What should you know about stopping motion sickness?

Motion sickness occurs when signals from the inner ear, eyes and body do not agree about movement. It can cause [Nausea](/symptoms/nausea/), sweating, dizziness, headache and sometimes [Vomiting](/symptoms/vomiting/). Reading, watching a screen or looking down during a moving journey can intensify the mismatch. Symptoms often ease when movement stops, although tiredness and an unsettled stomach may last longer.

Choose a seat with the least movement: near the middle of a boat, over the wings of an aircraft, or toward the front of a car or coach. Face forward, look at a stable distant point, and keep your head still. Use cool fresh air, take small sips of water, and eat light food rather than a heavy or greasy meal before travel. Avoid reading and reduce screen use. If episodes are predictable, ask a pharmacist or clinician about a suitable preventive medicine before the journey; some options cause drowsiness.

Get medical advice if vomiting continues, you cannot keep fluids down, you feel faint, or symptoms persist after the journey has ended. Urgent care is appropriate for severe headache, chest pain, difficulty breathing, new weakness, confusion or signs of dehydration. A clinician can also review recurrent symptoms that happen when you are not travelling, because another cause may need assessment.

Ask which seat and preventive option suit your journey, whether drowsiness could affect driving, and how to use the medicine safely with your other treatments or health conditions.