Travel sickness is a real thing that many of us encounter but may not speak of. Often times we’re focused on enjoying our trip that we may put our health on the back burner.
Regardless of the circumstances, it is vital we acknowledge and manage feeling ill while traveling.
Here are 5 ways to overcome travel sickness:
Breathe
Practicing regular breathing can help manage nausea and aide in the prevention of vomiting.
According to John Golding, a professor of applied psychology at the University of Westminster, “Controlled breathing is about half as effective as a drug.”
He goes on to say, “The vomiting reflex turns off the respiratory impulse. If you’re concentrating on your breathing, that can inhibit vomiting.”
Put Down Your Phone, Listen To Music Instead
Reading or looking at your phone while traveling can cause motion sickness because of a mismatch between what your eyes see and the movement detected by your inner ear.
Luisa Murdin, a consultant in audiovestibular medicine at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS trust says: “It’s not always obvious to people, but having conversations doesn’t help because when we have a conversation we almost always move our head as part of that.”
She goes on to say, “Listening to music is one thing that has been shown in studies to be helpful.”
Consuming large meals, alcohol, and nicotine is also said to make motion sickness worse.
Know Your Triggers
For most people, traveling on small planes tend to trigger sickness compared to larger jets.
If you’re on a cruise, stay towards the middle of the ship because there will be less movement.
If you’re going on a road trip, the worst place to sit is in the backseat.
Consume Ginger
Chewing on crystallized ginger 30 minutes prior to traveling can help nip travel sickness in the bud.
In fact, there are studies which support the use of ginger as a preventative measure against travel sickness.
Medication
If you’re supposed to be driving, avoid over-the-counter medications with hyoscine and antihistamines as they can cause blurred vision and drowsiness.
Motion sickness medications containing cinnarizine are effective and have fewer side-effects.
You should take these two hours before traveling because they are useless once you start feeling sick.
Golding tells The Guardian: “Even if you’re not actually sick, you get what’s called gastric stasis.”
This means your body will stop the contents of your stomach to move to your gut resulting in medication not being absorbed.