Coping with Seasickness: Seafarer

Seasickness or motion sickness is a major nuisance among diligent seafarers. Seasickness is the reaction of your body's inner ear that is caused by repeated motion. The movement of the ship causes stress on the balancing portion of the brain. Suffering from seasickness is the most draining and exhausting incident most seafarer face.

What are symptoms of seasickness?

• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Pale skin
• Cold sweat
• Headache
• Weak

Things to help with motion sickness: 

Seasickness can be a horrible malady, but there are ways to lessen its severity or prevent it.

•    Add some distractions- Staying busy and keeping your mind occupied are the best ways to avoid motion sickness, the more you stress the worse it is going to get. Listen to music, for example, is a one way to divert one’s attention. Isolate yourself from others who may be suffering from seasickness. One sure-fire way to get seasick is to watch other people getting sick. Hearing others talk about motion sickness can sometimes make you feel ill yourself.

•    Find a better spot where you will experience the least motion- Those in lower level cabins near the center of a ship generally experience less motion than passengers in higher or outer cabins. Or it is best to spend to stay outside on the deck in the fresh air and focus on anything other than the moving ship. When on deck, facing forward seems to help most people.

•    Watch what you eat, avoid key triggers.- One of the reasons people get seasick is that they over-eat. It is a good idea to avoid fatty foods or those high in salt and sugar. You should try and keep well hydrated by drinking water. Avoiding strong food odors may also help prevent nausea.

•    Lay Down or shut your eyes. Lying down prevents histamine from reaching the brain, decreasing nausea.

Medication: 

Most remedies need to be taken a couple of hours before your ship sails. The over-the-counter medication- Bonine, Dramamine. These are available over-the-counter at most drug stores and contain antihistamines which make some people drowsy so, if you're at sea to work, make sure to look for the non-drowsy versions.

The other well-known drug used to keep motion sickness under control is scopolamine. This patches are
worn behind the ear and look like small band-aids but contain small amounts of medicine which secretes into your skin. The patches last up to three days, provide time-release doses of the drug, and are usually very effective for preventing nausea.

Acupressure bands are stretchy bands worn around the wrists. They apply pressure to a particular point on the inside of your wrist between the two tendons on your inner arm.

Ginger – Whether you chew it, suck on it or dilute it in tea ginger has long been a favorite home remedy for motion sickness.