Motion Sickness Explained

[Dotsie]

In the 2003 Academy-Award-nominated "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," intrepid sea captain Jack Aubrey sails from old-world Europe, around the southern tip of South America, and lands in the exotic Galapagos Islands. Despite encountering rough seas along the way, and an even rougher battle with a rival sea captain, "Lucky Jack" never once succumbs to motion sickness. And at the end of the film, we presume he returns to mother England with glory for his homeland.

 

In real life, most travelers aren't so lucky. Travel by sea, land or air and you'll usually find someone in the cabin getting sick — not from the galley grog or packaged peanuts — but from the movement.

 

"When a person moves, his eyes, inner ear, and limbs all sense the motion and send signals to the brain," says Dr. Michael Stewart, chair of otorhinolaryngology at Weill Cornell Medical College and otorhinolaryngologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "The brain, in turn, then instructs the body how to respond to the movement."

 

A crew at work inside a C-141 aircraft, top, and, below, a view of Mount Rainier from the Kingston-Edmonds ferry in Seattle. (Photos: CDC/Dr. Lyle Conrad & CDC/Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr.)

 

When all parts of the body feel the same motion and the brain receives identical signals, the situation is fine. However, when traveling, this doesn't always happen. An airline passenger may see a static cabin while his limbs and inner ear sense the jostle of turbulence; the eyes of train or car passengers may see scenery rushing by, but their limbs and inner ears sense little movement. Situations like these result in mixed signals being sent to the brain, resulting in a rush of confusion and feelings of nausea, dizziness and fatigue — a.k.a., motion sickness.

 

"There are medications that can help," says Dr. Stewart. "Dramamine and antihistamines; or Antivert (Meclizine), which requires a prescription; or actually even valium, can reduce symptoms by deadening the senses and reducing input to the brain. But, they'll all make you drowsy." Simple non-drug measures such as looking at the horizon or closing your eyes may work with some people, too.

 

Some passengers — typically, ship travelers — succumb to a paradoxical kind of motion sickness known as "mal de debarquement." These passengers feel fine on the high seas, but get queasy and disoriented once back on dry land. "For reasons that physicians don't completely understand, these people calibrate easily to motion, but have difficulty calibrating back to not moving," says Dr. Stewart. Fortunately, "mal de debarquement" is rarely serious and typically fades away within a few hours or days. However, if necessary, it can be treated with the same medications as used for motion sickness.

 

http://www.med.cornell.edu/science/2006/04_06/04_06-3.shtml

[TPKeller]

Interesting article, but at least somewhat out of date, as Meclizine is now available over the counter under several different brand names. Meclizine is also commonly recognized as causing less drowsiness than earlier forms of anti-motion medicine, such as Dimenhydrinate (original formula Dramamine).

 

Theron

[Inshape]

I get that really bad after the cruise. In Jan the ocean was very rough and it took 4 days for me to feel better after getting home. The room was spinning so bad that I had to spend the day on the floor and even then it felt like the floors were moving on me. After that I learned that if I kept taking the sea sickness stuff I would not feel land sickness. So I was prepared to do this after our Oct cruise but I never felt the need to take anything that cruise since it was smooth as glass. But oddly once again, coming home I did feel a bit and then took some ginger ( which we take on cruises) which did help.

[TPKeller]

I get that really bad after the cruise. In Jan the ocean was very rough and it took 4 days for me to feel better after getting home. The room was spinning so bad that I had to spend the day on the floor and even then it felt like the floors were moving on me. After that I learned that if I kept taking the sea sickness stuff I would not feel land sickness. So I was prepared to do this after our Oct cruise but I never felt the need to take anything that cruise since it was smooth as glass. But oddly once again, coming home I did feel a bit and then took some ginger ( which we take on cruises) which did help.

Sounds like your body is telling you that you need to spend more time at sea and less time at home! ;)

 

Theron

[ckrobyn]

After my first cruise - I felt as if the land beneath my feet was moving for about 3 days when I got off the ship...

 

Second cruise, felt amazing on the ship and no problems when I got back on land....

 

Third cruise - no issues on the ship, but once again I felt dizzy and thought the pavement was moving...lasted about 2 days but felt pretty bad....

 

Just wondering why it seems so inconsistent? Could it be the size of the ship? The middle cruise was on the AOS and the first and third were on the Radiance.....:rolleyes:

[PBNJ620]

I also wondered about this. I have been on a few cruises and I know the seas are different but I also wonder if it's partly due to just how badly they want to stay on time. I've heard about the stabilizers which help tremendously but wonder if they try not to use them because it slows the ship down.

 

In June this year we were on the Explorer. It was a little rough going out the first day but coming back it was horrible for about two hours. Didn't get sick ,just felt lousy. Then all of a sudden it was calm again. My thoughts were they must have put the stabilizers out. Anyone else have any other thoughts? Perhaps they just slowed the ship down???

[MLT53]

Sounds like your body is telling you that you need to spend more time at sea and less time at home! ;)

 

Theron

 

LOL!