Anyone can experience motion sickness.
Instead of getting behind the steering wheel when next riding in a car, climb into the back seat and let someone else drive. Now, imagine sitting so low in the backseat of a car that you can't see outside. The inner ear senses motion, but your eyes and limbs don't. Now close your eyes. It intensifies. That feeling is kinetosis, also known as motion sickness. It differs from vertigo and has no hard proof for why it happens.
Motion You Can Feel but Not See
Some children are prone to car sickness.
Oliver Stenzel of Sun2Surf writes that symptoms of kinetosis are dry mouth, cold sweat, upset stomach, dizziness and nausea and or vomiting. Whether it is sea or vehicle motion, the reason people get sick is because of a motion that causes "contradictory stimuli," according to Dr. Michael Knappich of the Berlin Center for Travel and Tropical Medicine, who was quoted for the article.
"There is a discrepancy between what the eye can see and what our body's sensory organs tell our brains," Stenzel writes. Reinhard Jarsch is a Vienna allergist who theorizes that in response to the discrepancy, the body produces more histamines, the article goes on to say. "Antihistamines like diphenhydramine or dimenhydrinate are good for dealing with mild to severe symptoms," says Knappich in the article.
Theories and Research
Researchers have theories on how motion affects the brain.
The mismatch of sensory information for some reason releases a neurotransmitter in the Area Postrema of the brain, sometimes making a person vomit, according to the Operational Medicine General Medical Officer Manual. One theory says the reflex is a poison response, because the body thinks the sensory information is a poisonous substance and should be therefore purged from the body so it is not absorbed.
A functional vestibular system is required for a person or animal to experience motion sickness. During experiments, it was noted that people and animals in which the vestibular apparatus has been interrupted, motion sickness was not induced, in spite of efforts to do so. This reason supports the poison-response theory, the manual states.
Natural Cures
Some people experience motion sickness because they are more sensitive, but eating light snacks, focusing on other activities like conversation, or singing along with the radio and making sure to look outside while traveling are helpful.
Ginger root also lays its claims. A 1988 article in the the journal Acta Oto-Laryngologica, entitled "Ginger Root Against Seasickness: A Controlled Trial on the Open Sea," states that 80 naval cadets unused to rough seas said sea sickness eased after taking ginger root every four hours compared to taking a placebo.The difference was statistically insignificant, but it does not change the fact that some felt better after taking ginger root. Fewer symptoms of nausea and vertigo were reported after ginger root ingestion.
Acupressure wristbands have also offered claims of a cure. The wristbands provides a degree of pressure on points of the body, fooling the brain into preventing nausea.
Over-the-Counter Remedies
Besides Dramamine or Bonnine, Transderm-Scop patch may be worn behind the ear for up to three days according to Dr. Gary P. Barnas, M.D., Associate Professor General Internal Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin in an article on the school's website. Sleepiness and dry mouth are side affects, and not everyone can take the drug. People with glaucoma and urinary blockage should not take the drug, the doctor writes.
Motion Sickness Can Affect Anyone
Anyone can experience motion sickness if conditions permit; however, some are more sensitive to it. Dr. Greene of Dr.Greene.com explains that newcomers to cruise or air travel may experience it because the sensations are new to their bodies and they are not used to them. As they experience more travel, the sickness will lessen unless they are highly sensitive.
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