How Hypnotherapy can help Motion Sickness.

What is motion sickness?

Motion sickness is a condition that occurs in some people when they travel by car, train, air, or boat. Amusement park rides, such as a roller coaster or even a ferris wheel, can also induce motion sickness in some folk.

Motion sickness is characterised by feelings of uneasiness, sweating, and dizziness - or vertigo.  These feelings are often followed by nausea and vomiting.

What are the main causes of motion sickness?

The inner ear is the home of the delicate balance mechanisms of the body. Sometimes mixed signals are sent to the brain by the eyes and the inner ear. When you are travelling or moving and cannot see the motion your body is feeling, or on the other hand, if you cannot feel the motion your eyes are seeing, mixed signals are sent to the brain.

There are other risk factors which include fear or anxiety about travelling in general, like the kind of transport which may be used, and the possible inability of being unable to see out of a window.

Motion sickness therefore, happens when the brain realises there is a problem when two different messages, one perceiving a problem, and the other not perceiving any problem.

Because the brain is confused by the mixed signals, it may go into a protective mode, and initiate one or more of the symptoms of motion sickness, such as vertigo or nausea.

How motion sickness can be prevented.

There are some ways folk can help themselves prevent, or reduce the symptoms of motion sickness.

Here are some useful tips.

·      Make sure you do not eat a heavy meal before travelling, especially foods with a strong odour which may set off nausea.

·      If you are flying, try and get a seat over the wing, which is the calmest section of a plane during flight.

·      The lower level cabins on a ship experience less motion than those on the upper levels.

·      Try and sit in the front of a car, or at the back next to the window, so that you can see where you are going.

·      If on a train or a bus, always sit facing the direction in which you are travelling – and it is very important not to read as this may result in a vertigo attack.

·      There are some useful over-the-counter meds which helps to prevent nausea, vomiting, and giddiness during short trips and mild cases of motion sickness.

If you have an extraordinary serious case of motion sickness, your doctor may prescribe an effective medication known as scopolamine to deal with the symptoms. However, studies have shown that this med is prone to causing drowsiness, in addition to other side effects.

How hypnotherapy treats motion sickness.

Research has shown that there are patients who have responded well to relaxation techniques to treat fear and anxiety about travelling. It is now been generally accepted that changing the way the mind interprets the mixed signals received regarding movements, is the key to dealing and coping with motion sickness.

This is where the science of hypnosis, or hypnotherapy, comes into play. Hypnotherapy bypasses the conscious mind in order to access the subconscious mind. A good clinical hypnotherapist can communicate with the subconscious mind and make positive suggestions as to what is happening when you are in a moving vehicle.

The lack of confusion about the signal sent to the brain will ensure that the body does not trigger any feelings of nausea or vertigo about the prospect of a trip or a journey, in any mode of transport.

Travel in comfort.

Your now well-informed subconscious mind, and a new mindset, will help you to overcome any perception problems, and enable you to travel in comfort, with absolutely no danger of motion sickness.