4 Natural solutions for motion sickness

12/17/2018 / By Mary Miller

Cars, trains, ships, and most other forms of travel can be a bane to anyone suffering from motion sickness. Even a simple amusement park ride can rob a person of all enjoyment once the nausea sets in. However, it is possible to mitigate the symptoms of motion sickness with the help of some common natural remedies.

Motion sickness is the result of your brain receiving conflicting signals from your eyes, your inner ear, and the rest of your body. This normally happens when you experience movement. Symptoms of motion sickness often include nausea and vomiting, pale skin, cold sweat, dizziness, headache, fatigue, and increased salivation. Several home remedies can help ease or reduce feelings of nausea and other symptoms. (Related: Home Remedies for Nausea – Top 10 Practical Tips.)

Natural remedies for motion sickness

There are better ways to prevent motion sickness other than never riding a car or a boat for the rest of your life. In case you need to travel somewhere, here are four of the best natural remedies for motion sickness that can help turn a dreadful ride into a pleasant one:

Peppermint. Peppermint can be taken in many different forms to help provide some relief for motion sickness. Some of these forms include peppermint supplements, candies, essential oils, soothing herbal teas, and raw peppermint leaves. For peppermint supplements, the average dosage is 350 mg taken twice a day. You can suck on a peppermint candy before or during a long trip to help ease your stomach. If you’ve just come home after being stuck in a very long car ride, you can simply add a few drops of peppermint essential oil to an aromatherapy diffuser to reduce nausea. The recommended amount of time to let the oil diffuse is one hour. You can also bring a bottle of peppermint essential oil with you on long trips. When you begin to feel the early signs of motion sickness, just take a few calming sniffs of the oil. If you have any raw peppermint leaves, you can either steep them for five to 10 minutes in hot water to make a soothing tea or you can chew on the leaves directly when traveling.
Ginger root. Ginger root is available in a number of different forms, such as lozenges, calming teas, capsules, tablets, crystallized roots, candies, and ginger ale. It has been widely used as a natural remedy to treat nausea and vomiting for hundreds of years. Before traveling, it is recommended to either take two grams of dried ginger or 480 mg of ginger supplement to help prevent the onset of motion sickness. It can help to reduce stomach inflammation, thereby easing any associated nausea. However, caution must be taken when consuming ginger as it may increase your risk of bleeding. The consumption of ginger should be minimized for those who are taking “blood-thinning medication, those with heart conditions, and pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Black horehound. Similar to peppermint, black horehound is a plant from the mint family. You can steep fresh black horehound leaves for 10 to 15 minutes in hot water to make an herbal tea. You can then drink one cup of this tea three times a day to relieve nausea. Alternatively, you could choose to take black horehound in the form of a tincture three times per day.
Acupressure. When traveling, you can massage certain pressure points to bring quick relief from nausea and motion sickness. Find the nei-kuan acupressure point along your wrist by placing the index, middle, and ring fingers of your right hand on your left wrist. The spot underneath your index finger is your nei-kuan point. Use your thumb to apply a firm pressure to this area for four to five seconds, then repeat the process on your other wrist.