How does seasickness occur?
Just as in general motion sickness (kinetosis), seasickness involves a conflict of different sensory impressions that are reported to the brain by the vestibular organ and the eyes.
The organ of balance (vestibular apparatus) in the inner ear constantly senses rotational movements as well as horizontal and vertical acceleration with tiny hair cells in its individual sub-organs. The so-called proprioceptors send information to the brain about which muscle is currently moving and how, thus helping the brain to permanently locate the exact position of arms and legs, for example.
Optical perception is also very important, i.e. what people see with their eyes in order to orient themselves.
Conflicting sensory impressions at sea
Many people initially react to this with fatigue, mild headaches and frequent yawning. Salivation often increases and those affected begin to sweat. Only then do the classic symptoms of seasickness develop: dizziness, nausea and vomiting. In extreme cases, the seasick person becomes completely apathetic or his circulation collapses. However, this is very rare.
The first stories about seasickness are almost as old as seafaring itself. When seasick travelers hang their upper bodies over the railing and vomit, experienced seafarers talk with a grin about “feeding the fish.”
How can seasickness be prevented and alleviated?
Even though, in principle, everyone can get seasick once in a while: Some are more prone to seasickness than others and are more sensitive to the rocking motion. For example, women generally get seasick more quickly than men, children more often than adults, and migraine patients more often than healthy people.
Initially, there is not much that can be done against this predisposition. But there are some measures you can take yourself:
- If this measure doesn’t help, it’s best to lie down as flat as possible and close your eyes – this usually works better below deck, of course. It doesn’t matter if you fall asleep. On the contrary: during sleep, the sense of balance is largely “deactivated,” and most seasick people feel better when they wake up.
Seasickness – Medications
There are also some medications available to prevent and relieve seasickness. They come in different dosage forms. Many people reach for chewing gum, capsules or tablets against seasickness, for example with the active ingredient dimenhydrinate or ginger. Others prefer patches containing active ingredients to combat seasickness. Suppositories are also available.
Which medication is most suitable in individual cases depends, among other things, on age and the individual predisposition to seasickness. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice on this and use the medication in good time before you set off on your sea voyage.
Eating for seasickness
In addition, a connection between seasickness and histamine is being discussed. Histamine plays a role as a signal substance in the body and is also present in larger quantities in certain foods, for example in long-matured cheese, salami, sauerkraut, tuna and wine. Accordingly, it could make sense for people with seasickness to avoid these foods before and during a sea voyage. However, there are no reliable findings on this yet.
Large ships are more stable
If your first sea voyage will be a cruise on a large steamer, you generally don’t have to worry about seasickness: These ships are now so large and sturdily built, and are also equipped with special stabilizers, that they hardly move even in stronger seas. Therefore, only very few people have to struggle with seasickness on a cruise.
