What should you know about flight motion sickness?

Your inner ear senses movement and acceleration while your eyes may see a stable cabin. The brain receives conflicting information, which can produce nausea or a spinning, unsettled feeling. Anxiety, migraine tendency, reading during travel, and a recent stomach illness may make symptoms harder to tolerate. Motion sickness is not the same as food poisoning, although both can cause vomiting.

Choose a seat with less movement when possible, keep your gaze on the horizon or a distant fixed point, and avoid reading or prolonged screen use during turbulence. Keep your head supported, breathe slowly, and take small sips of water. Eat a light meal rather than travelling very hungry or after a heavy, greasy meal. Ask a pharmacist about preventive medicine before departure; some options cause drowsiness and may not suit everyone.

Seek urgent help for persistent vomiting with signs of dehydration, fainting, severe chest or abdominal pain, confusion, blood in vomit, or a severe headache with weakness or trouble speaking. If nausea or dizziness continues well after landing, recurs without travel, or affects balance, arrange a medical assessment.

Ask which preventive medicine fits your age and other medicines, when to take it, and whether another cause should be considered if symptoms last after the flight.