How to stop travel sickness?

How to prevent travel sickness

Have any trips planned this summer? Maybe a long drive down to Devon (Where we are!), a road trip to the South of France or catching a Ferry / plane? Here are some tips to help you avoid the unpleasantness of travel us Brits have to endure to escape the unreliable British weather.
Travel sickness is caused by a mismatch between what you see and what your body feels (your inner ears – which help with balance tell your brain a different story). Symptoms include the classic nausea and vomiting as well as extreme tiredness and headaches.
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Prevention:

  • Open the window to get fresh air (Not advisable in a Plane!!)
  • Focus on the horizon, this will help your body to understand how you are moving and compensate for the in equalities between your ears and your eyes.
  • Avoid focusing on something small in front of you (Sorry, but put that phone / tablet / book down!)
  • When booking seats try and nab some in the middle of the plane as here you will feel less movement.
  • Use a pillow to keep your head still (don’t turn it from side to side).
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Treatment:

  • Acupressure bands, which have plastic nodules on the inside of your wrists apply gentle pressure to the Nei – Kuan pressure point can provide temporary relief (commonly used for travel and during pregnancy to stop morning sickness). From experience these do help.
  • Antihistamines; used to dull the inner ear sensors but these can cause drowsiness.
  • Closing your eyes is always a winner, especially made easier with use of a travel pillow which can also stop the embarrassing “open mouth sleeper” look. Our range of travel pillows includes our window sleep which has suction pads to adhere to windows and make sleeping in a car / plane / train a whole lot easier when sat in an upright position. It also has the benefit of being inflatable so it folds away into a small bag / pocket very easily.

Inflatable Travel Window Sleep £7.99

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Not so helpful:

  • The old wives tale of sitting on a brown paper bag is unfortunately not going to help although you are more than welcome to try!
  • Dabbing cold water behind your ears before travelling. Again I am dubious that this will help in any way but maybe it is a case of mind over matter?!?
  • Getting older. Most people grow out of travel sickness by the age of 12 however if your unfortunate and still suffer after this age we recommend trying all of the above, what works for some may not work for all so it’s best to hedge your bets!
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Have a great Summer of Travels and remember that we do travel sized Putnam Pillows for you to take on your adventures. Use the hashtag #PutnamsTravels on social media for the chance to win! 
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