Many people feel sick on planes. Pregnant women and children are at risk. Popularly this condition is called seasickness, motion sickness, or air sickness.
The vestibular apparatus plays a leading role in the development of seasickness. The reaction occurs to the position and movement of the head.
Proprioceptors are found in muscles, tendons and joints. They transmit information about the position of the body in space.
The vestibular apparatus plays a leading role in the development of seasickness
Changes in location are carefully recorded, information is transmitted to the brain.
Provoking factors
Nausea in the airplane cabin is provoked by irritation of the vestibular apparatus, which is closely connected with the head vomiting center. It is this center that controls the feeling of nausea and the urge to vomit.
Nausea during flight is caused by the following reasons:
- Anxiety and stress.
- Taking medications.
- Drinking alcohol.
Signs of toxicosis may worsen in expectant mothers.
We train the vestibular apparatus
Upon landing, the unpleasant symptoms disappear. Weakness and slight dizziness remain for some time.
According to medical statistics, up to 12% of flying passengers have symptoms of air sickness.
What to do?
What to do to prevent this from happening? The basic rules to protect yourself are as follows:
You can take ginger in various forms:
- Warm drinks.
- Cool drinks.
- Sugar coated treats.
You can also take fresh ginger root with you. You can chew it throughout the flight.
In addition to ginger root, you need to have light food with you: bread, fruits, cookies, vegetables, dietary waffles. You can include crackers, crackers, bananas, and apple jam in your diet. It is advisable to drink juices and non-carbonated mineral water.
If it gets bad
If the methods listed above did not help, and the traveler still feels ill, you need to:
- Seek help from a flight attendant, especially if you are vomiting. You can ask him to be transferred to another part of the airliner. Just not at the back of the plane, because it shakes worse there. You also need to ask the conductor for a special package.
- Take a few deep breaths.
- Put on a blindfold.
- Start fanning yourself with a fan or newspaper. The flow of fresh air helps to normalize health.
Taking medications
Medicine to prevent motion sickness on an airplane is prescribed by the attending physician. You cannot take medications at your own peril and risk; many of them can cause side effects and provoke an intensification of the clinical picture.
Most medications cause drowsiness. It is advisable to drink them 30 minutes before departure.
| Medicine | Description | Price (r.) |
| It is a histamine receptor blocker. Anticholinergic properties. Helps reduce or stop the histamine-induced increase in smooth intestinal muscle tone. Main effects: antiemetic, sedative. | 142 | |
| Bonin | It is used for the treatment and prevention of dizziness (including labyrinthine-vestibular disorders, motion sickness), nausea and vomiting. Effects: antihistamine, antiemetic. | From 150 |
| Vertigohel | A multicomponent homeopathic medicine, the effect of which is determined by its constituent components. It is used for dizziness of various origins. | 328 |
| Air-sea | Lozenges. They are used for various degrees of motion sickness. The drug is not recommended for persons who have an allergic reaction to one or more of its components. | 99 |
| Phenibut | Nootropic drug. By normalizing tissue metabolism, it helps to improve the functional state of the brain. Has a beneficial effect on cerebral circulation. Removes feelings of anxiety, panic, tension, worry, fear. Has a slight anticonvulsant effect. | From 106 |
| Kinedryl | Histamine H1 receptor blocker. Reduces the excitability of the vomiting center. Main effects: antiemetic, anticholinergic. The medicine also helps reduce dizziness. | From 187 |
Antiemetic drugs
Medicines in this group are used only when nausea occurs. The composition contains metoclopramide, which relieves receptor sensitivity.
Antiemetic drug - Cerucal 10 mg No. 50 tablets
Psychotropic drugs
Medicines in this group help to dull the signs of motion sickness.
Sydnocarb Sydnocarbum - Psychostimulant with relatively low toxicity
| Medicine | Description | Price (r.) |
| Sidnocarb | Psychostimulant with relatively low toxicity, gradual development of stimulating effect. It has an effect on the central nervous system as a psychostimulant. Doesn't cause addiction. Recommended for neurotic disorders accompanied by severe vegetative crises. | 1000 |
| Caffeine | Psychostimulant and analeptic drug, a derivative of methylxanthine. Helps increase physical and mental performance, stimulate mental activity, and motor activity. Temporarily reduces fatigue and drowsiness. In large quantities it depresses the nervous system. Helps well with increased excitability. | From 45 |
More than half of people sometimes experience nausea or dizziness when flying. This doesn't necessarily happen on every flight, but it happens on many. Therefore the question is what to do if you get motion sickness on a plane, is very relevant, and the answer to it will help thousands of passengers. In this article, we will try to work with you to find the right ways to combat nausea during flights.
Strange as it may seem, nausea on an airplane is called seasickness. The same thing happens to people at sea. The manifestation of seasickness is provoked by stress and anxiety, fatigue, consumption of alcoholic beverages, drugs, certain medications, including analgesics, antibiotics, etc. More often, women (especially pregnant women) and small children suffer from motion sickness. But men can also get motion sickness on an airplane.
There are several effective techniques for combating seasickness during flights. Some of them are medicinal, and some are just tricks that are worth using.
What medications help against motion sickness on an airplane?
Medicines to prevent motion sickness. They are available in pharmacies, but be aware that many of them have drowsiness as a side effect. Almost all of them contain diphenhydramine, meclozine, scopolamine and dimenhydrinate. You should carefully study the instructions for use of the drug. Typically, such drugs are taken a quarter of an hour before the flight. And do not forget about drowsiness from these drugs. The ideal option is if you consult with a doctor in person, who will tell you which medications are effective for you and are safe.
Which seat to choose on the plane to avoid motion sickness?
Choosing a comfortable seat in the aircraft cabin also has a positive effect on reducing the effect of motion sickness. It is known that the places in front of the cabin and near the planes are least susceptible to bumpiness. Having taken your place in the chair, try to fix your gaze on some distant, non-moving object. Avoid reading during a flight as this increases the likelihood of seasickness symptoms. In turbulence areas, keep your head still on the back of the chair and use a personal fan. Regardless of whether your plane is large or small, try to choose seats as close to the cockpit as possible.
Feeling sick on a plane, what to do:
1. Folk remedies. Thus, sailors since ancient times knew that ginger helps in the fight against motion sickness. Take ginger-infused lollipops or cookies with you on the road. It should be remembered that its effect does not last long, and therefore, in order to avoid nausea and dizziness, you should eat cookies or suck sweets at intervals of 20–30 minutes.
2. Aromatherapy. Aromatic oils of ginger, lavender or mint will help overcome nausea and dizziness. The essential oil can be inhaled or, after diluting it with a carrier oil, rubbed into the area of the back of the head and temples.
3. Diet control. Immediately before the flight, you should not overeat; fatty foods and alcohol, dairy products and salty foods should be excluded. Choose light, low-calorie meals. Unsweetened soda, crackers, lemon or sour caramel can help combat nausea during a flight.
Motion sickness on an airplane is the most important problem a child can encounter. Its signs are easily noticeable - paleness, dizziness, weakness, cold sweat and the most unpleasant thing - nausea. To reduce discomfort in a child, you need to learn how to deal with nausea.
Not all children are prone to motion sickness, but if your child gets motion sickness on an airplane, there are a few rules you need to follow.
Rules against motion sickness on an airplane
- If you are prone to motion sickness, take a food break.
- Drink plenty of fluids. Preferably non-carbonated mineral water. Swallowing movements help to relax the eardrum, and the ears do not become blocked due to the fact that these movements help improve outflow through the Eustachian tube.
- A paper bag will help (you can ask the flight attendant for it). Let your child breathe into it at the moment when nausea creeps up his throat. This helps because the carbon dioxide contained in the exhaled air relieves attacks of nausea.
- Sleep makes it easier to endure a flight because it helps put our vestibular system in order.
- Close the window - looking out of it may make your nausea worse.
- Give a mint candy or gum. Mint helps fight nausea, and measured jaw movements help relieve discomfort.
- Use essential oils. For example, rose, jasmine, lemon or anise - they effectively help fight the symptoms of motion sickness. Let your child inhale the healing scent.
- Acupressure points against motion sickness. Remember for yourself and teach your child some Chinese massage techniques. Place your left hand on your knees so that your palm is up, and place your right hand on it, palm down. The base of the four fingers of the right hand should be in the crook of the left hand. You need to massage where your ring finger rests. There are points that help fight nausea on both hands and they are located in the dimples between the thumb and forefinger of the back of the hand.
As the people say: “In war, all means are good,” so you try all the methods in the fight against nausea and motion sickness. One will definitely suit you!
If you are flying on vacation with your child, then the article Vacation with a child will be useful for you.
Air sickness and nausea are common ailments that every traveler who finds himself on an airplane has to deal with at least once in his life. Fortunately, simple steps will help you forget about motion sickness and other symptoms. If you are planning a flight soon, follow our instructions. Here's what you need to do to avoid motion sickness.
Get enough sleep before your flight
“Why waste time sleeping when you can take a nap on the plane?” - think many novice balloonists and are honestly surprised when faced with nausea and other delights of soaring in the clouds. When you board an airliner tired, you are automatically approaching your encounter with motion sickness and air sickness. Preliminary seven to eight hours of sleep will not only save you from unpleasant sensations, but will also help you avoid circadian rhythm disturbances - the eternal companions of flights passing through several time zones.
Eat well
“We are what we eat,” which means that in order for the flight to be successful, it is necessary to have a good meal before it. The Association of Owners and Pilots of Private Aircraft recommends eating light food a few hours before takeoff, but you shouldn’t go hungry or eat huge portions - in both the first and second cases, people on board the plane get very motion sick. Possible pre-flight snack options: peanut butter sandwiches, hummus, tuna, rice, various smoothies.
Avoid salty snacks, which can cause dehydration, and fatty foods, which can cause stomach upset. But it’s better to take bread, crackers and apples with you on the plane - they will save you from nausea and motion sickness.
Choose the “right” place
Believe it or not, being on a plane has a lot to do with whether you feel nauseous. Not long ago, scientists conducted a study that showed that the best way to stay healthy is to sit by the window (who would doubt it). But it’s best to avoid places near the aisle if possible - during the flight you will have to come into contact with a much larger number of people, and at the same time with their germs - you may get motion sickness.
Drink enough fluids
Airplane cabin air can cause dry eyes and airways, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To avoid this, drink as much fluid as possible during the flight - this will reduce dryness and prevent dehydration.
When they see a flight attendant delivering food and drinks, passengers often fall into a stupor: what to choose? Coffee and orange juice are difficult to digest during a flight, so ask for plain water or tea instead.
Go to the restroom as little as possible
After visiting the restroom, many people not only get motion sickness - they also run the risk of developing some kind of disease. Toilets are the dirtiest place on an airplane: there is one small room for every fifty passengers. No, we don't encourage you to endure it as much as you can, but if you can go to the bathroom before your flight and refrain from using it during the entire flight, that will be ideal. If this is not possible, do not touch the faucet, toilet lid and door latch with your bare hands - do this through a paper towel or napkin.
Put down the book
It seems like reading a good book might make you feel bad, but in reality, an airplane is not the best place to read. Immersing yourself in a book while flying or traveling on any other form of transport confuses the signals entering your brain and can cause nausea - as a result, you feel sick: you get motion sickness. Instead, experts recommend looking out the window and enjoying the clouds.
Use ventilation above the seat
Even if you feel chilly during the flight, keep the ventilation above your seat on the plane. And here's why you need to do this. Viruses from colds and other upper respiratory tract infections remain in the air during flight. Ventilation above the seat will create an invisible barrier around you and protect against illness and motion sickness.
Wipe the folding table with a damp cloth
A 2015 study found that folding tables have approximately 8 times more bacteria than toilet flush buttons. Germs found in snack areas include cold viruses, norovirus (which can cause diarrhea and vomiting), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (which causes skin infections). If you plan to use a folding table on an airplane, remember that sanitary napkins or antiseptic sprays can help get rid of bacteria.
Avoid using the seat pocket in front of you
While the pocket in the back of the seat in front seems like an attractive place to store water bottles and snacks, it's actually crawling with germs. Many passengers dump candy wrappers, half-eaten food and other items with bacteria into it. The study found that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus germs, which can cause problems ranging from skin infections to pneumonia, lived on a tissue pocket for seven days. To avoid contact with them, do not touch the pocket or place anything in it.
- Why do you get motion sickness on an airplane?
- Causes of air sickness
- Manifestations of air sickness
- What to do to avoid getting motion sickness on a plane
You can suffer from motion sickness on the road, or you can suffer from kinetosis... However, this is a joke, because this is what doctors call the nausea and dizziness that two-thirds of people experience while driving. However, there is another name - “sea sickness”, since 100 years ago it was only possible to get motion sickness properly on a ship. Today, more and more often, instead of “sea sickness” they talk about “air sickness”.
How to survive a flight without life-saving paper bags? Let's figure it out!
Why do you get motion sickness on an airplane?
An airplane, of course, is not a ship in a stormy sea, but under the influence of ascending and descending air currents, serious “churning” can occur in it: the airplane begins to “yaw” left and right, and also rolls vertically. It becomes even more unpleasant if the pilot is forced to perform any maneuvers, and, of course, during takeoff and landing, when the flight altitude changes sharply.
Interesting fact: The “chatter” is worst from noon to three o’clock in the afternoon, when air masses heated by the sun begin to mix especially intensely.
The motion is stronger when flying at low altitude, as well as when passing a thunderstorm front.
Interesting fact: swaying “right-to-left” (when the plane seems to be swaying its wings) usually does not cause motion sickness for passengers, but up-down movements quickly exceed the adaptive capabilities of our vestibular apparatus.
Causes of air sickness
As you probably guessed, motion sickness on a ship, on an airplane, and in a car has common roots. Our body senses the acceleration of a vehicle, and in the case of an airplane, also a change in gravity. The vestibular system is ready to react, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is in order, the body is completely still in the cabin of a car or plane.
Interesting fact: Although two out of three people suffer from seasickness, only every tenth suffers from air sickness. This is due to the fact that modern jet aircraft fly at altitudes where there is little air mixing.
The first to give up is the autonomic nervous system: nausea, pallor, dizziness, and cold sweat appear.
The abdominal organs are also not “glued tightly” - even small displacements during strong rocking make nausea uncontrollable - vomiting begins.
Finally, radial accelerations add stress to the circulatory system, however, for this you will need to get off the plane and transfer to the carousel.
Interesting fact: for air sickness to appear again, you don’t even have to board a plane; several unsuccessful flights, and many begin to feel sick from just the sight of an airplane.
Manifestations of air sickness:
-
pallor,
cold sweat,
fear, depressed mood.
Less commonly it manifests itself as:
blackout,
cough, difficulty breathing,
double vision,
headache.
Interesting fact: When professional pilots fly as passengers, they get motion sickness more often than when they are at the controls.
What to do to avoid getting motion sickness on a plane
Get ready to fly
Motion sickness is much stronger for people who are tired, have not had enough sleep, are sick and scared. Some passengers, fearing vomiting, try not to eat before and during the flight. But this only makes the nausea worse.
Advice: Before the flight, get enough sleep, rest, eat a light snack and calm down
Take a pill
Doctors have a huge number of drugs in their arsenal to prevent attacks of kinetosis. The active ingredients they use are scopolamine, atropine, hyoscyamine, bromine, belladonna, amylnitrine... the list is quite long. You can buy the popular drug Dramamine at the pharmacy without a prescription - its effect lasts for six hours, and it can be used even by three-year-old children.
Important! Dramamine is prohibited for women during the first trimester of pregnancy, and its use in the second and third trimester must be agreed with your doctor!
But what if you are just pregnant? Then you should know that there are places on the plane where you get less motion sickness.
Choosing a seat on the plane
The least amount of motion sickness occurs in the front part of the plane and in the seats opposite the wings. Try to register in advance for these places. If you are concerned about your well-being during the flight.
Interesting fact: Children from 2 to 12 years of age and pregnant women suffer the most from airsickness.
Food for motion sickness
Ginger has long been considered the most popular “food” remedy for motion sickness. So take a pack of ginger candies with you on your flight.
If you don’t want to crunch on candy throughout the flight, drop some mint or lavender essential oil on a napkin and smell it when you feel faint.
Sour helps well - tangerine will help relieve nausea, lemon candies, by the way, will do just as well.
And, most importantly, remember: air sickness will disappear without a trace immediately after the end of the flight. And let it become the most unpleasant moment in your wonderful journey!
