What is side sickness?

Are you feeling nauseous, dizzy or lightheaded when you’re traveling by car, boat, or airplane? If so, then you might be experiencing side sickness. Side sickness is a common problem that many people experience during travel that can make your trip feel like a disaster.

In this article, we will dive deep into what side sickness is and how to prevent it so that you can enjoy your future travels without any discomfort.

Understanding Side Sickness

Side sickness also known as motion sickness occurs when there are conflicting sensory signals sent to the brain. Your eyes see one thing while the inner ear senses something different. The result of these mixed signals causes a person’s balance system to malfunction leading them to feel sick.

Some symptoms of side sickness include:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Dizziness
  • Headache
  • Sweating

The severity of these symptoms can vary from person to person but they all have one common denominator; they’re not pretty and they’ll certainly put an end to any happy casual conversations with fellow travelers!

While most people tend to associate side sickness with travelling on boats ranging from ferries, yachts (and yes sometimes even kayaks) it can actually occur in various settings including amusement park rides as well as everyday activities such as playing video games/video simulations where images move rapidly causing conflicting messages being sent to our brains

Who Is More Susceptible To Motion Sickness?

As mentioned above various factors make certain individuals more prone than others towards suffering from side-sickness. These include but are not limited:

Age Group Matters!

It seems that children between 2 – 12 years old ‘Oh You Little rascals‘ and older adults over age 50 ‘More Disappointment!’ are more likely than teens & young adults (18 -30) those lucky buggers! to experience motion sickness. Additionally, a woman’s menstrual cycle can affect the severity of symptoms for women.

Hereditary factors – Your genes matter

‘Thanks A Lot MOM & DAD!’ The role of heredity in side-sickness has been well documented . Certain families may be more susceptible and this is due to certain inherited characteristics such as weak blood vessels or ineffective processing of sensory information by our brains!

Treatment Options for Side Sickness

There are several things you can do to prevent or reduce the severity of side sickness:

Medications –

Your Doctor will likely prescribe ‘Antihistamines medication typically available over the counter’ which alter your brain chemicals that cause nausea hence controlling any bouts before they begin. Other Prescription medications targeted towards specific causes e.g vestibular conditions can help

Acupressure –

Acupressure involves applying pressure on different parts of the body like wrists (say what yours truly doesn’t like needles!!) it’s possible to stimulate areas that inhibits vomiting resulting in reduction/eliminate unpleasant symptoms associated with sidesickness.

Prevention Measures For Side-Sickness

Prevent just once it gets triggered via following simple strategies;

Pick a good spot

Try sitting by an open window seat which limits your lateral head movement thereby helping outflow from inner ear reach greater equilibrium its intended purpose limiting confusion,

If driving (car/bus) striving locating yourself where less movements take place aka front passanger seat – this is also true when onboard boats and yachts looking to minimize exposure going up/downhill momentum- Go figure..

On Planes choosing seats along plane’s wings with windows closeby results reduced exposure movement thus avoiding unforeseen surprises. But then again who doesnt love turbulence?

You should carry-

Clothing loose fitting clothes kept light don’t go unnecessarily compressing skin rather offer resort breathing space further alleviates unwanted motion swirls in stomach

Food –

Choose your food wisely having a good meal per 2-3 hours prior travel decreases levels of discomfort, try and avoide fatty, spicy or greasy foods as well carbonated beverages e.g fizzy pop up which have been found to worsen side sickness. Sweet snacks provides an energy boost necessary for long trips during your journey such as fruits rather than fast food (ouch… no more KFC!)

Take breaks –

Taking short frequent breaks while travelling is proven way to manage side-sickness symptoms taking advantage of deep breaths comprising fresh air calms down feeling nauseous further providing sense peace within our brains ideally avoiding triggers.

Final Thoughts

In closing notwithstanding whether crossing high seas or turbulent skies now that you understand what ‘side-sickness” means and its underlying factors along with practical tips aimed at reducing/preventing uncomfortable symptoms so go ahead don’t let it deter your thrill-seeking personality, keep exploring new horizons remain adventurous on this one of kind mental recharging.

Happy Endless Continued Travel!!!

Random Posts