Prevention (continued)

2. On Water
Many people suffer from seasickness and often are not aware that there are specific steps you can take to reduce the symptoms.

Ideally go out on deck where you can give your senses a better chance of understanding what's going on.

Focus your eyes on the horizon and away from the waves or other moving objects, as this gives your eyes a fixed point to gauge the movement against. This should help your brain match up the sensations of movement that it's getting from your inner ear and what it sees through your eyes. If you try to minimise your head movements this should also help. Being outside will also help you get plenty of fresh air, and this can also help. If you can position yourself as centrally as you can then you should minimise the amount of movement that you experience, which should also help.

If you must stay inside, then try to minimise the motion by sitting somewhere central. You will also find that being able to see the horizon is helpful, so try to find somewhere close to a window.

3. In the air
Motion sickness in flight also something that you can minimise with a little knowledge. For example, the sense of motion in a plane is at its least over the wing, so if you can secure a seat here then this should help. You can also reduce the confusing signals about motion that your brain receives by maintaining a steady head position and by sitting upright.

Some patients come to me with anxiety about flying which compounds their motion sickness. I often find that the use of relaxation breathing techniques can help the minimise symptoms. You may also like to look at my advice on fears and phobias.

As with all types of motion sickness excess alcohol or eating a large meal can increase the chance of developing the symptoms, so avoid alcohol if possible and keep meals simple and light. On long trips eating and drinking little and often would be preferable to a single large intake of food and drink.

Treatment

Occasionally I prescribe medications for patients to use before a flight or on a ship if their motion sickness symptoms are disabling. There are a variety of drugs that can be useful, including stemetil diphenhydramine, cyclizine, promethazine and scopolamine. These would be taken a little time before departure and can offer some people relief from motion sickness. If vomiting does occur, then there are anti sickness medications available, such as buccastem which dissolves under your upper lip and should stop the vomiting. All these drugs have side effects so if you are wondering about taking tablets with you on a trip then you should discuss it with your GP.

An alternative option is an acupressure band, which is an elasticated wrist device, which presses on a pressure point on your inner wrist. This simple device has been reported to help some people and can be bought at most pharmacies.

The good news is that your brain is adaptable. Just because it naturally gets confused by mixed sensory messages doesn't mean it can't learn to cope. So if you regularly expose your body to these situations, it should get start to become 'habituated' and the brain will begin to no longer find the signals confusing – and the symptoms of motion sickness should reduce.

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