Motion Sickness When You Fly? - Try This Next Time

Motion Sickness When You Fly? – Try This Next Time

Posted On: September 30, 2021
Posted By: Terry Miriam

Do you ever get dizzy or nauseated while flying? If so, many people experience some kind of motion sickness. Motion sickness is a mid affliction that often occurs to those traveling on almost anything including trains, boats, airplanes, and cars. Although anyone can get motion sickness, there are some individuals who are affected more regularly.

What Is Motion Sickness?

Motion sickness is a type of illness that’s experienced during long durations of travel. Common symptoms of motion sickness include feeling nauseous and dizziness. Other less common symptoms include sudden pallid to your skin, loss of appetite, and an increase in saliva. Nearly everyone is prone to motion sickness, though most might go their entire lives without ever experiencing it and some other people are habitual sufferers. Nonetheless, the only true exceptions are the people who don’t have motion-sensing organs, which are considered to be the main cause of motion sickness. Pregnant women and children are more prone to motion sickness than anyone else. In fact, studies show that women who have previously experienced motion sickness before the pregnancy are more likely to throw up during their pregnancy.

Basically, motion sickness is caused by miscommunication between different motion sensing organs – especially the eyes and inner eye. The brain gets signals from these organs with data about things such as whether you’re moving. Nevertheless, in some cases, like on an aircraft, the brain may get confused, as the eyes will show that you aren’t moving whereas the inner ear perceives that you’re actually traveling at very high speeds. This is the dissonance that causes symptoms such as dizziness and nausea.

How To Prevent Motion Sickness When Flying

Step 1

Choose to sit near the front of the plane or beside the wing. You can experience less motion in such areas. The window seat also helps, where you can easily see the horizon. Essentially, focusing on the horizon if you start to feel sick can help alleviate motion sickness.

Step 2

Pay close attention to anything you drink or eat in the 24 hours leading to the flight. You should avoid meals that are spicy, salty, greasy, or fatty and do not drink alcohol. Eat small, but frequent snacks or meals and drink lots of water. This isn’t the best time for you to try exotic foods you’ve never eaten before.

Step 3

Pay attention to the small fan just above the seat to ensure it blows into your face. This helps increase airflow and keep you cool in the stuffed interior.

Step 4

Don’t read while flying. Although you might expect reading to take your mind off feeling sick, it can make it worse by increasing the dissonance you feel from looking at the stationary page, while in a real sense your body is moving.

Step 5

You should apply some pressure to the inner part of your wrist. You can also consider buying motion sickness bands that you can wear while flying. The inner part of the band has a small knob. The small knob constantly applies pressure to that point.

Step 6

After the flight attendant brings some beverages to you, choose sparkling water or ginger ale instead of alcohol, juice, or colas. Also, ginger ale helps keep nausea away.

How to avoid motion sickness while flying or after the flight

If you’ve already boarded the plane and started to feel sick, there are several things you can do. First, you can meditate or just close your eyes. Other people also find relief by chewing gum. Some natural remedies you can try out include peppermint tea and raw ginger.

Now that you know what motion sickness is and what you can do to deal with it during your next flight, you can now travel with confidence!