How to avoid car sickness

How to Avoid Car Sickness: Simple Hacks to Make your Trip Enjoyable

Does your stomach get filled up the moment you enter into your car and get into motion? It is not a sign that your gut is sick. This happens to many people and you should not be scared this is happening. This is called car sickness and 1 in every 10 people have it. So now you see it is not a specific problem to you.

What is car sickness?

Let us begin it right from the top, won’t we? This is a kind of motion sickness that makes your head light with mild nausea and dizziness. It is not limited to cars; people traveling by airplanes and boats get it too. It happens when your body, eyes and inner ear send mixed up messages to your brain. Children at 2 to 12 years age group are at the most risk. However, adults are not ruled out. Thought you should know before we get into how avoid it, right?

Signs of car sickness

How do you know it is motion sickness and not any other problem with your head and tummy? Here are the telltale signs of carsickness:

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    Nausea: It will be mild at first and get worse if you do not take care of it.
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    Headache. It will not be splitting pain but something that will make you uncomfortable.
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    Dizziness
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    Inexplicable increase in salivating. It will take you by surprise that you are salivating more than normal.
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    Pale skin. It will come to this if you let the sickness keep on coming and you are doing nothing about it.
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    Vomiting. If it gets here, things are getting out of hand fast.

How to avoid car sickness

It is not impossible to totally avoid motion sickness. Plenty of people have never had a single attack since they know how to keep it at bay. You are now privileged to be joining their secrets into how to avoid carsickness completely. Be my guest as you get to know how to never get sick in your car one more time:

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    Eat light before traveling:
    it is a rule of the thump you should not eat heavily when you are about to travel. This is not only specific to cars; it cuts across the board for anything that gets into motion: airplanes, boats, shuttles, name them. Take something light like fruits and a few bites of your favorite snack. You will eat to fill once you get to your destination. It makes no sense to eat heavily only to throw out all the food.
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    Alcohol is a big no: if you have a love affair with the bottle, you will have to make do without it every time you will be traveling by car. Even that one bottle will increase your chances to get sick. Alcohol causes an imbalance in your body functions and you are the most vulnerable when you are drunk. You will not die if you go without it a few hours of your trip.
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    If possible, sit in the front seat: the front seat gives you a free view of the horizon. You will not feel “boxed” and the least of your worries will be getting sick. You can freely view the horizon, let your brain wander and that is all it takes to keep this sickness on the check.
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    No reading: sorry book lovers, this one will break your heart. You will not be reading on your next car trip. You may have to save the reading till you get to your destination or when you get back home.
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    Avoid smoking: it seems you will be making quite a number of sacrifices to not get sick on your next car trip. If you cannot stay for a long time without smoking, carry a few chewing gums to curb the cravings.
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    Make water your friend: downing a few glasses of water will come in handy during your car trip. If water is not your favorite cup of tea, you could as well go for mild drinks like diet coke and club soda. Pack a few of them for the trip (you will thank me later for this heads up).

How to deal with this sickness if it strikes

Probably you did not have the chance to avoid the sickness. Now you are in your car and a little too late it is already happening. What are you supposed to do? Here is your game plan for dealing with the problem:

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    Turn to your fluids for help: if you could not completely avoid the bout, there is a way to deal with it. It is time to take a sizable gulp of your fluids. It could be diet coke or club soda or anything mild in your list of favorite beverages. If you are already vomiting, you have 10 more reasons to drink loads of fluids. Every time you throw up you should take at least 8 ounces of your fluid treat. Gradually, the sickness will go away and you can begin to breath and enjoy the rest of your journey.
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    Keep your eyes on the horizon:
    the first time anyone floats this idea to deal with car sickness you will probably scorn at them. But before you do that, let me stop you right there. It works and does so in a great way. Keeping your focus on the horizon helps your brain calm down. It (your brain) thinks you are poisoned and the last thing you need is to feel like you are in a cage.
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    Stop and get out of the car: if this is your own car, stop and get out. Fresh air will give you much needed balance. If you cannot get out of the car, roll down the windows.

Final Thoughts:

A nauseating feeling and dizziness are the last things you need on your planned car trip. But this should not be a problem anymore. You now know the best hacks to avoid the attack. And if the sickness somehow manages to get to you, it is going to be piece-of-cake easy to calm the storm.

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