Why motion sickness can stick around even after you’ve stopped moving

[Your inner ear is responsible for that feeling of sickness you get if you're in a moving vehicle. / Thinkstock]

Growing up, Cortney Cook had to keep a bag nearby during road trips. Like many children, Cook suffered from motion sickness and that feeling of unease would last even after the long car ride would end.

Whether in a car, plane, boat, bus or roller-coaster, motion sickness can seriously derail a holiday and leave sufferers sick for hours — even after the motion has stopped.

That nauseous and disorienting feeling occurs when there is a disconnect between the inner ear — the location of your vestibular apparatus which coordinates balance and movement — and the external clues that are coming in from the eyes and the body’s sensory nerves. For instance, while reading in a car, your eyes see a still page, but your inner ear senses you’re moving.

It’s this bodily confusion that causes people to feel ill.

“You’re in a car and the car is moving and you’re not. Whenever you get that disconnect, that’s when you wind up with motion sickness,” said Dr. Jay Keystone, a health travel expert and director of the Medisys Travel Clinic in Toronto.

Children between the ages of 2-12 are most commonly affected by motion sickness. It can be present into adulthood, though usually it improves, Keystone said, and women tend to be more susceptible than men. Pregnant women may be more likely to get motion sickness, as are people who are afflicted with existing inner ear problems or who suffer from migraines.

Why certain people experience nausea and discomfort during movement and others don’t remains a bit of a mystery, though Keystone said he suspects genetics plays a role.

“It’s (your) biological make-up. I haven’t seen any good studies that show a particular group is more susceptible, other than say pregnancy and kids. But I think it has a lot to do with biology and probably something to do with genetics.”

In a piece published in The Atlantic last year, Timothy Hain, an otoneurologist and professor emeritus at Northwestern University, explained why some people are more troubled by movement “on the basis that some people are just unlucky and wired to be more sensitive to motion than others.”

When the motion sickness just won’t stop

Despite its name, motion sickness can last hours after the moving has stopped, Keystone said. In order for the discomfort to cease, the body’s receptors must realign, which can take time.

“The disconnect has occurred in your inner ear and the changes that have occurred don’t go away immediately,” Keystone said.

“It resolves itself basically when the input into the middle ear is the same as what the middle ear is doing. For example, you’re standing on the solid ground, so your vision says you’re on solid ground, your muscles … are on solid ground and your inner ear… is now saying I’m on solid ground. Once these all connect again, gradually motion sickness resolves — some faster than others,” he continued.

Why some people are affected longer than others, Keystone, again, says is just based on the individual’s biology.

Ways to get over motion sickness

There are a number of ways to combat motion sickness, he says. For instance, in a vehicle sit in the front seat — preferably drive — and if you are in the backseat, don’t read or watch videos. If you’re on a cruise ship or boat, look at the horizon.

“You’re stationary, the ship is not, but if you look at the horizon, it’s stationary and you’re stationary,” Keysone said. “The ship is moving so you can help get over that by focusing on one point.”

There are also a number of drugs, including products like Gravol, as well as prescription drugs that can help with symptoms.

Other remedies such as ginger and wearing Sea-Bands, an acupressure wristband that is believed to alleviate nausea, can also help, Keystone said.

As for Cook, who is now an adult, she says her motion sickness has subsided slightly, but she still avoids reading or looking at her phone during trips on trains, buses or in the car.

“If I close my eyes and chew some gum I'm normally OK,” she said.