Health factsheet - Travel sickness | Thursday,24 Jun 2010
Travel or motion sickness describes the nausea, vomiting or dizziness that some people get when travelling. It can happen during any form of transport, but common examples include car or sea travel.
About motion sickness
Travel or motion sickness isn't only restricted to car and sea travel; train journeys, air travel and less common modes of transport such camel or elephant travel can all induce it. It's also a problem for astronauts, who can get space motion sickness when on missions.
Travel sickness is more common in children than in adults. However, many children become less susceptible as they get older.
Symptoms
Travel sickness can produce several symptoms, including:
nausea
vomiting
dizziness
headache
sweating
paleness
You may get a general feeling of illness and have a desire not to be moving along with these symptoms. Travel sickness tends to get worse while you move, but usually quickly improves once you have stopped.
Causes
Although travel sickness isn't fully understood, research suggests that it's caused by movements when travelling, such as tilting and shaking, which confuse the brain.
Normally, your vestibular system - which is located in your inner ear - keeps track of your body, head and eye movements. This helps you to change position and control your balance. However, during travel the motion your vestibular system senses and what you see don't match. This conflict between the senses is thought to travel motion sickness. No one knows why some people are more sensitive than others.
Prevention
As well as the methods listed under Treatments, there are several things you can do to help prevent motion sickness when you are travelling.
Keep your eyes fixed on the horizon
Keep your head still
Don't read - try listening to story tapes instead
Open a window to let fresh air in
Avoid exposure to cigarette smoke
Avoid smells of food
Don't eat a lot before travelling
Don't drink alcohol while travelling
Try distraction, such as playing travel games or listening to music Some people find that lying down helps. Others find that the best way to deal with travel sickness is to close their eyes and go to sleep.