When Travel Isn’t Fun
For some, it’s the bobbing of a boat that leads to a persistent lightheaded and queasy feeling. The sensation of takeoff or landing while seated on an airplane, or perhaps the twists and turns of a windy car ride, might set off cold sweats and pallor. While it’s challenging to prevent, understanding how motion sickness is connected to our vestibular system may provide insight as we prepare for summer travel.
Our vestibular system is housed within our inner ear, consisting of sensory organs filled with fluid. Three semicircular canals react to our body’s movement, side to side, up and down or right and left. The fluid shifts against tiny hair cell receptors and sends signals to the central nervous system to keep the body in balance against shifts in movement. A mature system is able to move without getting sick, an immature system is what causes the motion sickness. TLR is what creates the mature foundation for sensory processing of forward and backwards motion.
The vestibular system is the anchor for all sensory systems. A well-established vestibular system with be able to communicate with the visual system and proprioceptive system to understand the sensory experience. An immature vestibular system will cause motion sickness. Our sensory input from our eyes and our muscles and joints combines to inform the system. Oftentimes, travelers experience mixed signals in their body as they sit on moving vessels like planes, boats and cars. The disconnect between what we see and what we feel or don’t feel alerts those autonomic (and sickly) reactions. Interestingly, virtual reality and other immersive games result in similar challenges, since participants experience a moving environment while oftentimes limited in their own movement.
Our reflexes play a major role in creating the foundation for a mature vestibular system, which supports our balance and awareness of our movement within our surroundings. Compensation strategies for immature systems suggest focusing on fixed objects may help travelers feel less sick (eyes on the horizon while on a boat, sitting in the front of the car and looking at the dashboard, for example). Natural remedies like pressurized wrist bands and chewing ginger help to mask nausea as well.
