How to Stop Motion Sickness (from my weak stomach to yours)

Lunch tasted great going down, but an hour into the drive back to campus you start to think it won’t taste quite as good coming back up. Sound familiar? Motion sickness sucks, but there are some tried and true ways to fight nausea. 

Preventative Measures:

Don’t Over Eat

Overeating before a car, train, bus, or airplane ride can lead to disaster! (Or just a nasty bout of nausea). Either way, don’t over eat before you travel, if you know your prone to motion sickness. 

Don’t Drink

Everyone knows shouldn’t drink (alcohol) and drive, for obvious reasons, but you also shouldn’t drink (alcohol) and be driven if you want to avoid the wonderful world of motion sickness. 

Don’t Read

It’s hard when you want to be productive, but reading is a tried and true way to make people nauseous. If you want to work on the go, be mindful of your body, and try to take note if you start to get nauseous. Is the assignment worth the nausea? Only you know.

Avoid Triggers

Everyone’s triggers are different. I’m sensitive to specific smells, bright lights, and stress, but if you know your triggers, do everything you can to avoid them. If you don’t know your triggers, try to take note of your surroundings next time you get nauseous while you travel, and it might just save you next time!

Retroactive Aids:

Keep Your Head Up

Simply the act of tilting your head up can make all the difference between dizzying nausea and minor . It’s surprising but true! 

Look Out 

Looking out the front window of a car, or the side window, if you aren’t in the front seat of a car, can help prevent motion sickness. However, if you’re already in the midst of motion sickness, watching the horizon can help your body correct its understanding of the motion around it. 

Change Positions

Move your body. The way your situated may be exasperating the problem, so moving around until you find a more comfortable position might help.

Head on Your Knees

Put your head between your knees to steady yourself. 

Drink Ginger Ale

The ginger and bubbles in ginger ale can calm an upset stomach.

Vomit

Some people are anti-throw up, but I say that sometimes you just need to let it happen. Once you’ve thrown up, the nausea often passes almost immediately, so it’s usually worth the discomfort. Just make sure you make it to the bathroom, and have a back up bag, bowl, or cup in case you can’t make it.

• nausea
• travel
• travel tips