My 11 year old daughter just returned from a school trip to France. She told me about a choppy boat ride her class made and showed me the photographs. I have to say when I saw the photos I thought I was going to be sick. I honestly don’t know how she wasn't ill. The boat appeared to rock up and down and there was no sight of the horizon.
I remember when I was a child I used to suffer terribly with travel sickness otherwise known as motion sickness. I used to dread every single car journey knowing what the outcome would be. I also hated train journeys especially if I had to sit in the opposite direction to the actual direction the train was travelling in. It was a total nightmare.
Now I see my children starting to suffer and I begin to wonder is there a natural way of dealing with the problem without the use of medication?
Motion sickness occurs when there is a disturbance to the inner ear caused by repeated motion and this results in nausea, vomiting and dizziness. When I've researched this topic it seems that motion sickness is common with children between the ages of 2-12 years old and pregnant women (yes, I remember that too!).
Here are a few tips on how to avoid motion sickness:-
- Watch your food intake before and during the course of your travel.
- Avoid spicy foods, alcohol and liquids that leave you feeling full.
- Don’t read. My eldest daughter is forever doing this and complains about how awful she feels.
- Fix your gaze on the horizon. This is because your eyes send messages to your brain that you are not in motion and therefore you won’t be affected by motion sickness.
- Do not sit facing backwards from the direction of your travel.
- If possible sit in the front seat of vehicles.
- As for natural cures, there is a homeopathic wristband which can be worn and apparently has contact with the pressure point that controls the feeling of nausea. This can be purchased on websites and any good practising homeopath should be able to make recommendations.
- Ginger root or even ginger chews have been said to be a cure. I know from personal experience that this is great. This helped me a lot when I was pregnant and had to drive.
Now armed with this knowledge, I hope that you all have a pleasant journey.
Always seek your doctor's guidance if you suffer with this complaint.