Help! How do I manage motion sickness?

Everyone loves to get away, but no one wants to deal with motion sickness – so let’s take a look at some of the motion sickness remedies available to help you find motion sickness relief.

One of your options is to take medicine for motion sickness. Motion sickness medications such as SEA-LEGS^® chewable tablets are designed to be taken before you travel, and work to block signals from your body’s different senses to the vomiting centre in your brain – helping to prevent you from feeling sick in the first place.

You might also be thinking about how to prevent motion sickness without medication or how to stop motion sickness if your start experiencing symptoms after you’re already on your way. Let’s review some different car sickness remedies and sea sickness remedies to help prevent and relieve motion sickness, remembering that it’s easier to prevent motion sickness than get rid of it!

Preparing for your trip

First, preparation is key when it comes to how to prevent car sickness or how to prevent sea sickness. Here are a few things you should think about before you head off on that car trip or boat ride:

• Plan your route – if you can, choose roads that are less hilly with fewer ups and downs
• Check the weather before you leave – when possible, avoid taking a car trip during weather that affects visibility (e.g., rain, clouds, fog) and avoid getting on a boat when it’s stormy or there are large waves
• Travel when you’re feeling well – make sure you are well-rested before you leave and don’t travel on an empty stomach, but avoid heavy, greasy foods and drinks that could make you feel uncomfortable during the journey
• Dress for the occasion – always choose suitable and comfortable clothing to wear while travelling

Top tips for avoiding motion sickness

Unfortunately, you can’t control the weather and won’t always get to choose your route – so take a look at these tips on how to avoid motion sickness once your trip is already underway.

How to avoid car sickness

• Location matters – you can reduce your chances of getting car sickness if you are the one driving and steering the car, or by sitting in the front passenger seat instead of the back seat
• Watch where you’re going – to help reduce the mismatch between what you see and feel, pick a spot to focus on that’s out on the horizon in the direction of travel 
• Ditch the screens – a key car sickness trigger is reading or looking at screens, so put away your phone, laptop, tablet, or book until you’ve reached your destination
• Rest your head – closing your eyes or wearing sunglasses or closing your eyes can help to reduce sensory input from your eyes, and try keeping your head still
• Keep the air circulating – stop stuffy air and bad smells building up by making sure your car is well ventilated

How to avoid sea sickness

• Slowly does it – to help get used to the movement of the boat, you might want to spend your first night or day on the boat in calmer water of the marina or harbour before heading out to open water
• Location matters – pick a spot in the centre of the boat close to water level, avoid the front of the boat, and always face towards the waves 
• Watch where you’re going – choose on a spot on the horizon to focus on, preferably far out in the distance in the direction you’re travelling
• Move with the boat – walking around the boat or moving your body in sync with the boat may help reduce the mismatch of sensory information in your brain
• Sleep it off – sleeping or at least finding somewhere to lie down flat may help reduce feelings of sea sickness

Alternative ways to manage motion sickness

The best preparation in the world may not always be enough, so it’s possible you’ll have times when you want to know how to stop car sickness or sea sickness once it starts. Here are a few motion sickness natural remedies that you could try.

• Ginger may help prevent and relieve motion sickness symptoms, so ginger tea or ginger lollies could be one option to help with car sickness or sea sickness 
• Vitamin C may help reduce symptoms of motion sickness in some people
• Acupressure at P6 may help relieve motion sickness in some people – this involves pressing down on the P6 pressure point, which you can find on the inside of your forearm between the two tendons that sit about three finger-widths down from your wrist

Always read the label and follow directions for use

Frequently asked questions about motion sickness remedies