Motion sickness can be frustrating and even debilitating. This kind of nausea can prevent you from doing the things you enjoy doing and even from getting to the places you want to be. Whether you’re talking about motion sickness due to flying, riding in a car, or just general feelings of motion sickness, it can be truly difficult to cope with.
The good news is that there is hope. Not only are there reliable remedies for motion sickness such as acupressure bands, there are also things you can do to help avoid motion sickness.
Here are a few tactics people use to avoid motion sickness:
- Choose your seat carefully. If you’re on an airplane, you can minimize turbulence and other feelings of instability by being seated over the wing. On a bus or a train, sitting closer to the front of the vehicle may help. Choose a seat with a head rest, as keeping your head stable can help to avoid motion sickness. If you’re on a boat, try to have a seat that faces the front of the boat looking at the horizon.
- Watch the air flow. Keep the air around you moving and the area ventilated. If you’re in a car or a plane, turn the air vents so that they’re blowing in your face. If there’s a cool breeze, stay on deck on a boat. Smoking will also interfere with your air flow, so avoid it whenever possible.
- Eat and drink with your motion sickness in mind. If you’re going to be traveling, try to avoid those foods and drinks that tend to aggravate nausea. Some of those will include foods high in fat, dairy, spicy foods, salty foods, and alcohol.
- Stay hydrated. Dehydration is actually one of the most common causes of nausea during travel.
- Avoid reading. Moving the eyes along the page and then looking up at the motion around you is one of the biggest motion sickness triggers.
- Practice relaxation techniques. In some cases, motion sickness is brought on by anxiety. Learn to breathe slowly, deeply, and steady. Rapid and shallow breathing can cause panic, which can contribute to nausea.