Homeopathy 

MOTION SICKNESS

Any deviation from normal well being sensation can be considered as sickness. If it is related with motion or travel, it is named accordingly as motion sickness or travel sickness and more specifically as air sickness, jet lag, sea sickness, altitude sickness, mountain sickness, etc.

In this advanced world of globalisation, everyone needs to travel by one or other mode i.e. by car, van, bus, train, plane, boat, ship, etc., either for career development or business or for relaxation of mind during vacation. Here, occurrence of changes in movement (either upward or downward or rocking or rotation or swashing, etc.) or changes in altitude or temperature/pressure or air humidity or time factor or noise or vision or smell can cause sickness if one is not accommodated properly. It will continue until it is accommodated well with our special senses and brain.

This motion sickness can be very well understood and easily felt with rotation movement. Children enjoy a minor form of this motion sickness by turning around in a fast manner, swaying, swinging, rocking hard on a chair, etc. Circular motion can cause more imbalance and giddiness readily or sooner than other movements since the brain cannot easily accommodate the fast moving objects (as visualised by the eye).

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INCIDENCES – August is usually meant for vacation (due to the pleasant climate) worldwide, where travel will usually be more, so travel sickness cases will be reported more in this season. Also it is more commonly felt while traveling in the hills and the sea. Travel sickness is very common in children than adults in spite of travel in car, bus, train, aeroplane, boat, ship, etc. Sometimes, even a swing ride or giant wheel ride or rollercoaster ride, usually meant for entertainment, can also cause complaints of motion sickness. Children usually outgrow this complaint as they grow and accommodated/accustomed with the habit of travel. 

CAUSES – Any type of motion or travel can cause dizziness or vomiting or headache or any other complaints, if the brain cannot correlate impulses between signals of our special senses (eyes, ear, nose, taste and touch). If one has more sensitiveness with regard to special senses, riding usually makes them sick. It can even occur with a simple ride on an escalator or lift. Usually sickness is due to

• Imbalance of brain to accommodate or balance the signals given between our special senses, especially from eye and ear (inner ear – labyrinth). i.e.

• Imbalance of brain to map the moving objects with vision

• Imbalance of brain to accept impulses regarding motion and posture from vestibular apparatus of inner ear.

• Imbalance of brain due to neuralgic complaints due to which brain fails to interact with complex signals arising from special senses

• Nausea with unwanted smell or taste

• Brain fogginess due to less oxygen supply

TYPES

• Sea sickness – occurs due to swashing movements of ship or boat and difference in humidity

• Air sickness – occurs due to diminished oxygen supply either in high altitude or closed area

• Mountain sickness – due to the altitude difference and air humidity difference while climbing mountains or hills

• Car sickness – it is a collective term for travel sickness in bus, van, carriage, etc. Here, movement of the vehicle, seeing moving objects, smell of petrol or diesel, etc., can cause sickness.

• Jet lag – This will be usually felt when one travels for a long distance especially across countries, where there will be a good amount of time difference, climate difference, environment difference, etc. Here dry air inside the flight and altitude changes occur during take off and landing also account for causing sickness.

• Altitude sickness – Here changes in altitudes and psychological anguish and fear of heights and fear of downward motion can cause sickness.

SYMPTOMS – Symptoms usually vary depending upon the sensitivity of the person and type of movement or travel. Symptoms usually disappear immediately or in a short time after discontinuing the movement or travel. But in some persons, sometimes, it may continue for 1-3 days depending upon the intensity of the suffering or symptom. The common complaints are:

• Anxiety, tension and restlessness

• Foggy thinking and lack of concentration

• Nausea and retching/vomiting

• Dizziness and fatigue

• Difficulty in breathing

• Empty feeling (weightlessness) in stomach

• Heaviness in head (headache)

• Cold clammy sweat

• Ravenous hunger with aversion to food / water

In motion sickness, vomiting commonly relieves most of the complaints. But headache and loss of appetite may continue for one or two days. 

DIAGNOSIS – Sufferer can themselves identify the type and cause of the complaint, so mostly there won’t be need for any investigations. 

COMPLICATION – Dehydration will be the commonest complication which needs to be treated under the supervision of a qualified health professional. It can also affect persons in the psychological aspect with fear and aversion to travel which may impinge on their widespread achievements in career or business. Also, sometimes, a sufferer may fall from rides and may get injured due to this motion sickness.

PREVENTION

Avoid

• Full & heavy meal before and during travel

• Oily foods and pastry/non-veg items which take a longer time to get digested

• Milk and milk products

• Alcohol

• Facing backward while travelling since sickness will be at its worst in this direction

• Fearful nature, comparing past experiences of suffering

• Long travel in a continuous manner

Do’s

• Keep yourself busy

• Concentrate on interesting things or speech to divert your mind from fear or distress

• Keep yourself in a good aerated place

• Take short breaks in-between long travel

• Position yourself where the vehicle is more stable and where movement is felt less

• If moving objects aggravate the complaint, it is better to avoid seeing/watching them and stay relaxed with closed eyes during travel

• Wear ear plugs if you feel noise is a trigger

• Have your favorite nausea masker i.e. ginger, lemon or peppermint to distract from the nauseating feeling

• Try to sleep and wake up fresh while finishing the travel

MANAGEMENT – To manage the travel in smart way, it is better to carry vomiting bag to feel free, discard unwanted distress and dispose vomited substances (if vomited). After vomiting,

Do’s

• Keep yourself relaxed under good aeration

• Vomiting will usually be acidic, so it is better to gargle or wash away the mouth immediately after vomiting to avoid mouth dryness and discomfort.

• Drink liquids to your taste sip by sip to suppress nauseating smell or taste

• Have a good sleep to refresh yourself

• If complaints happen to persist, visit a health professional at the earliest

GENERAL TREATMENT – Usually travellers have their own medical kit for emergency use in common ailments which include motion sickness. Most commonly, people often use over-the-counter drugs for travel sickness from allopathy or any other systems of medicines. These medicines, as a rule, work to suppress the activities of the brain and stomach to avoid brain confusion and vomiting. They are prescribed an hour in advance before travel to benumb the brain and stomach which in turn makes one dull, tired and sleepy. Even though taking proper care with medicines immediately for complaints is good, one should be aware that it is always better to address unusual symptoms by qualified persons.

HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT – As every one knows, Homeopathy works well in treating tendencies and allergic conditions. Homeopathy can treat this sensitivity to motion i.e. motion or travel sickness. Unlike other systems, which suppress brain and stomach to stop dizziness and vomiting, Homeopathy works by helping/supporting the brain to accommodate the movement or travel or environment. Homeopathy can make one enjoy the vacation with smart travel without any dizziness and vomiting.

In Homeopathy, patients are treated according to their symptoms and feelings, i.e. medicines cannot be prescribed as such, as done in other system of medicines, because, each and everyone’s symptoms often vary with the type of travel. Some people are sensitive to movement (some particularly to height, some particularly to downward motion, some particularly to backward motion, etc.), some to smell, some to noise, some to aeration or environment, some to fear, some to anxiety, etc. In Homeopathy, each complaint clinches different remedy. Usually tossing of mind constantly with fear of vomiting or motion sickness will often bring it. In case of suffering, it can shorten the suffering period of sickness and discomfort.

Homeopathic medicines commonly used for fatigue, exhaustion, headache, vomiting, dizziness of motion sickness are Arnica, Asarum Europaeum, Belladonna, Borax, Bryonia, Cocculus Ind, Coffea, Colocynthis, Gelsemium, Ipecac, Nux vom, Petroleum, Pulsatilla, Rhus tox, Tabacum, Theridion, Veratrum album, etc. These medicines should be taken under the advice and diagnosis of a Qualified Homeopath.

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Published on July 31^st, 2006