Motion Sickness
Medical Author: Jay W. Marks, MD
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
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10 Tips to Prevent Motion Sickness
Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Medical Editor: Jay W. Marks, MD
 Motion
sickness , sometimes referred to as sea sickness or car sickness, is a
very common disturbance of the inner ear that is
caused by repeated motion. In addition to sea travel, motion sickness can
develop from the movement of a car or from turbulence in an airplane. The
symptoms of motion sickness are nausea, vomiting,
dizziness, sweating, and a sense
of feeling unwell. These symptoms arise from the inner ear (labyrinth) due to changes in one's sense of balance
and equilibrium.
While it may be impossible to prevent all cases of motion sickness, the
following tips can help you prevent or lessen the severity of motion sickness:
- Watch your consumption of foods, drinks, and alcohol before and during
travel. Avoid excessive alcohol and foods or liquids that “do not agree with
you” or make you feel unusually full. Heavy, spicy, or fat-rich foods may
worsen motion sickness in some people.
- Avoiding strong food odors may also help prevent nausea.
- Try to choose a seat where you will experience the least motion. The
middle of an airplane over the wing is the calmest area of an airplane. On a
ship, those in lower level cabins near the center of a ship generally
experience less motion than passengers in higher or outer cabins.
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What is motion sickness?
Motion sickness is a very common disturbance of the inner ear that is
caused by repeated motion such as from the swell of the sea, the
movement of a car, the motion of a plane in turbulent air, etc. In
the inner ear (which is also called the labyrinth), motion sickness
affects the sense of balance and equilibrium and, hence, the sense of
spatial orientation.
What causes motion sickness?
Motion is sensed by the brain through three different pathways of the nervous system that send signals coming from the inner ear (sensing motion, acceleration, and gravity), the eyes (vision), and the deeper tissues of the body surface (proprioceptors). When the body is moved intentionally, for example, when we walk, the input from all three pathways is coordinated by our brain. When there is unintentional movement of the body, as occurs during motion when driving in a car, the brain is not coordinating the input, and there is thought to be discoordination or conflict among the input from the three pathways. It is hypothesized that the conflict among the inputs is responsible for motion sickness.
For example, when we are sitting watching a picture that depicts a moving scene, our vision pathway is telling our brain that there is movement, but our inner ear is telling our brains that there is no movement. Thus, there is conflict in the brain, and some people will develop motion sickness in such a situation (even though there is no motion).
The cause of motion sickness is complex, however, and the role of conflicting input is only a hypothesis, or a proposed explanation, for its development. Without the motion-sensing organs of the inner ear, motion sickness does not occur, suggesting that the inner ear is critical for the development of motion sickness. Visual input seems to be of lesser importance, since blind people can develop motion sickness. Motion sickness is more likely to occur with complex types of movement, especially movement that is slow or involves two different directions (for example, vertical and horizontal) at the same time.
The conflicting input within the brain appears to involve levels of the neurotransmitters (substances that mediate transmission of signals within the brain and nervous system) histamine, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine. Many of the drugs that are used to treat motion sickness act by influencing or normalizing the levels of these compounds within the brain.
Next: What are the symptoms of motion sickness? »
- diphenhydramine, Benadryl - Explains the medication diphenhydramine (Benadryl), a drug used for the relief of nasal and non-nasal symptoms of various allergic conditions such as seasonal allergic rhinitis.
- Dizziness - Read about the causes of dizziness including low blood pressure, anemia, dehydration, vertigo, medications, alcohol use, and pregnancy. Diagnosis and treatment information is also included.
- promethazine, Phenergan - Explains the medication promethazine (Phenergan), a drug used to prevent motion sickness, nausea or vomiting, itching associated with allergies or for sedation.
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