It’s almost time to fly home. I don’t travel far enough get jet lag like ybonesy. But I do suffer from bothersome motion sickness. I’ve had it since I was a little girl, and found out about it when we would do winding family trips from the Pine Barrens of Georgia to the Great Smokies of Tennessee. I learned to keep my eyes on the horizon, and never to read or look at maps while in motion. Fresh air helps, too, along with sitting in the front of the vehicle or resting your head against a seat back.
These days I’m more likely to be in the driver’s seat (even though I have a terrible sense of direction) and most times I am flying cross country to visit family or friends. This morning I drove the 212 miles round trip to Philadelphia with my brother for his transplant check-in. (Frankenbelly 3 has zipped his recovery into the fast lane! November 18th marks 1 month.) Saturday we shared family stories and celebrated early Thanksgiving with relatives who have driven the 10 hours from South Carolina to Pennsylvania more than six times this year to be closer to family.
Travel is a gift. Travel can wear you out. And make you a little dizzy. When I arrived in Pennsylvania last week, the day before my mother’s birthday, she handed me a book on home remedies and pointed to the section on motion sickness. “See if this helps,” she said. The ingredients are pure and simple: pack the ginger, chew on some cloves.
According to Readers Digest Kitchen Cabinet Cures — 1,001 Homemade Remedies For Your Health, the same chemical compounds that give ginger its zing—gingerol and shogaol—reduce intestinal contractions, neutralize digestive acids, and quell activity in the brain’s “vomiting center.” If you eat 1/2 teaspoon of chopped, fresh ginger every 15 minutes for one hour before traveling, mix a pinch of powdered ginger in water, drink ginger tea, or nibble pieces of candied ginger, you should be good to go.
Grinding cloves between the teeth also helps. But if you’re looking for non-food related remedies, try Sea-Bands, knitted elastic wrist bands which operate by applying pressure on the Nei Kuan (P6) acupressure point on each wrist by means of a plastic stud. Liz introduced me to them a few years ago and I swear by them for both car and planes. Here’s a wrap up of other practical suggestions for motion sickness in the Readers Digest book:
On Planes:
- Eat low-cal snacks & light meals 24 hours before departure
- Choose a seat in the front of the plane or by the wing
- Direct the air vent above the seat toward your face
In Cars:
- Sit in the front seat
- Keep your eyes on the horizon
- Don’t read or look at maps
- Keep your head still by resting it against the seat back
- Turn air vents toward your face
On Boats:
- Ask for cabin on the upper deck or near front of the ship
- When on deck, keep eyes firmly fixed on horizon or land
If the cloves and ginger don’t work, one last home remedy listed for motion sickness is warm lemon-aid. Squeeze one whole lemon into a cup sweetened with a teaspoon of honey. Keep the drink in a warm thermos while traveling. And I’d add the Sea-Bands to every category. The acupressure works!
-posted on red Ravine, Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 — all photos © 2010 by QuoinMonkey — with thanks to my family who have made this week in motion a joy and a pleasure
I used Sea-Bands on a whale watch tour years ago. My husband and youngest son took Dramamine. I did not get seasick. They did, and they were sleepy to boot.
I am a big fan of ginger too. I eat some candied ginger or make ginger tea with fresh ginger before traveling, and always ask for ginger ale on the plane.
I didn’t know about sitting in the front of the plane or by the wing. Or the cloves. I always learn something new here. 🙂
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I also swear by ginger and didn’t know about cloves. But you missed my favorite remedy: oil of peppermint. I keep a tiny bottle handy for queasiness and other gastric distress while traveling. As needed, I wet each of two clean fingertips with the oil and lick it off. That does the trick.
A couple of years ago we joined a tour group on the Copper Canyon train trip. That train rocks and rolls! For endless hours. My oil was in frequent demand among tour mates and kept everyone’s tummies settled.
Caveat: The mint taste is strong, so be prepared. This one is easiest to travel with and most convenient to use.
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Sharon, interesting about the peppermint oil. I know that when I’m traveling and if I do get a bit of motion sickness, a bit of peppermint gum or a mint will often soothe the feeling. And QM, we often travel with candied ginger, which is really yummy. I use it anytime I head out on road trips or flights with the girls. My oldest used to suffer from motion sickness but has outgrown it.
BTW, I never used to get any motion sickness but I do periodically have bouts of feeling nauseous nowadays. Some of it has to do with my jetlag–I learned that one of the side effects of jetlag is that feeling of motion sickness. It usually hits those first few days in Vietnam after I arrive and during my long drives from the district where my hotel is and the district where our office is. It’s a lot of sensory overload, too, and often especially around 5p on the drive home, I’ll start feeling kind of sick.
I also had it hit bad (not so bad as to break my 38-year no-puke streak, but almost bad enough) when I took an overnight boat trip in Vietnam. That was also probably due to the jetlag combined with the boat ride. And finally, I really almost lost it once after a rough bout of flights home, the final one from SFO to ABQ being the worst. Very bumpy, plus I was so exhausted and not feeling well as it was. I had to keep swallowing back the bile in the car ride home from the airport. That was the closest I came. So I’m glad to see these various remedies, just in case it continues to strike.
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QM, hope you made it home without hitch. What a nice long visit with family! Sometimes the ride home is always the hardest, especially after a lot of fun and excitement. Our bodies are not as rested as usual and that can also affect one’s response to travel. And that pesky wind! Flying into ABQ in spring is almost always a bumpy descent because of the wind. For that reason, I often try to fly very early morning, before the winds whip up, or after sundown, which usually settles the gales.
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I’ve had motion sickness all my life. I resort to dramamine when I must but don’t like how sleepy it makes me. The bands don’t help me…or so I recall. But your experience with them makes me want to try again.
When I was pregnant and queasy, I found that avoiding both a totally empty stomach and an overfull one helped. Helps me with motion sickness, too. My doctor in the 70’s also recommended marijuana for pregnancy queasiness – didn’t try it at the time but it kind of makes sense (if you’re not pregnant) since it helps with the nausea of cancer treatment.
My very worst motion sickness was a recent trip by ferry from Milwaukee to Muskegon, MI. across Lake Michigan when the waves in the middle were swelling to 12 feet. The high speed ferry goes 40 mph and takes 2.5 hours. It was cold and sleeting but my son and I spent the entire trip huddled outside on deck, trying to keep from puking. Total misery. At least we had each other. (my husband was cheerfully reading a magazine in the warm cabin. Gloating.) I’d taken dramamine but not soon enough – it had no noticeable effect.
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I’ve been blessed to not have motion sickness. Not on boats, ships, planes, cars, trains, etc. When I was in Australia last year, my son booked us on a tour of the Great Barrier Reef. Everyone on the ship was getting sick. EVERYONE. Except me. Later on, I was told by the crew that I was lucky because no one ever escapes it!
When I was growing up, my sisters used to get car sick. My parents gave them peppermint gum so that’s something I would try if needed.
While pregnant, my morning sickness was mostly taken care of by sipping on mint or chamomile tea.
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Wow, what great suggestions for motion sickness. I’m going to keep all of these in mind for future trips. The Great Barrier Reef? That must have been an amazing tour. I don’t know if I could do a cruise. Honestly, I think I might lose it over that long a period of time!
I did make it home safely and am starting to feel rested. The flight back was bumpy out of Harrisburg. They had a huge wind storm right before I left town. On all of my flights and connections, I sat over the wing, next to a window, kept my eyes on the horizon of clouds outside. There was one point where all I could see was fog and clouds out the window and I started to feel a little sick. But it passed. Had some mint gum. And, of course, I had on my Sea-Bands.
I think I will stock up on some clove and mint gum, and ginger candy for my next trip. Overall, my flying experience was A+ this time. Not even any annoyances with the new Security procedures. I feel lucky.
I did almost miss my plane on the 30 minute connection in Detroit. Just made it. Next time I’ll try for a longer connection window. I do know the airport in Detroit a little better now. The woman next to me showed me the airport maps section of the Delta Sky Magazine. Some are larger than others!
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Wanted to mention to Teri that the Biscoff cookies were back! The ones with the big Delta imprinted on the outside. Did you know they were made in Belgium? Here’s a link to their online site. Tempting to order some for Chrismas.
Biscoff Gourmet Cookes & Gifts — The Lotus Bakery Story (LINK)
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Oh man! Can I identify with this! I have even got motion sickness and nausea driving my own car! I swear by those Seabands. Been using them for 30 years plus. They were invented for the Royale Navy and my Dad got his hands on some for me to fish!
QM, I’m going to offer you a Ginger tincture recipe that the natural stores charge 10 bucks for and you get a teeny bottle. It’s the best way to get the most out of ginger. Take a fresh ginger root and chop it up finely. You need as much inner surface exposed as possible. Fill up a jelly jar with a nice fitting lid. Cover the ginger with either Vodka (at least 40%) or white vinegar. It very important that the vinegar come from a glass bottle because plastic leaches. (Some stores only carry it in plastic jugs). Make sure the liquid is to the top so the ginger is covered completely and make sure no root interferes with the lid lip so it closes properly. Now shake it up really good and keep it in a dark place for 6 weeks, shaking it as many times as you remember. (Put a label on it so you know what’s in it and when you made it). After 6 weeks, get a glass bowl out and a nice unbleached piece of cotton (even a clean old t-shirt will work). Wet the end of the cloth so that the mixture will flow better through it. Stick the cloth over the bowl (and gathered in your hand) and slowly wring it into the bowl until every last drop is out. You can use the ginger for cooking and put the juice back in the fridge in the same jar. It will last for years! Take a teaspoon or more for nausea or motion sickness and keep taking as needed. It’s also good for gas, moving stagnation out of the body and is totally anti-inflammatory!
One thing to note. Alcohol is the best solvent for this tincture but some folks may be allergic and other may not want to have their kids try it. The vinegar works well enough.
Happy Thanksgiving to you guys if we don’t talk soon.
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Heather, thank you for the recipe. I’ll definitely have to try it. It reminds me of the days when I made homemade Kahlua. I don’t know why. The process just reminds me of dropping that vanilla bean into the fluid to age and letting it sit for weeks. Thanks for the tip. Yes, the Sea-Bands are the best. Based on ancient laws of pressure on meridians. It just makes sense. Have a great Thanksgiving, Heather. I can’t believe another year has passed! No travel for me this year. I’ll be hanging close to home. 8)
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