Handling motion sickness
Aug 17, 2007
MODERN lifestyle exposes almost everyone to travel by road, water, rail or air. Travel makes some people dizzy and nauseated. As a result, many people carry polythene bags just incase they throw up.
By Halima Shaban
MODERN lifestyle exposes almost everyone to travel by road, water, rail or air. Travel makes some people dizzy and nauseated. As a result, many people carry polythene bags just incase they throw up.
Dr Patrick Mulindwa, a senior medical officer at Mulago Hospital, says it is known as motion sickness or kinetosis. It is common to see people throw up on journeys. It occurs in real, perceived, or anticipated movement.
He says motion sickness is a disturbance of the inner ear (known as the labyrinth), when travel disorganises the sense of balance and equilibrium.
“Your brain senses movement by getting signals from your inner ears, eyes, muscles and joints. When it fails to match the signals, you can get motion sickness. For example, your inner ear senses motion, but your eyes cannot sense that you are moving,†he says.
According to Dr Charles Mukisa, a medical officer at Kinyara Sugar Works, it is made worse by a heightened level of fear or anxiety, unpleasant odours, poor ventilation and being outside of the earth’s gravitational force.
People rarely consult doctors because the sickness stops the moment they reach their destination. So the occasional traveller may consider it a minor disorder. But it can be incapacitating for people with an occupation that requires constant movement, it may affect fellow travellers and one’s self-esteem.
How to control the condition
Motion sickness is common in children aged two–12, but it declines with age, probably due to behavioural changes and coping strategies.
Even for some people who develop it after travelling for the first time, the nausea stops once a person adapts to movement.
But for others, it is an enduring nightmare. Even anticipating movement can cause anxiety and symptoms of motion sickness. Mukisa advises that if anybody in your car develops symptoms of motion sickness during a journey, stop and let them get out and walk around.
Dr David Ssali, a naturopathic doctor at Dama Herbal Clinic, says the trick is to simply look out of the window of the moving vehicle to provide a visual reaffirmation of motion. This helps the labyrinth to re-orient the inner sense of balance. He also advises that you close your eyes or, if possible, take a nap.
This resolves the input conflict between the eyes and the inner ear. Napping also helps prevent psychogenic effects (i.e. the effect of sickness being magnified by thinking about it).
Fresh, cool air also relieves motion sickness slightly, although it is more related to avoiding foul odours, which can make the nausea worse.
MODERN lifestyle exposes almost everyone to travel by road, water, rail or air. Travel makes some people dizzy and nauseated. As a result, many people carry polythene bags just incase they throw up.
Dr Patrick Mulindwa, a senior medical officer at Mulago Hospital, says it is known as motion sickness or kinetosis. It is common to see people throw up on journeys. It occurs in real, perceived, or anticipated movement.
He says motion sickness is a disturbance of the inner ear (known as the labyrinth), when travel disorganises the sense of balance and equilibrium.
“Your brain senses movement by getting signals from your inner ears, eyes, muscles and joints. When it fails to match the signals, you can get motion sickness. For example, your inner ear senses motion, but your eyes cannot sense that you are moving,†he says.
According to Dr Charles Mukisa, a medical officer at Kinyara Sugar Works, it is made worse by a heightened level of fear or anxiety, unpleasant odours, poor ventilation and being outside of the earth’s gravitational force.
People rarely consult doctors because the sickness stops the moment they reach their destination. So the occasional traveller may consider it a minor disorder. But it can be incapacitating for people with an occupation that requires constant movement, it may affect fellow travellers and one’s self-esteem.
How to control the condition
Motion sickness is common in children aged two–12, but it declines with age, probably due to behavioural changes and coping strategies.
Even for some people who develop it after travelling for the first time, the nausea stops once a person adapts to movement.
But for others, it is an enduring nightmare. Even anticipating movement can cause anxiety and symptoms of motion sickness. Mukisa advises that if anybody in your car develops symptoms of motion sickness during a journey, stop and let them get out and walk around.
Dr David Ssali, a naturopathic doctor at Dama Herbal Clinic, says the trick is to simply look out of the window of the moving vehicle to provide a visual reaffirmation of motion. This helps the labyrinth to re-orient the inner sense of balance. He also advises that you close your eyes or, if possible, take a nap.
This resolves the input conflict between the eyes and the inner ear. Napping also helps prevent psychogenic effects (i.e. the effect of sickness being magnified by thinking about it).
Fresh, cool air also relieves motion sickness slightly, although it is more related to avoiding foul odours, which can make the nausea worse.