November 28th, 2011 | 
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When winter draws in and more travelling takes place in the dark, people susceptible to car sickness or travel sickness on public transport face months where they are more likely to suffer from travel sickness symptoms.
Why is this?
Let’s remind ourselves of why motion sickness occurs. When the brain starts to receive conflicting information from the inner ear and the eyes, it believes the inner ear, thinking that poison is affecting the eyes. To rid the body of the poison vomiting occurs and as there is no poison, the brain realises that there is no change so continues to induce vomiting.
At night it becomes harder to see the road ahead, particularly if the road is unlit. Rain and fog obscure vision further and on unknown routes it can be hard to see which way the road goes, particularly if you aren’t sat in the front of the vehicle. In cities and towns lights in your periphery vision become more noticeable.
In addition children can suffer more due to fizzy drinks, food and jumping around at parties, combined with the excitement of Christmas. Adults using taxis & public transport having been celebrating can also suffer from excess. During winter months vehicles can get hot and stuffy made worse by having to wear heavy clothes outside, then getting very hot inside the vehicle.
What can be done to alleviate the travel sickness feeling?
The usual tricks apply, but if you feel worse travelling over the winter concentrate on the specific nature of dark evenings and the winter.
- If you can see the road ahead, don’t stare at it, instead try to look further down the road and also around you. If you have lights from shops, etc, flashing past on your side, try blocking them out, possibly with the sun visor swivelled round or placing you hand by the side of your head. If it gets too bad consider closing your eyes.
- Don’t start your journey immediately after eating a large meal or feeling very hungry. Avoid alcohol and fizzy drinks. If you have car sick prone children make sure they stop eating and jumping around some time before travelling. In my experience putting the kids straight in the car after a party will almost certainly result in car sickness.
- Is it possible for you to travel in daylight? Providing, of course, that you would feel better simply by doing this.
- Being too hot is a catalyst for travel sickness, however it’s hard to find clothing that keeps you warm outside that isn’t too hot in the vehicle. If possible have fresh air blowing towards you as this will help reduce the nausea. If you are travelling on public transport and in particular busses, it’s hard to remove and carry coats and jackets. Consider wearing hats and gloves that are easily removed and stored once on the vehicle. A great deal of heat can be lost through the head and wrists, and wearing hats and gloves in the first place may reduce your need for other insulating clothing. For wet weather consider a lightweight rain coat that breathes with additional vents that help circulate air around the body to keep it cool. Wearing several thin layers keeps you warmer than one thick layer and provides more flexibility in controlling your temperature.
- Take long deep breaths and exhale slowly through your mouth. Concentrating on your breathing stops you thinking about feeling sick and can be effective on public transport where you don’t have the same control over your immediate environment that you have in a car.
