretely relieve themselves. The vomiting often embarrasses the person suffering from motion sickness and makes surrounding people uncomfortable. Travelling with with puke bags is a sensible solution for those who are prone to this problem.

Motion sickness is different for everyone. While some may feel incapacitated by it, others seem comparatively immune. There is medication available in the form of anticholinergics and antihistamines to treat motion sickness. Anticholinergics slow down messages related to the involuntary nervous system that come and go from the brain; while Antihistamines affect the part of the brain that controls vomiting. These medications can cause drowsiness, so it is advised that alcohol is not used during use.

Apart from medicines a few ways to avoid motion sickness are:

* During car travel, drive yourself or sit in the front seat.

* During air travel, choose a seat over the wings or ask for a window seat. Rest your head on the headrest.

* During sea voyages, request a cabin in the front or middle section of the ship. You could also request for one on the upper deck. Try spending maximum time watching the horizon!

* Consuming ginger is a useful home remedy for motion sickness. You can take it in various forms. You could mix some ginger powder in a glass of water and drink it before travel. Capsules of powdered ginger are another option. There are ginger candies, ginger cookies and ginger ale that can be used as well.

The author of this article is a medical practitioner associated with MedBag Inc., a reputed supplier of plastic bags for the healthcare industry. MedBag Inc. is renowned for quality biohazard disposal bags. The writer has often advised his patients on the proper usage of quality plastic disposal bags for various medical conditions.