For a very long time, I dealt with car sickness. Once the vehicle started in motion, I would begin to develop a headache, and it would worsen the longer I was inside. I would have to sit in the front seat because it would help to lessen the headache I would get. I’d leave the window down to get fresh air to try to soothe the pain. Fortunately, I’ve overcome this stage in my life. Now, vehicles have the exact opposite effect on me. They’ve become a source of comfort. I am now able to fall asleep after several minutes of being in a car. I find this to be very interesting. Never would I have thought that I would be able to sit at ease in a car let alone be able to fall asleep in one. My mother has suffered from motion sickness her entire life. She did not have as much luck as I did in overcoming it. Hers is to a much worse extent. She cannot be in any moving object without developing headaches and dizziness. For this reason, I wanted to learn the reasons why people can become ill from moving vehicles.
By definition, motion sickness is “the feeling you get when the motion you sense with your inner ear is different from the motion you visualize” (MedicineNet). It often occurs when traveling by car, airplane, boat, or train. Children ages 5-12 years old, women, and older adults are most prone to developing motion sickness. This supports why I suffered when I was younger and why my mother has throughout most of her life. Both of us endured the normal symptoms which include headaches, nausea, and vomiting. It is an overall uneasiness produced by motion. There are many neurological reasons that a personal develops such symptoms. Ultimately, the person is off-balance. The inner ears, eyes, and sensory nerves can tell that he or she is moving but the rest of the body cannot. This confusion within the body results in motion sickness. My mother also gets headaches from seeing stripes. This could be because her eyes believe in the optical illusion and that they are moving, but her body does not sense the movement.
It can be treated by taking medications which reduce nausea and vomiting such as antiemetics or antihistamines. However, if the motion sickness persists there are several tactics that may help reduce the symptoms such as allowing for fresh air to circulate inside the car and lying down. Most symptoms are hard to stop once they start and will not be completely relieved until the motion stops.
To conclude, motion sickness can arise in anyone such as my mother and I. According to research by NASA, about 30% of people are immune to motion sickness but there can be no clear prediction of who gets it and who does not. It is a result of parts of the body sensing motion while others do not. Medications and different techniques can help to avoid motion sickness symptoms, but are not guaranteed to do so. I am so fortunate to have overcome my motion sickness and am interested to know if my mother will ever do the same.
Both me and my mother suffer from motion sickness. When I was little, I was able to read in the car but now I can’t and any weird movement makes me really dizzy. My mom has kind of the same thing. She gets motion sick, but only if she’s facing the wrong way. I really wish that there was a way to “cure” motion sickness, but until then, I’ll just keep taking my Dramamine.