I can remember sitting in the back of my parents car, traveling down the windy roads of East Tennessee, feeling sick to my stomach because ofall the curves (and maybe my dad’s driving… sorry Dad!) when I was a child.
My mom would tell me to lay my head back, roll the window down a bit so I could take deep breaths of fresh air, close my eyes and rest. Most times it worked, but sometimes I just suffered with the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Thankfully the older I got the more I outgrew my motion sickness in the car.
Now that I’m the parent, I’ve noticed that my oldest child alsogets motion sickness when we’re in the car especially if he’s focusing on something like reading a book, drawing a picture, or playing his tablet. And like me, sometimes a bit ofrest and fresh air help… and sometimes it doesn’t.
Now earlier this yearthe kids and I went with my husband on a businesstrip to West Virginia. It was the furthest we’ve traveled with the kids in the car, and I expected that motion sickness may be an issue for them so I set out on our weekend tripprepared with some motion sickness remedies to help us out if we needed them. I was pleasantly surprised that not once during our trip did my kids complain about feeling sick! Later this summer we’re going to visit some friends in Pennsylvania, and seeing how that trip will be even longer than the first, I’ll be sure to use these same motion sickness remedies when weset off.
4Motion Sickness Remedies To The Rescue
1. Rest&Fresh Air
This is definitely the simplest of all the motion sickness remedies I have for you today. When your kid starts feeling a little queasy due to twists and turns or focusing too hard and long on one thing, simply have them lay their head back, roll the window down or turn some cool air on,inhale deeply and slowly, and just relax for a bit. This will help reduce eye strain, boost blood oxygen levels, and shift their focus from feeling sick to concentrating on their breathing.
In fact, there’s a physiologic reason for this. You see, our lungs and guts are connected via the vagus nerve, and it’s this nerve that regulatesthe parasympathetic nervous system (the rest & digest one). Seeing as how we have some control over our breathing, when we slow our breathing down and take deep rhythmic breaths not only are we taking in and exchanging more oxygen, but this stimulates the vagus nerve which creates a shift in our nervous system towards a parasympathetic mode. This has a calming, relaxing effect on the entire body which helps reduce nauseous feelings. (Healthy Breathing, n.d.)
Don’t believe me? This study and this study both showed thatdeep breathing helped to alleviate feelings ofmotion sickness in test subjects who were exposed to two different motion sickness inducing methods. (Sang, 2003) (Sang, 2003)
2. Acupressure
The next motion sickness remedy is to use acupressure.
I don’t talk much about acupressure here on GUH… mainly because I don’t know all that much about it, but it basically works like this. Firm pressure is applied to certain points on the body whichtrigger muscle relaxation, an increase in blood flow, and positive chemical responses in the body. This helps to bring the body into more of a balanced state. It’s used for all sorts of things, but two of the most widely accepted uses are for motion sickness and headaches. (Weil, n.d.)
When it comes to using acupressure for motion sickness,there are three placesyou can press on the underneath side of the forearm. Here’s how to find and use them.
Intermediary Point
- Turn your arm over, palm up.
- Find the large wrist crease. You’ll see it when you bend your wrist towards your arm.
- Starting at the wrist crease, place 4 fingers (3 on a child), side-by-side, pinky finger at the crease, in the center of your forearm. Your index finger should land on the acupressure point that lies under the tendons in the center of your forearm.
Inner Gate Point
- Turn your arm over, palm up.
- Find the large wrist crease. You’ll see it when you bend your wrist towards your arm.
- Starting at the wrist crease, place 3fingers (2 on a child), side-by-side, ringfinger at the crease, in the center of your forearm. Your index finger will be next tothe acupressure point. Slide your finger half an inch towards the inside of your wrist (towards your body) to find this point. Note: If you flex your wrist really hard, you’ll feel your finger is between two big tendons.
For these two wrist points, place thethumb of your opposite hand onthe acupressure point and place the other four fingers on the opposite side of your wrist, pinching the acupressure point firmly. You can also rub the point using a gentle, but firm circular motion as well. Do this for both wrists, and know that it can take up to five minutes to feel relief. In fact, a 1995 study revealed that the Inner Gate Point (P6) was successful in relievingvisually-induced motion sickness and gastric tachyarrhythmia! (Hu, 1995)
If you can’tapply pressure to these points for that amount of time you can always try out a motion sickness wrist band. There are several available. You can purchase them on Amazon (adult size & child size) and sometimes find them in WalMartor alocal pharmacy.
Three Mile Point
- Find the bottom of your kneecap.
- Starting at the bottom of the kneecap, place 4fingers, side-by-side, indexfinger at the kneecap, in the center of your leg on top of the shin bone.
- With your opposite hand, place your index finger below your pinky finger and slide it half an inch towards the outside of your leg. That is the pressure point. Note: If you lift your foot towards the sky you should feel your leg muscle flex.
For this point, apply firm pressure by either puttingpressure directly over the point or by gently, but firmly rubbing up and down over the point for several minutes to feel relief. (Acupressure Points for Relieving Motion Sickness & Morning Sickness, n.d.)
3. Aromatherapy
The nextmotion sickness remedy I want to share with you features a blend of essential oils that help alleviate motion sickness and nausea, and it’s even safe for kids ages 2 and up! It’s Plant Therapy’s KidSafe synergy blend “Tummy All Better”. It’s a special blend of petitgrain, dill, roman chamomile, spearmint, and ginger essential oils that can be used in a variety of ways. Below you can find how I successfully used this blend on our last trip.
Car Diffusion
The first thing I did on our trip was to make sure I brought my essential oil car diffuser with me! That way I could run it when we decided to play car games or when the kids wanted to play their tablets… anything that required them focusing on things for an extended amount of time as that can often lead to that car sick feeling.
Before we left for ourtrip Imixed1 tsp. offractionated coconut oil with 10-15 drops of the Tummy All Better blend and letmy diffuser padssoak for a couple of hours. When they were finished soaking I put them in a little glass jar to bring with me on the trip so I could replace them when needed.
Air Freshener
The next thing I brought for our trip was an essential oil air freshener spray to spray in the car or on the kid’s shirts if they did start to feel a bit queasy.
I started by putting 1.5 ounces of vodka in a glass measuring cup and adding 30 drops of the Tummy All Better blend to it. I gave it a good swirl or two to mix the alcohol and essential oils together, and thenI added in 1.5ounces of distilled water to it. Next, I poured my mix into a 4-ounce bottle with a spray top and labeled it.
If you didn’t know, there are some windy roads in West VA just like here in East TN so between being prepared with our car diffuser and some extra air freshener if we needed it, we were good to go.
4. Herbal Candies
The last motion sickness remedy I have for you today isfairly easyto makealthougha bit time consuming, but it’s totally worth it. It’s Ginger Chews, and they are my favorite!!
Ginger root has been used for ages to combat nausea and motion sickness. I first learned about Ginger Chewswhen I was pregnant with my first baby, Judah, andthey recently came to my attention again when a friend gave me one after having dinner together. I hadn’t had one in so long, and the brand she gave me was SO stinking good! I loved it so much she bought me my own box. (Thanks Marlena!!)
So when our trip was coming up and I wanted to be prepared for dealing with motion sickness naturally, this immediately came to mind. I made these up right before our trip and put them in individual wrappers to hand out to the kids in the car. I don’t know if my kids were actually car sick or not, but we did NOT come home with leftovers!
CLICK HERE to get my Ginger Chews recipe… or you can simply buy them here.
So there you have it. Four natural motion sickness remedies to calm upset tummies during traveling. Here’s to you my natural mama friend, here’s to adventurous summer road trips,and here’s to raising our children naturally!
Don’t forget to come back to the blog tomorrow. Plant Therapy is giving away some of their KidSafe blends to Growing Up Herbal readers and there will be more than one winner!!!
Now it’s your turn! What do you do to prevent or stop motion sickness? What has worked for you in the past? Share your experiences and wisdom with me in the comment section below!
This post was underwritten by Plant Therapy. All opinions are mine.Plant Therapyoffers 100%, pure, undiluted essential oils sourced from some of the topessential oil suppliersin the world. They have single oils and synergy blends as well as a line of synergy blends specific to children.Not only do they offer high-quality essential oils, but they also offer carrier oils, hydrosols, and other essential oil accessories to help you keep yourself and your home naturally healthy.
REFERENCES:
- Acupressure Points for Relieving Motion Sickness & Morning Sickness. (n.d.). Retrieved June 8, 2015, from http://www.herbalshop.com/Acupressure/Acupressure_12.html
- Healthy Breathing. Intermediate Herbal Course.
- Hu, S., Stritzel, R., Chandler, A., & Stern, R. (1995, July 1). P6 acupressure reduces symptoms of vection-induced motion sickness. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7575310
- Sang, Y. P., Fleur, D., Golding, J. F., & Gresty, M. A. (2003). Suppression of sickness by controlled breathing during mildly nauseogenic motion. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 74(9), 998-1002.
- Sang, F. D., Billar, J. P., Golding, J. F., & Gresty, M. A. (2003). Behavioral methods of alleviating motion sickness: effectiveness of controlled breathing and a music audiotape. Journal of travel medicine, 10(2), 108-111.
- Weil, A. (n.d.). Acupressure. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03230/Acupressure.html
