Treatment of Travel sickness

Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

| A |

| B |

| C |

| D |

| E |

| F |

| G |

| H |

| I |

| J |

| K |

| L |

| M |

| N |

| O |

| P |

| Q |

| R |

| S |

| T |

| U |

| V |

| W |

| X |

| Y |

Your GP can prescribe medicines for travel sickness prevention, or you can buy them over-the-counter at your pharmacy.

Medicines for travel sickness include hycosine, which prevents the confusing nerve signals going to your brain. Hyoscine is available as tablets that can be bought without a prescription from pharmacies. They need to be taken around 30 minutes before you travel to be most effective, and the dose may need to be repeated during long journeys. Side effects include sleepiness, dry mouth and blurring of the vision although these side effects are unusual at the low doses used for travel sickness.

Hyoscine is also available as a skin patch that is only available on prescription. This needs to be applied to the skin 5 to 6 hours before your journey, or the night before. They are very effective in preventing travel sickness for up to 72 hours. The patches should always be removed at the end of your journey.

Antihistamines such as cinnarizine may also be useful. They need to be taken at least 2 hours before travelling and will help with travel sickness for about 8 hours. Cinnarizine, very occasionally causes drowsiness, so if you are affected do not drive. Alcohol should also be avoided.

Promethazine, another antihistamine does cause drowsiness so may be useful for young children on long journeys.

Always ask your pharmacist for advice on which treatments are suitable, depending on your age, the severity of sickness, and other medicines youâ€™re taking. It is advisable to start taking medication before symptoms have appeared as most are ineffective once sickness occurs.

Also try getting some fresh air, sipping some cold water and taking a short walk if possible.

Alternative treatments include ginger, which can be eaten as a biscuit, tea or crystallised. Also peppermint, which can be sucked as a sweet or drunk as a tea. These appear to work in some people but this has not yet been proven in clinical trials

You may also find that acupressure bands worn on the wrists are helpful in improving the symptoms of travel sickness.