How To Overcome Motion Sickness

Motion sickness, also known as kinetosis, can often interrupt otherwise fun activities involved with traveling. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating and general discomfort. It can strike anytime you are in motion, including when driving, sailing or riding a roller coaster. Motion sickness is caused by the movement interrupting your sense of balance and equilibrium.

Things You'll Need

• Crackers
• Carbonated beverages
• Antihistamines

Show More

Instructions

Prevention

• 1

  Plan ahead. The best way to overcome motion sickness is to avoid it altogether. Planning where you will sit, for example, when making travel arrangements might help you avoid motion sickness. It may seem counterintuitive, but MedicineNet.com recommends sitting near and looking out windows. According to MedicineNet.com, "Always ride where your eyes will see the same motion that your body and inner ears feel" by sitting in the front seat of a car or taking the window seat on an airplane. MayoClinic.com recommends sitting near the wing section on a plane and staying in the middle of the ship if traveling by boat to minimize the effects of traveling on you.

• 2

  Don't read or focus on anything such as a computer or personal video game console. Instead, focus on an object in the distance. This helps because the distant object (like a horizon or a far away building) will appear more stationary, while focusing on something like a book will exaggerate your movement.

• 3

  Avoid greasy and spicy foods. These types of food have a tendency to upset the stomach as is, so eating these before traveling might compound your motion sickness symptoms.

Treatment

• 4

  Take an antihistamine. Many medications that are used to prevent motion sickness are available at your pharmacy. While these medications will help when you are already experiencing motion sickness, effectiveness of these medications is best when taken before beginning the activity that causes motion sickness in the first place, ideally an hour in advance.

  Another medication used to treat motion sickness is called scopolamine. When used for motion sickness, it is used topically in a patch so that the medication absorbs into your skin. You put on the patch 72 hours before travel.

• 5

  Eat crackers or drink a light-colored carbonated beverage. Avoid highly caffeinated carbonated beverages because those might cause a headache and worsen your symptoms, but drinks such as lemon-lime soda or ginger ale are often attributed to helping motion sickness. Snacking on saltines or ginger snaps can also help.

• 6

  Try therapy. Many have found non-medication based attempts to fight motion sickness effective. According to MotionSickeness.net, cognitive behavioral therapy can help, but the process of this treatment is time consuming.