Many years ago, I was on my way to school in my dad’s car when suddenly I started feeling dizzy. I also felt like vomiting. I did not know what was going on but I really did feel uncomfortable. Surprisingly, when I stopped reading the book in my hand, I felt comfortable after a while. It took about two more experiences for me to connect this uncomfortable feeling to my reading in the car. For this reason, I don’t read in the car or even text on my phone whenever I am in a car. It was much later that I found out that “motion sickness” was the name given to the symptoms I experienced. Most likely, you must have experienced the same thing or maybe not. But next time you are in a car in motion, watch out that uneasy feeling you might get.
Motion sickness is also known as car sickness, travel sickness, seasickness or air sickness. It is a fairly common disease and causes problems for frequent travellers. Don’t let the term disease scare you. It doesn’t cause long-term problems but it could be very frustrating.
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms include:
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Sweating
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Headache
Usually, the symptoms will always improve as your body adapts to the condition causing the problem or when motion stops.
Risk factors
The most common risk factors include:
- Riding in a bus, car, ship or aeroplane
- Anxiety
- Being predisposed to nausea or vomiting
- Lack of ventilation in a vehicle
- Kids between the ages of 2 to 12
This is far as we can go for now. I think I am having that feeling again. Not to worry, we will continue much later. Please let me know if you have had any such experience with motion sickness before. Feel free to share in the comment section below.