Skip to main content

Motion Sickness

Motion Sickness



Overview

What is motion sickness?

Motion sickness is a condition that happens when your eyes, inner ear and body send conflicting messages to your brain. You can develop the condition whenever your body is staying still but you’re being moved by a vehicle, like when you’re riding in a car or standing on a boat deck.

Some people get a kind of motion sickness while playing video games and virtual reality games (virtual motion sickness or VMS). Symptoms include nausea, breaking out in cold sweat or headache. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent motion sickness or ease its symptoms.

Symptoms

Motion sickness symptoms can develop slowly or appear all at once. Common symptoms include:

Dizziness.

Fatigue.

Headache.

Feeling irritable.

Nausea and vomiting.

Rapid breathing or feeling like you need to take gulps of air.

Salivating more than usual.

Sweating, particularly a cold sweat.

Causes

Motion sickness happens when your brain gets conflicting messages from the parts of your body that sense motion: your eyes, inner ear, muscles and joints. Here’s an example of how that happens when you’re riding in a vehicle:

Your eyes register movement because you see signs, trees and other stationary objects come into your line of sight and then drop out of sight. They send your brain a message that you’re moving.

Your inner ear and the nerve endings in your muscles and joints, which sense that you’re sitting still, send your brain a message that you’re not moving.

Your brain can’t process the conflicting messages, so you start to feel nauseated or sweaty.

What things trigger motion sickness?

You can have motion sickness anytime there’s confusion between your senses and your brain:

Amusement park rides.

Playing video games or immersive virtual reality games.

Riding in a vehicle, airplane or boat.

What are the risk factors for motion sickness?

The condition is more likely to affect children ages 2 to 12 than adults. Other risk factors are:

Having a family history of motion sickness.

Inner ear disorders like benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

Menstrual periods.

Migraine headaches.

Parkinson’s disease.

Pregnancy.

Complications

In general, motion sickness doesn’t cause serious health issues. In some cases, however, people continue to feel nauseous and vomit even though they’re not doing things like riding in vehicles. Excessive vomiting can cause dehydration and low blood pressure (hypotension).

Diagnosis

There aren’t specific tests to diagnose motion sickness. A healthcare provider may do a physical examination and check your ears. They’ll ask about your symptoms and when they started.

Treatment

You may not be able to make motion sickness symptoms go away, but the following tips may help you feel better:

Get some fresh air: If you’re in a vehicle, roll your window down. If you’re in a plane, direct air vents to blow cool air in your direction.

Redirect your gaze: If you’re reading, put your book, phone or tablet away and look at objects in the distance or the horizon.

Lie back: If you can, move your seat so it leans back and close your eyes.

Have a drink: Sipping ginger tea or ginger ale may settle your stomach.

Try something sweet: Peppermint or ginger candies may make you feel better.

Consider motion sickness glasses or bracelets: While there isn’t any published medical research showing special glasses or bracelets work, some people find the glasses and bracelets ease symptoms.

Take a break: If you play video or virtual reality games, step away from the game if you feel nauseated or have other virtual motion sickness (VMS) symptoms.

Type of Doctor Department : A general physician, an ENT specialist, or a neurologist

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Charge Syndrome

Overview CHARGE syndrome is a recognizable genetic syndrome with known pattern of features. It is an extremely complex syndrome, involving extensive medical and physical difficulties that differ from child to child. CHARGE syndrome is correlated with genetic mutation to CHD7 and the prevalence of CHARGE syndrome is 1:10,000-1:15,000 live births. Babies with CHARGE syndrome are often born with life-threatening birth defects. They spend many months in the hospital and undergo many surgeries and other treatments. Swallowing and breathing problems make life difficult even when they come home. Most have hearing two little girls sitting on a carpet, one girl has a trach and is biting her finger.loss, vision loss, and balance problems that delay their development and communication. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, children with CHARGE syndrome often far surpass their medical, physical, educational, and social expectations. One of the hidden features of CHARGE syndrome is the ...
7 comments
Read more

Dehydration Due to Diarrheal Diseases

Overview Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don't replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated. Anyone may become dehydrated, but the condition is especially dangerous for young children and older adults. The most common cause of dehydration in young children is severe diarrhea and vomiting. Older adults naturally have a lower volume of water in their bodies, and may have conditions or take medications that increase the risk of dehydration. This means that even minor illnesses, such as infections affecting the lungs or bladder, can result in dehydration in older adults. Dehydration also can occur in any age group if you don't drink enough water during hot weather — especially if you are exercising vigorously. You can usually reverse mild to moderate dehydration by drinking more fluids, but severe dehydration needs immediate medical treatment. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ataxia with Vitamin E Deficiency

Synonyms of Ataxia with Vitamin E Deficiency AVED Familial Isolated Vitamin E Deficiency Isolated Vitamin E Deficiency General Discussion Ataxia with vitamin E deficiency (AVED) is a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by impaired ability to coordinate voluntary movements (ataxia) and disease of the peripheral nervous system (peripheral neuropathy). AVED is a progressive disorder that can affect many different systems of the body (multisystem disorder). Specific symptoms vary from case to case. In addition to neurological symptoms, affected individuals may experience eye abnormalities, disorders affecting the heart muscles (cardiomyopathy), and abnormal curvature of the spine (scoliosis). AVED is extremely similar to a more common disorder known as Friedreich’s ataxia. AVED is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Vitamin E deficiency often occurs secondary to disorders that impair the absorption of vitamin E from fat including liver disorders, disorders of fat...
Post a Comment
Read more