Some people tend to feel sick whilst traveling in a boat or ship. They feel nauseous and queasy and may even vomit; some experience headaches. Children are a little more vulnerable to sea sickness than adults. The condition is rather rare in babies below 2 years, and is commonest between 3 – 12 years.
In a ship, you move slowly and continuously with a prolonged motion; in some people the organ that controls balance in your inner ear gets affected, causing sea sickness. In sea sickness, an inconsistency exists between the actual motion sensed by the organ of balance in the inner ear and the motion that is about to occur. These unanticipated signals are interpreted as a disordered signal by your brain, resulting in sea sickness symptoms.
By and large, in most people, the symptoms vanish once your brain tends to get adjusted to the new form of motion. Experts say dopamine and acetylcholine play a pivotal role in triggering sea sickness.
Common Symptoms Of Seasickness
- Common symptoms of sea sickness include nausea and headache. Other frequently seen symptoms are – giddiness, weakness, and lassitude.
- Some people get very anxious, they may sweat or there may be excessive salivation, or may become pale and vomit.
- The symptoms generally disappear after the motion has ceased but it could take up to 3 days to totally alleviate.
Treatment Options For Seasickness
Several drugs help to deal with sea sickness effectively. These are obtainable in many forms – tablets, rectal suppositories, and trans-dermal patches.
- Anti-histamines are usually recommended by most health care providers; ideally, they ought to be administered about half an hour before traveling. It is essential to remember that anti-histamines for sea sickness set off a lot of sleepiness, thus refrain from driving a vehicle, or working on machinery when you take them. Never take anti-histamine medicines with alcohol, sleeping pills, or tranquilizers. Also, confer with your health care provider before embarking on to any medications.
- Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that sea sickness drugs should never be administered to babies. They get crabby, agitated and may even experience a life threatening convulsion in certain cases.
- Always consult a physician for advice before taking sea sickness medicines, more so, in case of babies and elderly, if you have a tendency to constipation, have a history of heart rhythm trouble, during pregnancy, if you have a narrow angle glaucoma, or BEP.
How To Prevent Seasickness Naturally?
Non-medicine ways help handle the symptoms as effectively and sometimes better than drugs do.
- Sit where there is minimum motion. Experts advocate sitting in the central part of a boat. A semi lying down position with your head braced is ideal. Do not read on the boat / ship.
- Ensure that you steer clear of these when you are traveling by sea – alcohol, foods that are loaded with protein, salt, or calories, dairy foods, consuming large meals and smoking.
- If you look at nearby objects, or at things going by, like the backdrop, your symptoms will aggravate; focus on those objects which are on the horizon.
- The most effective home remedy for sea sickness is ginger. Have ginger tea or dried ginger powder or ginger juice every 15 minutes of your journey. Gingerols in the root help deal with the awful symptoms of sea sickness most successfully.