4 Motion-Sickness Remedies
Your heart’s racing, your head’s foggy, and you start to get sweaty — while these might sound like the side effects of biting into a piercing hot pepper (ghost peppers, we’re looking at you), you’ve just fallen victim to kinetosis.
Kinetosis, which is just a fancy way of saying motion sickness, is something every Texan can surely relate to. Whether you’re on a road trip to Big Bend or taking a cruise out of Galveston, having a sudden bout of nausea can sure put a real damper on any vacation.
Fortunately, fellow Texans, you don’t have to suffer on your long drive or pontoon party. Just follow these tips to keep that nasty nausea at bay.
1. Watch the Horizon
Dizziness is essentially caused by your sensory nerves, eyes, and inner ear being out of sync. To help align these, try to find an object in the distance to focus on, and keep your head completely still and facing forward. It’s also important to keep your eyes open, despite a tendency to want to close them. Also, taking slow, deep breaths should reduce dizziness and help you relax.
2. Eat Olives
As soon as you feel the nausea kicking in, your saliva glands will go into overdrive. The moment you start feeling this unusual feeling, pop a few olives in your mouth. It might sound crazy, but olives possess a chemical compound called tannin, which has a drying effect on your mouth. Alleviating this excess saliva can help keep dinner where it belongs: in your stomach. So, if you’re susceptible to motion sickness, it’s a good idea to keep some olives handy to help you out.
3. Apply Pressure to Wrists
Acupressure wristbands, or anti-nausea wristbands, work by applying pressure to the inside of your wrist, in a spot known as the Nei-Kuan point (located three finger widths below your wrist line on the inner forearm, in between the two tendons). While you can drop a few bucks on one from a local drugstore, you can also just as easily make your own. Simply take a bandanna (or scrap piece of fabric) and wrap it around your wrist with a small pebble or bead, putting pressure on the Nei-Kuan point. Follow this guide for proper placement.
4. Smell Peppermint
Bad breath isn’t the only thing mints cure. Peppermint can also help cure motion sickness. Smelling or ingesting peppermint could assist you in relieving your nausea. Simply apply some peppermint essential oil on a handkerchief and keep it in your pocket in case motion sickness kicks in. Once it does, inhale while waving the handkerchief in front of your nose. Or, you can just pop a mint!
While these easy hacks and remedies can help relieve a quick bout of motion sickness, cures for real health problems can put a big dent in your wallet. Talk to a Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Agent to make sure you’re covering all of your bases when it comes to your health.
© 2017 Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
