Motion Sickness. A barrier to smooth travel

^{Qatar Airways. wikipedia: CCO License}

She called me and told me she had her ears blocked and her children vomited like twice each before touchdown. She had loss of appetite, and so did her children. The reason was quite straight forward, she flew over 13 hours in the air. She travelled from Lagos, Nigeria to Dallas which was supposed to be about 11,000 km, but Qatar Airways will have to go to Doha, Qatar first before joining the flight to Dallas, USA. So all together she and her children flew over 19,000 km.

^{Me, at the airport saying goodbye to my firend}

She is my friend and she travelled with her 3 children to be with her husband in Dallas, USA, and she experienced what we know as Air-travel sickness which can be regarded as a form of motion sickness. What is it? What are the symptoms? Why do they show different signs to the same sickness? Let’s take few minutes to look at this ‘thing’.

Have you ever had the opportunity of traveling by air? Possibly. But not everyone can relate, I, myself cannot relate, because I’ve not travelled by air, yet. But, of course all of us would be able to relate to motion experienced when travelling by road, in a vehicle. So have you experience some kind of nausea, or dizziness after travelling for hours on the road. You might have concluded that your body system is not OK with travelling long, or that you just have a natural phobia for travelling. Whatever the case, let’s learn how we can deal with it.

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What is Motion Sickness?

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While writing this article, I asked someone if she knows what part of the human body helps us to keep balance, and she says “No, I don’t, I have never given thought to it.” True, she hasn’t, as do many others who may never have given thought to that, while some may simply have thought that our legs or body muscles helps to keep balance. What exactly helps to keep our body balanced? Let us find out together.

Motion sickness is a kind of disorder that results from a mismatch of information supplied to the brain by the eyes and the inner ear. The vestibular system is responsible for balance of the entire body, and it is located in the inner ear.

It is possible that the motion sensed by the ear cannot be seen by the eyes, this throws the brain into some kind of confusion. This could also occur in a reverse situation, possibly in a cinema where someone watching a 3D movie is seeing a virtual motion of maybe a train and cannot feel this motion in the ear. Then such person may begin to feel like vomiting. This is what we refer to as motion sickness.
It doesn’t really matter what form of transportation – Air, land, even water. Some people who travel on sea, also experience this. The evolutionist, Charles Darwin was quoted below:

“If it was not for sea-sickness, the whole world would be sailors.”

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Science Explains Motion Sickness

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The dissonance or mismatch that occurs between the concerned senses is a major cause. But we need to understand certain things about the human body with respect to motion. The human body does not stop moving in actual sense. To do something as little as standing still certain body muscles must be moving. If we were to make our muscles motionless or relax, then we would collapse. The little movement our body constantly makes is what we call body sway. Now this is the kind of movement that our body is used to.

Now how do we balance our body movements is case of disruption? Suppose your body is made to move forward suddenly, you balance by pressing on your toes, and if it were to move backward, pressing on your heel will give you balance. When we travel, regardless the medium of transportation, our body keeps moving in a way we can’t control the balance. What do I mean?

Suppose you are in a ship and it starts to move, your body tends to move backward. What would you ordinarily do? You’d probably press on your heels for balance, right? Correct. But as the movement continues, you’d realize you cannot continue to control your balance, because the balance you require from pressing on your heel, you are not getting, and you tend to give up. Then you begin to feel sick.

Eventually it all boils down to difference between expectation and reality. But how does the vestibular system work to balance the human body?

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How the Vestibular System Works

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The ear as we all know is our sense ability to hear. Sound waves gets to the ear and it is converted to electrical signals which is transferred to the brain for interpretation. Now what many people do not know is that it is also our sense ability for balance. How? The inner ear, majorly the vestibular system

There are three semicircular canals in the vestibular system. It also contains two otolith organs, called the utricle and saccule. These organs are filled with fluid. The semicircular canals as well as the otholiths organs help to balance the human body. Although the semicircular canals and the otholiths organs share a common task of keeping balance, they perform different specific tasks. The otholiths organ for instance, detects and calculates acceleration that occurs every day like taking an elevator or falling from a height, or speeding and braking of a car.

The brain then processes the information it is provided with and sends the output or command to other organs of the body like the eyes, for body balance and coordination.

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^{Can it be prevented?}

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It is however important to know and recognize the particular symptoms of motion sickness so as to determine how to tackle it. The common symptoms of motion sickness includes, but not limited to:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Unusual sweating
• A feeling of unwellness
• Dizziness

These symptoms must be watched out for, and appropriate steps must be taken. Now how can we prevent it, or rather should in case it cannot be totally prevented, how can it be limited?

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How Can you Prevent yourself against it?

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It is noted that some people are susceptible to this feeling and are more likely to experience this sickness than others. However, there are tips as to how it can be limited or prevented. Let’s consider a few of these.

• Food Consumption
  ^{The type and nature of the food you consume before you embark on a journey and during the journey matters a lot. Those who are prone to motion sickness must avoid alcohol before and during a trip. Food must not be taken in excess. Excessive foods or drinks, especially the ones that do not really agree with your system, or makes you unusually full, may well cause nausea or dizziness. Foods with strong odor too must be avoided.
  However, wherever possible an intake of ginger or ginger food is recommended prior to the trip. It helps with the nausea. So, some people have considered eating raw ginger or drinking ginger tea.}

• Travel Position
  ^{A plane or ship on motion has varying intensity of relative motion from point to point, but generally, the middle of an airplane, just somewhere over the wing experiences the most calm during travel, while the lower middle cabin of the ship likewise experience relative calm during travel. Passengers that are prone to motion sickness will need to sit in a position where motion is least felt.
  Sitting, backing the direction of travel is a very bad idea as it can further disorient the brain. When travelling by car, then it is recommended that such ones sit in the front seat of a car.}

• Activities During Transit
  ^{Certain activities must be avoided while traveling, but some activities should be done. Some people have thought that closing their eyes is a solution, well if you belong to that category, I’d advise you against it, because you are more likely to complicate matters. Please keep your eyes open, except you feel sleepy.
  If you happen to be prone to motion sickness, then you should seat next to a window and receive fresh air, and ensure not to stay close to someone with similar problem and not discuss about it with anyone during the journey as this can pose a potential nausea danger.}

^{If you are an arbitral reader, like my friend @sogless, you might have to make an exception while traveling, because you will be doing yourself some good by gazing outside the vehicle or the window of the airplane. It is likewise important to keep gazing at the horizon wherever possible, and try to monitor your movement with your eyes.}

• Medication
  ^{If you only experience mild case of motion sickness, you might want to take dremamine or Antivert before traveling to help prevent it. However, if your case is somewhat more than the mild, then you might want to consider seeing a doctor for prescription. It should be noted that some of these drugs have their side effects like drowsiness.}

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Conclusion

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Maybe you have concluded that you can’t travel because of your phobia, or because of your body reaction to motion, then I hope this article reaches you and you learnt from it and improve your orientation towards motion.

I do have another friend who has repeatedly warned me that if I decide to go far for my wedding, she simply won’t be there, that I can count her out. This is due to her one time rather traumatic experience on the road traveling from Lagos to Kogi, which was fueled by her not knowing exactly where she was going. That really got her all messed up.

Importantly, we need to recognize that it is manageable.

The materials were sourced from:

Car sickness in children

The Mysterious Science of Motion Sickness

Travel Sickness: The Cause and The Cure

How does our sense of balance work?

Why do some people get travel sickness?

Tips to Prevent Motion Sickness

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