Motion Sickness

Motion Sickness

Smoothing a Rough Ride

When motion makes you miserable, travel is torture. The fishing boat is pitching and rolling on choppy seas. The jumbo jet hits turbulence and shudders. The car is hot, the radio's too loud, and the road to the beach is a maze of hairpin turns.

And you? You've broken out in a cold sweat. You're green around the gills. Your stomach lurches. How soon, you wonder, will you lose your lunch?

Whether you're carsick or airsick, seasick or even trainsick, take comfort in the fact that motion sickness strikes 90 percent of Americans at some point in their lives. Women and men seem equally disposed to this nightmare, but a woman may suffer the effects more if she's pregnant or premenstrual--times when hormone levels can make her feel nauseated anyway. Studies at Pennsylvania State University in University Park also suggest that people of Asian descent are more prone to motion sickness than those of European or African descent.

It's All in Your Head

Why does a bumpy trip make some people ill? Because their brains are receiving contradictory signals from motion sensors in their eyes, inner ears, joints and tendons. Say you're on a ferry boat: Your eyes follow the moving waves, but your ears and body sense the rocking of the ship. Somehow, this "sensory mismatch" activates nausea and vomiting centers in the brain.

Researchers aren't sure how this happens, but one theory suggests that the brain misinterprets the mixed signals as food poisoning and--thus fooled--tries to eject toxins it thinks must be in the stomach. But all that really comes up is your breakfast.

So far, motion sickness has no cure. But there's plenty you can do to steady yourself and your stomach.

Take medications early. Dramamine, Bonine, Marezine and other over-the-counter motion sickness drugs are most effective when taken at least an hour before your journey. The scopolamine patch, which releases a prescription drug through your skin into your bloodstream for up to three days, must be applied behind the ear several hours in advance.

But beware--all of these medications can make you drowsy, and blurred vision and dry mouth are additional side effects of the patch. If drowsiness is a worry for you, says gastroenterologist Kenneth L. Koch, M.D., a researcher in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Pennsylvania State University/Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, try Marezine. He says it makes you less groggy than Dramamine does, and "it lasts up to six hours." Pregnant women should check with their doctors before using the patch or any motion sickness drugs.

Try ginger. Some medical studies show ginger is better than Dramamine or other drugs at keeping motion sickness at bay. Start with two 900-milligram capsules of ground ginger root 15 to 20 minutes before a trip, says researcher Daniel Mowrey, Ph.D., director of the American Phytotherapy Research Laboratory in Salt Lake City. Take more whenever feelings of nausea arise. How much at one time is the right dose? "You know you've had enough when you can taste ginger at the back of your throat," Dr. Mowrey says. He says it works for up to 60 percent of people with motion sickness. "It's worth a try; ginger cannot hurt you," he adds.

But ginger didn't do as well as the patch in studies at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans, where 28 people were tested. When they sat on a rotating chair to stimulate motion sickness, ginger did not avert or lessen their distress, but the patch did.

Face forward. Always ride so your eyes see the same motion your body and inner ears feel. Sit in the front seat of the car and watch the road ahead, choose a forward-facing seat on the train and observe the scenery, sit by the window on an airplane and look outside or stand on the deck of the ship and keep your eyes on the horizon ahead. "You want to match the swerves, bumps, starts and stops that your inner ear is sensing, so the same signals go from your eyes and ears to the brain," says Robert M. Stern, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Pennsylvania State University.

Don't read. Reading in a moving vehicle sends your brain the very mixed signals that cause nausea: Your eyes track across the printed words, while your inner ear detects every swerve of the car. Look out the window and let someone else read the map.

Breathe freely. Avoid food odors and smoke-filled spaces. "Get cool air," says Dr. Koch. "Nobody knows quite why, but it seems to help."

Eat, but lightly. Steer clear of spicy or greasy foods before a trip, but don't go hungry. A small, easily digestible meal--try bread, crackers, cereal or granola bars--will keep your stomach occupied with normal digestion without burdening it with foods that may irritate or, like fatty items, take longer to digest. "And take some crackers with you," Dr. Stern says. "Try to eat something very small every two hours or so."

Squeeze your wrist. According to the ancient Chinese practice of acupressure, stimulating the "Neiguan point" relieves nausea. You can find it between the tendons on the underside of your wrist, three finger-widths below the crease of skin where your wrist joins your hand.