Lunch tasted great going down, but an hour into the drive back to campus you start to think it won’t taste quite as good coming back up. Sound familiar? Motion sickness sucks, but there are some tried and true ways to fight nausea.
Preventative Measures:
Don’t Over Eat
Overeating before a car, train, bus, or airplane ride can lead to disaster! (Or just a nasty bout of nausea). Either way, don’t over eat before you travel, if you know your prone to motion sickness.
Don’t Drink
Everyone knows shouldn’t drink (alcohol) and drive, for obvious reasons, but you also shouldn’t drink (alcohol) and be driven if you want to avoid the wonderful world of motion sickness.
Don’t Read
It’s hard when you want to be productive, but reading is a tried and true way to make people nauseous. If you want to work on the go, be mindful of your body, and try to take note if you start to get nauseous. Is the assignment worth the nausea? Only you know.
Avoid Triggers
Everyone’s triggers are different. I’m sensitive to specific smells, bright lights, and stress, but if you know your triggers, do everything you can to avoid them. If you don’t know your triggers, try to take note of your surroundings next time you get nauseous while you travel, and it might just save you next time!
Retroactive Aids:
Keep Your Head Up
Simply the act of tilting your head up can make all the difference between dizzying nausea and minor . It’s surprising but true!
Look Out
Looking out the front window of a car, or the side window, if you aren’t in the front seat of a car, can help prevent motion sickness. However, if you’re already in the midst of motion sickness, watching the horizon can help your body correct its understanding of the motion around it.
Change Positions
Move your body. The way your situated may be exasperating the problem, so moving around until you find a more comfortable position might help.
Head on Your Knees
Put your head between your knees to steady yourself.
Drink Ginger Ale
The ginger and bubbles in ginger ale can calm an upset stomach.
Vomit
Some people are anti-throw up, but I say that sometimes you just need to let it happen. Once you’ve thrown up, the nausea often passes almost immediately, so it’s usually worth the discomfort. Just make sure you make it to the bathroom, and have a back up bag, bowl, or cup in case you can’t make it.