You or someone around you must have experienced motion sickness i.e. uneasiness caused during travel by car, train, aeroplanes and more so, in ships and boats. It can ruin your experience and create a lot of anxiety before/ during every travel. 

It occurs when the body’s balance is disturbed by contradictory signals to the brain from the eyes and ears. Motion sickness can start suddenly, with a groggy feeling and cold sweats, often leading to dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Statistics suggest one in every three people suffers from travel sickness of varying grade of mild to serious.

It is also termed as travel sickness, car sickness or sea sickness.

So, what are the causes of motion sickness?

Motion sickness is the feeling of discomfort when the motion you sense with your inner ear is different from the motion you visualize. If you cannot see the movement that is felt by body, or the other way round, when you cannot feel the movement your eyes can see, there are chances of brain getting confused, and the person will feel some symptom of motion sickness.

It is commonly felt when people read a book or mobile during travel or during a roller coaster ride. Some people are prone to it even during normal travel.

Who is at risk for motion sickness?

This disorder frequently impacts children, pregnant women, and people taking certain medications. Although almost anyone who is traveling is at risk for motion sickness. Commonly affected people are those who have fear or anxiety about traveling, mode of travel, poor ventilation in the vehicle, or the inability to see out of a window.

Common symptoms of motion sickness

Motion sickness begins with a feeling of restlessness and dizziness. Some people may feel headache, while others feel disturbing movement within and fatigue. These symptoms are then followed by nausea and vomiting.

The person feels better when the motion is stopped, the symptoms slowly decrease and then disappear.

Ayurvedic Analysis

According to Ayurveda, motion sickness is caused due to Vata dosha. It gets disturbed by continuous sitting and movement in body during travel. If you have an imbalance of one of these doshas, you are at a greater risk of motion sickness. Ayurveda recommends avoiding foods and lifestyle habits that aggravate that dosha. The imbalanced doshas are required to be balanced in order to heal.

Following doshas aggravate and cause motion sickness -

• Apana Vata that controls the purification and elimination of waste from body.
• Prana Vata, which controls mental and emotional balance, it gets aggravated by fast movement and unpredictable routine.
• Pachaka Pitta, responsible for digestion, can also get disrupted by an irregular schedule of meals and sleep.
• Easy tips to avoid travel sickness
• Eat light before the journey, and keep some gap between meal and travel.
• Avoid hill side travel, prefer more stable horizon.
• Avoid reading during travel.
• Be seated in a more central location while travelling on a boat or plane.
• Sit toward the front of motor vehicle for a smoother ride.
• Take more stoppage and fresh air breaks during travel.
• Close your eyes during twists and turns.
• Listening to music or having pleasant aroma helps.
• Don’t talk about being sick - anticipation makes sickness more probable.

Ayurvedic Home Remedies to Beat Motion Sickness

Some homemade remedies can help ease nausea and vomiting sensations. People find herbs such as ginger, peppermint, and tea effective at varied levels. These herbs help release certain chemicals in body that prevent stimulation of the vomiting zone in the brain.

• Ginger – Very effective home remedy for motion sickness. Preferably take ginger as early as possible, as it acts like a kind of ‘aversion therapy’.
• Cardamom – Works well, especially if the seeds are fried and given with honey.
• Sandalwood – Sandalwood paste along with amla juice is also effective in controlling motion sickness.
• Amla and Clove – Make a powder with amla, cumin (jeera), clove (lavang), black-pepper and crystal sugar, to be consumed with honey.
• Tulsi – Prepare a paste of seeds of tulsi with milk to control nausea and vomiting.

Can motion sickness be prevented?

• In most cases, symptoms of motion sickness can be prevented by taking the OTC medications, or by wearing wrist bands, which work on principles of acupressure. When some pressure points are pressed, the transmission of nausea is blocked before it message is sent to the brain.
• Smoking, short and shallow breathing may contribute to motion sickness symptoms. Breathe deep.
• Try ELADI CHURNA sachet mixed with honey or water, before consuming food or before travel. It is recommended to take one sachet for adult, preferably empty stomach.

 

Eladi Churna

It is a great ayurvedic remedy for motion sickness, that prevents vomiting and eases throat discomfort. This spice-based Ayurvedic formulation is a herbal powder mix containing Elaichi as the main ingredient and is used in treatment of digestive complaints of Kapha imbalance.

Some of its benefits include: 

 Helps prevent motion sickness and vomiting sensation
 Avoids excessive salivation, anorexia, vomiting
 Reduces abdomen pain
 Effective in throat discomfort
 Improves digestion and increases appetite
 Fights against bronchial asthma or bronchitis

Don’t let motion sickness get in the way of your travel plans, with this awesome weather around. Happy journey!