Will Seasickness Go Away?
This is a question we get all the time, and honestly? The answers vary greatly depending on who you ask. The medical crowd will tell you: no, without pharmaceutical intervention seasickness will not go away and there’s nothing you can do about it. However, there are a lot of people out there who suggest that using — how you say — homeopathic remedies can help mitigate the symptoms.
In the interest of inclusivity, we will don both our scrubs and our tie-die to give you the best of both worlds. But first, let’s talk about the root cause of seasickness…
What is Seasickness?
In the simplest words, seasickness is just plain-old motion sickness. Yep, it’s the same thing that happens when you go on spinny rides at an amusement park, and it’s the reason your dog ralphs in the car on the way to the vet. It’ll strike the best of us at the worst of times,
don’t let the old salts fool you.
Let's dig a little deeper…
What actually causes seasickness is a matter of “inner ear conflict”.
But what’s that mean?
Throughout the day, our brains are constantly receiving signals from a variety of body parts, and when those signals don’t match up, our stupid brains can’t handle it. On a boat, for example, your muscles feel the motion of the waves & boat, and your brain receives a signal. Your inner ear senses the movement, and your brain receives a signal. The problem is, your eyes don’t see the movement because you're rolling with the boat: cue the “inner ear conflict”. The next thing you know, fish are eating your lunch; it’s a real bummer.
How to Help Seasickness
As mentioned before, we’ll go over a few different ways you can prevent/mitigate symptoms of motion sickness.
When in Doubt, Turn To Drugs
All jokes aside, a lot of people feel a noticeable decrease in symptoms when they take medications for seasickness. There’s a lot to choose from, so do your research and talk to your doctor.
Here are a few common pharmaceutical options that may help:
Dramamine
Bonine
Scopolamine patches
Phenergan
It’s important to note that these drugs are preventative measures, so you must take them some time before going on a boat or they won’t help at all. Once you start feeling symptoms, the drugs won’t work. Also, most motion sickness meds are antihistamines which can cause drowsiness.
Nature Heals
You can’t rely on drugs all the time. At some point, taking that many antihistamines is not at all good for you and you’re going to be tired all the time. Fortunately, there are holistic ways to address the problem as well.
Here are a few common natural options that may help:
Ginger root has been used to relieve nausea for over 5000 years.
Vitamin B-6 is often prescribed to pregnant women for morning sickness. Give it a go.
Carbonated drinks can help relieve nausea
Chamomile tea
You can also try those pressure bracelets that are meant to mimic acupuncture, some people really like them. But at the end of the day, if seasickness happens — it happens. We find that staying on deck and breathing fresh air helps. And if you can, take the wheel and look to the horizon. Giving your mind something to focus on can be super helpful.
Sailing School Lake Tahoe
On the brightside, you’re much less likely to have debilitating seasickness on Lake Tahoe than you are sailing the Bering Strait. Come on out and see why our students leave us such good reviews.
“Sean is a great teacher. He has the skills and temperament to quickly analyze the student and the boat to create an effective program that served my individual needs well. We had widely varying conditions over two days of individual lessons and and had to make the program work ad hoc. I cannot wait to try this again.”
Eric T.