What should you know about motion sickness?

Cars, boats, planes, buses and virtual-reality movement can create a mismatch between what you see and what your balance organs sense. The brain responds with symptoms such as queasiness, cold sweating, excess saliva, headache, dizziness and vomiting. Strong smells, reading and looking down can make the mismatch worse.

Symptoms often improve when the motion stops, but repeated vomiting can lead to dehydration. Motion sickness is different from nausea caused by an infection or another illness, so symptoms that occur away from travel deserve a separate assessment.

Choose a seat with the least movement when possible: near the front of a car or bus, over the wings of a plane, or on a lower central part of a boat. Face forward, look at a stable distant point, keep fresh air moving, and avoid reading or using a screen. Small, light meals and regular sips of water may be easier than heavy food or alcohol.

A pharmacist or clinician can discuss travel-sickness medicine before departure. Some products cause drowsiness, so check the label and avoid driving until you know how you react. A Travel Health Consultation can help when you expect difficult journeys or have other medical needs.

Seek medical advice if vomiting continues after travel, you cannot keep fluids down, you pass very little urine, or you feel faint or confused. Get urgent help for severe headache, chest pain, weakness, blood in vomit or symptoms after a head injury.

Ask: Which prevention option suits my journey and medicines? When should I take it? Could drowsiness affect driving? Could my symptoms suggest another cause of nausea or vomiting?