Tips to beat that sickening feeling
There’s nothing worse than hearing a passenger in the rear seat telling you he or she is feeling car sick, especially if it’s a child. As many of us prepare for those long holiday drives, whether in Ireland or in Europe (Irish Ferries permitting), it helps to know what causes it – and how to deal with it.
Euro Car Parts, the car and light commercial vehicle parts company that has over 300 branches in the UK and Ireland, commissioned research and found that the top 10 causes of car sickness are reading; travelling backwards; sitting in the back seat; tiredness; drinking alcohol; watching a screen; dehydration; hunger; standing while on public transport and the effects of eating. You also apparently are more likely to feel sick in a small car.
GP Sarah Brewer says motion sickness can be triggered by any form of transport when motiondetecting cells in the inner ears are excessively stimulated and send messages to the brain that don’t match the degree of movement detected by the eyes.
‘Your eyes tell your brain that the environment is stationary but your balance organs say that it isn’t ,’ she explains, and says that children up to the age of 10 are most likely to suffer – while the driver is least likely to because he or she actually is concentrating on what’s happening outside.
To combat it, she says you should ban unhealthy eating en route, because greasy, fatty and spicy food can cause nausea. Nor should you travel on an empty stomach, so have maybe a light salad an hour before embarking on your trip.
If a rear-seat passenger feels sick, move them to the front, and tell them to concentrate on the horizon. Opening a window to let fresh air in was found to be effective by 46% of people surveyed.
If the problem is more serious, Dr Brewer recommends taking an antihistamine containing cinnarizine two hours before a journey – it works on the vomiting centre in the brain to stop nausea, and on the balance organs in the inner ear to reduce sensitivity to motion. If you prefer a more natural option, try ginger tablets or wearing acupressure bands on your wrists.