Q.1. My
five years old daughter always throws up when we go for a holiday
by car. This also occurred one-time we flew. How can I help her
?
Ans. Motion
sickness stems from imbalance in the inner ear, most doctors will
tell you. But Roderic W. Gillan, O.D. who for more than 24 years
has focused much of his work on patients suffering from the problem,
sees things differently. "Motion sickness at least on land is primarily
visual" he says.
Dr.Gillan’s
patients have ranged from people who can’t read in a car without
getting sick (about a third of the population can’t, he says),
to extreme cases who get nausea, dizziness, or headaches watching
the quick action of a tennis game or walking down aisle in a shop.
The problem "generally
has nothing to do with the need for glasses or a person’s
sight" Dr.Gillan says, but is more a matter of sensitivity to rapid
eye movements and seeing motions.
The French
call it ‘mal de mer’, and even the most seasoned sailors
can suffer from it. In the air, its air sickness. On land, its car
sickness. And then there is amusement park ride sickness – at
least one visitor a day turns green on Disney World’s space
mountain or roller coaster. But its all the same thing – that
queasy uneasy feeling collectively known as motion sickness.
"Motion
sickness results when the brain receives wrong information about
the environment" explains Rafael Tarnopolsky M.D., a professor of
Otolarymgology at the University of Osteopathic Medicine & Health
Sciences. To help keep our bodies in balance, our sensory systems
continually collect information about our surroundings and send
it to our inner ears, and like computers, they organise the information
and send it on the brain. It is when our balance system notes a
discrepancy between what our inner ears sense and our eyes sense
that motion sickness can take hold, says Horst Konard, M.D. Chairman
of the Committee on Equilibrium of the American Academy of Otolaryngology
/ Head and Neck Surgery. Not everyone gets it, but the signals are
pretty clear when we do. We get dizzy. We sweat. Our skin turns
pale. We feel nauseated. And if things don’t get any better,
we throw up.
Once your
child feels the symptoms coming on, motion sickness can be very
difficult to stop, especially when severe nausea sets in.
Homoeopathy
has proved very efficient if travel sickness is treated symptomatically
much before the actual travel (or any activity that gives this sick
feeling). That means those who are suffering from motion sickness
should get themselves treated homoeopathically as soon as possible.
Here I have given some tips on homoeopathic medicines.
TIPS
Think
about motion wellness :- "Motion sickness is partly psychological" says
Dr.Konard. Do not remind your child that he/she vomits during
travelling. Do not focus on the problem and divert your child’s
attention.
Leave
nursing the sick to someone else :- It’s a common
occurrence, you see someone getting sick, you watch that person
in sympathy, maybe even offer a comforting shoulder. Before long,
you’re the next body down. As cruel as it may sound do you
best to ignore others who are sick, says Dr.Konard. Otherwise
you’re liable to end up vomiting too.
Get
your nose out of the joint :- Bad odours such as engine
fumes, petrol smell also aggravates this problem.
Butt
out :- Cigarette smoke can only contribute to impending
nausea, says Dr. Konard. Prevent anyone smoking in the presence
of your child. Don’t create panic in your child by discussing
travel sickness. So if anyone of the family members has motion
sickness do not confuse your child by discussing about it and
causing apprehension for your child.
Travel
at night :- Your child’s chances of getting sick
diminish when you travel at night because they can’t see
the motion as well as they can in day light hours.
Go
ahead, get fresh :- If you’re in a car, open a window
to deter your child’s nausea by fresh air. On a boat stand
with him / her on a deck and take in the sea breeze. On an airplane
turn on the overhead vent.
Get
enough sleep :- The chances of motion sickness increases
with fatigue. So be sure to get your child sufficient quota of
sleep before travelling.
Don’t
read :- While you’re riding in a car or on a rough
plane or boat trip, the movement of the vehicles you’re
in makes the printed matter on page move. This can make your child
awfully dizzy so avoid them from reading anything.
Suck
a lemon :- The early stages of motion sickness causes
you to produce excess saliva, which dribbles down to your stomach
and makes you nauseous. Sucking on lemon produces a chemical called
tannins which reduces the nausea and saliva. Always carry lemon
or lemon juice with you.
Homoeopathy
eradicates motion sickness, in very severe cases it reduces motion
sickness to a comfortable level.
In air sickness
when there is sinking feeling nausea, heavy head, your child experiences
fear at pit of stomach more so at landing and take off time. Take
Tabaccum 200, 5 pills every hourly till you feel comfortable.
PETROLEUM
For car
or bus sickness specially when smell of diesel or petrol give
more nausea. There is sudden hunger pang, food gives relief to
travel sickness specially sour food. Petroleum 30, 5 pills 2 hourly
will help.
COCCULUS
Wile travelling
develops sudden nausea with a feeling of emptiness in head. Headache
is more at the back of head and nape of neck. There is complete
aversion to food and drinks. When nausea and giddiness is felt
at sea, Coccules 30, 5 pills 2 hourly will help.
3. BRYONIA
Bryonia
also has nausea at sea but if your child lies down quietly in
a dark room, nausea is less felt. The moment he/she eats, drinks
or makes any movements severe nausea sets in. Severe headache
as if a tight bandage around the head relieved in darkness. Dryness
of mouth with excessive thirst. But the moment he drinks water
a yellowish bilious fluid is vomited out with relief of nausea.
Bryonia 200, 5 pills every 2 hourly will help people with these
symptoms.
THERIDION
Develops
nausea, giddiness and headache when they see the other objects
passing fast while in motion. Nausea and headache increases on
closing the eye. They are nervous in nature and while travelling
this nervousness increases.
TABACCUM
There
is incessant nausea with vomiting and a terrible faint sinking
feeling in the pit of the stomach. The face will be pale with
cold sweats all over the body. Loosening the clothes around the
abdomen helps. Tabaccum 200, 5 pills 4 times daily will be of
great help.
To cure
these ailment of motion sickness you will have to go to your homoeopath
for constitutional treatment (much before your travel programme
!).
