I love reading but I am beginning to love road travel too. Right there is where the conflict exists, I can't read in a moving vehicle. One hour after alighting from a car, I will have to suffer from some sort of un-alcoholic "hangover". What bothers me most is the fact that so many others could perform this feat of reading in a moving car better than I can.
Source: HuffintonPost
It feels unfair and there seems to be no known solution. So I decided to research about it and this is what I found out.
It's called....
...kinetosis, some call it travel sickness, others like me that are more accustomed to travelling by road call it car sickness, it could also be called sea sickness but , in general,It is broadly referred to as "Motion Sickness".
But I call it...
...Sensual Disharmony Or Muscular Un-adaptation.
Why am I calling it that...
These two names are based on the two most likely causes, meaning they are just the most proven hypothesis of the cause of motion sickness, no factual reason has been stated whatsoever. Although sensual disharmony has been the most widely accepted cause.
The theory of sensual disharmony
This explains that motion sickness occurs when the inner ear (semicircular canals) "informs" the brain of a movement occurring in the body becuase of the vibration that exists within the ear drum while the eye sends a different message of the body being stationary because it's fixated on the never-moving letter prints of a book. This, in turn, creates a kind of disharmony that 'breaks' down the brain , resulting to the nausea that we feel.The theory of "Muscular Un-Adaptation"
This states that the body, possibly, doesn't feel adapted to the state of motion experienced in a moving transportation unit and so find it hard to maintain a Postural Stability and so for that reason sends a message of "something is wrong" to the brain which leads to nausea. This is further proven by the fact that sailors also feel a kind of land sickness when on land because their body has suddenly become accustomed to the body vibrations of the sea.
Nevertheless, it seems as though the second theory is further proving the first theory of Sensual Disharmony. It deductively explains that the body will , some day, get used to the dissonant signals coming from the two senses. The point of argument here is if the brain will stop sending signals of disharmony as time goes on or if the body will generally ignore the "error report" signals from the brain with time.
Hypothetically, either of this is meant to happen. This further proves that the only way to stop any form of motion sickness is to just continue "reading a book in a moving car until you get used to it" or that "you continue to travel by any means that causes the motion sickness".
I must say, for the purpose of getting informed , that astronauts also feel a certain kind of nausea that seems similar to motion sickness but can not be referred to as sensual disharmony because it is as a result of an usual gravitational pull which is way lower than their body is used to. So the body feels "something is wrong" and then makes an astronaut feel nauseous on their first trip but they eventually get used to it.
Source: provoke-online.com
Another Suggested Cause
In 1977, Dr. Michel Treisman, a University of Oxford Psychologist, suggested that motion sickness might be an evolutionary response to food poisoning. His idea was that if your taste buds can't spot a toxin in a meal, the dizziness and vomiting could be a fallback system. (Source)
I really do not agree with this cause because it is very much unproven and seems to be quite a distant hypothesis from the underlying cause of motion and so therefore is insignificant to the research on Motion Sickness.
SOLUTIONS
There is no direct medical solution except solutions that are aimed at solving the resultant nausea. Nevertheless , there are some solutions that have not been widely accepted as a medical antedote but have been significantly talked about.
They include:
Chinese Acupressure:
This claims to solve the problem of disharmony by balancing the flow of energy in the body. According to a 1995 study published in the journal of Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, people who performed acupuncture on their wrists reports reduced motion sickness. The Chinese acupressure is performed by using the thumb to press the inner arm three finger widths down from the wrist crease.
Source: daoisttraditions.edu
Body harmonization:
This is done by making the body fully aware of movement, the eyes are made fullly aware of the motion by focusing on distant scenery like the skies . This was suggested by New York Based Otolaryngologist and President of the 12,000 member American Academy of Otolaryngology, Dr. Sujana Chandrasekhar.
OTHER DISCOVERIES
Gender Bias:
Dr. Thomas Stoffregen from School Of kinesiology, University Of Minnesota suggests that there might just be a gender bias in motion sickness. During an experiment, He placed a mixed-gender set of humans in a room filled with oscillating visualizations specially designed to induce motion sickness and found that 9 percent of men reported motion-sickness while 38 percent of women did. He further suggested that this might be because the bodies of the opposite sex sway differently and because the stage a woman is in her menstrual cycle can reduce or increase her response to sensual disharmony. In general, this means women are more liable to motion sickness than men.Age Bias:
Dr. Timothy C. Hain, a Neurologist suggested that because of less inner ear function at old age, precisely beyond the age of 50, motion sickness will be reduced as the opposing signal of the ear will become less significant.
MISPLACED CAUSES
There are some other causes of nausea that are not entirely related to motion sickness, they include :
- Exposure to Bright Light which can occur easily in a moving vehicle because of exposure to bright sunlight and glare.
- Exposure to Digital Screens which can still cause eye strain nausea even when not reading in motion.
OTHER SOLUTIONS
These solutions are majorly aimed at reducing the resultant nausea and not the motion sickness:
- For sea motion sickness, staying in the upper deck where your eye can perceive movement during sea travel will make you less susceptible
- Eating light will also reduce the resultant nausea
- Pre-treating with ginger before going aboard a transportation unit helps reduce the effect
- Dramamine or Meclizine are medicines that can also help cure nausea although they could be sedating and might be only effective if used within 30 minutes of nausea detection.
CONCLUSION
Motion sickness doesn't seem like a sickness. In fact, it seems like a sign of good health becuase it shows the body is alive and very sensitive to detect functional errors of disharmony in the body. Nevertheless, the feeling of nausea experienced from motion sickness is still an issue and thus makes motion sickness worth researching about for causes and cure.
Personally, I would try some of the solutions , direct and non-direct. Although, I would personally suggest pre-treating with ginger. It feels safer and less demanding.
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