How I Hardly EVER Get Motion Sickness Anymore…

I used to get sick A LOT.

Dizzy sick. Vomit sick.

Buses. Planes. Trains. Windsurfing board. Boats. Even cars (if stuck in the back). Roller coasters? Forget about it!

Now I am 95% ok on planes, trains & automobiles – I can even read blogs and check FB in taxis. Getting sick is no longer the default MO though I still stay off deep sea fishing boats and roller coasters (yes, even the kiddie ones).

Motion sickness didn’t disappear overnight. Over time, it just became a travel companion I didn’t have to worry or fuss about. And here’s what I do.

What Didn’t Work For me

Wearing those acupressure wristbands, rubbing the point between my thumb and index finger, taking OTC meds like Dramamine, eating ginger, and yep, even putting those magnets behind my ears.

What else didn’t work?

Only looking at the horizon on boats, staying in the centre. Facing the direction of travel. Praying.

Nothing worked.

Worse, the meds made me groggy and dysfunctional, with motion sickness symptoms spiraling quickly out of control.

What Worked?

Sleep.

Sleep was my only refuge. Of course being unconscious for long haul travelling is not only impossible (9 hours straight on a plane? Can’t do it), it is really really boring, not to mention super unsocial.

Over time, the biggest realization about being on a plane? Motion sickness is mostly a mental thing, a mental habit. An association. One that I started breaking when I started travelling solo. Ironically it was my mother’s worry and her constant doting and reminders to drink water that, if not actually causing motion sickness, worsened it. I’m NOT here to blame her. She was right about hydration, and drinking “enough” water has always been a struggle for me.  Whenever I travel with her, I have to be very self-aware or else I still regress into that sick child.

It’s a revelation then that, when left alone, I fare much better on moving objects.

Here are the top 7 things (in no order) that have helped “almost cure” my motion sickness (or at least stabilize it)…

1 Bose Noise Cancelling Earphones

These are by far, one of the BEST gifts I’ve ever gotten. That was back in 2003/4 and I take them everywhere.

Wearing these earphones has made the biggest difference and the first ding-ding that hey, travelling without getting sick could be a reality, and not a miss-and-hit thing.

It’s not so I can hear the movie better on the plane, though that is also true. These earphones cut out ambient noises AND their vibrations. It’s the constant vibration over hours of travelling that weakens my body.

It’s nothing new that we are bombarded by noise pollution, which, science shows, stresses the body.  As an energetic field, we can be impacted by vibrations and dissonance can throw off the natural frequencies of our cells, organs, and tissues. And yes, plane engines are definitely a discordant vibration!

At 60-75dB there are various anomalies noticeable in people, such as imperceptible changes in heartbeat, blood pressure or rhythm of breathing.

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, a jet engine clocks in at 140dB. Busy traffic and a vacuum cleaner are already at 70dB. So you can imagine the effects of hours (think 9-13 hours) on a plane with that 140dB engine. I literally feel weak. And while not even the Bose can cut it all out, the significant reduction definitely makes an appreciable difference between motion-sickness inside a metal tube with re-circulated air and a somewhat off-balance but functional me.

2 Sleep

Sleeping upon take-off and landing seems to me the most important. The change in altitude does my ears in, never mind our different bodies being pulled apart through incredible speeds. Sleeping or being unconscious (maybe out of my body?) seems to help…a lot.

On long hauls, I also make sure I sleep, the length of which depending on the time zone I’m acclimating to. I put on some classical music, which studies have shown to be very healing, wrap myself in a scarf, and take off to la la land.  After taking care of #3.

Sleep is still my failsafe when any symptom of motion-sickness comes on, especially on a boat where motion-sickness is a bigger challenge for me.

3 Hydrate

As we all know, the pressurized cabin air is highly drying. With the liquid law, it’s a pain to organize your own water, especially at Singapore’s Changi Airport, where security check is at the gate. I appreciate the efficiencies this setup provides; it does means you can’t bring your own water or water you’ve just bought in the duty-free shops, unless you are an infant.

For those airports I can still spend my last foreign change in, I always buy as large a bottle of water as I can. It’s right there in my seat, and I don’t have to worry about constantly flagging down a flight attendant for more water. Which also annoys your neighbor, especially when you are also implementing #4.

I do drink on the plane, whether it’s a glass of wine, champagne, or just coke. I just make sure to drink more water to offset their dehydrating effects.

Dehydration is insidious and keeping hydrated is VERY important for keeping the body functioning well. It’s like keeping an engine oiled. Kinda. That means I also hydrate my skin with moisturizers.

4 Be Anti-Social

I know everyone wants to be social – look at Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest…. People like to connect and share. But for me, when I travel, I bubble myself off. It’s self-preservation, which is interesting, since I rank low here in my Enneagram.

First, my noise cancelling earphones make any meaningful conversation difficult. Second, as much as my noise cancelling earphones are really cancelling my motion sickness, I have found, through painful experiences over the years, that when I turn and face a person on my side or even worse, behind me, I get sick. Sometimes only a little. Sometimes a lot. So I don’t. I rather be anti-social, than throw up on them later on. I think they’d agree.

5 Keep Cool

Stay calm and carry on…that works, too though actually, I meant not to overheat. I always have a sweater or a scarf to make sure I don’t get too cold while I’m asleep (and my body temperature naturally drops). I have found though that being too hot has the following effects.

Too hot → uncomfortable → more stressed → body tightens → more stressed & worried & anxious → queasiness.

I think this is why I am okay on a moving open air boat, like a speed boat. Or a jet ski. Even a kayak.

6 Hold My Fingers

This is a Jin Shin Jyutsu self-help technique. Each finger is connected to two organs and by holding the fingers, we can balance our energy flow. This is calming. Thumbs are for worry, by the way. So I hold my fingers as much as I can, on take-off, landing, watching movies… Sometimes when I wake up, I still have a finger wrapped in the other hand.

By the way, this also helps minimize or even prevent jet lag!

And doing this regularly helps to harmonize the body and mind, which for me, meant increased immunity and general wellness.

7 Flower Power

I always have Bach Flower Essence Rescue Remedy. I started using this to calm the butterflies before history/political science presentations. Now I use it for everything. Even my dogs LOVE it. The Rescue Remedy really works.

I also have some essential oils like Lavender, Thieves, or Peppermint. Because essential oils are so complex, they help with a wide range of challenges and on many levels. Lavender especially is very relaxing. Just put a few drops on a cotton ball or tissue or even a few drops on your soles. (I use Young Living oils and note Thieves and Peppermint are both “hot” oils – they sting when applied to sensitive areas, like near your eyes)

Having a pleasant neighbour for the next 9 hours doesn’t hurt either.

---

I think the common thread running through these tips is how they help manage the stresses bombarding my body. The key is to remain relaxed and to prevent overloading my senses. According to MIT researchers Laurence R Young and Charles M Oman motion sickness “results from conflicting information reaching the brain from your eyes and your inner ear, and from different parts of the inner ear itself.”

And yes, repeated exposure does help decrease motion sickness. I tested this with regular ferry rides when I lived in Discovery Bay, Hong Kong. So yes, I’m okay now, on the DB ferries.

So here are my not-so-secret secret weapons….what are yours?