Do you get nausea, vomiting, severe head ache, sweating, migraine, light-headedness, belching, queasy, hyper-ventilating when traveling? Well, then you suffer from travel or motion sickness. Anyone can get travel sickness, depending on one’s sensitivity to motion or movement. Be it a child or adults, simply anyone can be affected from sickness due to turbulence in an aircraft or moving car or even while on rough boat rides. Women are more prone to motion sickness than men due to the hormones at play, besides menstruating, pregnant or women on oral contraceptives may get more sick or affected! Fret not; you can discover ways to feel better while traveling. Read on to find out some easy ways to overcome or prepare yourself for travel sickness, before you take off on the long haul.
[Also Read: Tips to Stay Healthy While Travelling]
- To begin with, always remember to not sit facing backwards, i.e from the direction of travel.
- Make sure you have had a good night’s sleep or enough rest before your journey. Also, your stress or anxiety levels should be least, else they aggravate sickness.
- If you suffer from motion sickness you should also try to keep your gaze set on a fixed point.
- You must pay attention to what you consume before and during your travel. Refrain from heavy meals, excessive alcohol, fried, fatty, spicy, salty or dairy foods or liquids make you feel full as they tend to worsen motion sickness. You must also drink plenty of water to keep yourself well hydrated.
- Try to avoid strong or pungent food odor as they may cause nausea or vomiting.
- Make sure you sit in the front seat of a car, there will be lesser jerks or movement as compared to sitting at the back . If you happen to feel sick, lie down and close your eyes. Reducing the amount of visual stimulus can also ease symptoms.
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- When traveling by air, try to sit in the middle of an aircraft or over the wings area as it is the calmest side as compared to anywhere else it. If you get sick while on air, try to pinch your nose and blow out some air through the pinched nose, this is in order to clear out your inner ears.
- When travelling by sea, you may be prone to sea sickness on a cruise / ship, so choose lower level cabins around the center of a ship and steer clear of higher or outer cabins. Also if you happen to feel sick while on sea, try to look or focus on the horizon or keep your eyes stuck on a fixed object or on land if it is visible even from a distance.
- You should try to get a source of fresh air if it is possible, this way you get more oxygen supply.
- Refrain from reading any books or messages on your cell phone if you suffer from motion sickness.
- If you happen to see another person around with motion sickness, try to stay away from that person as seeing or hear about motion sickness or illness may make you feel ill.
Simple Solutions
- It is believed that ginger is a good preventive measure for motion sickness. So you can try taking a piece of ginger half an hour before traveling or carry along some ginger ale and ginger biscuits.
[Also Read: Benefits of Ginger]
- Another remedy for travel sickness is to carry along some lemons. You can suck on a lemon wedge or smell the lemon or have some fresh lemon juice. They help ward off motion sickness.
- And while you are at it, green apples often help in motion sickness, as the pectin in the fruit helps neutralize the acid in the stomach. So is the case with peppermint candy and mint gums.
- You can ask your physician to prescribe you medicines or give you over-the-counter medication which should ideally be taken about half an hour to an hour prior to the travel. There might be side effects to counter later on like drowsiness, dryness in the mouth or blurred vision, but that can be taken care of!
- If nothing else seems to help simply lie down and close your eyes, as minimizing visual stimulus helps ease the mind and body.
Happy Travelling!