How To Cure Motion Sickness Permanently ∣ Honest Advice

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There’s a reason my surname is Green.

My earliest childhood memories are lying on the car’s back seat, trying not to vomit. The only time I’m not suffering from motion sickness is if I am driving. Ask me to navigate while in the passenger seat, and I become useless.

I love to travel. By definition, traveling involves airplanes, trains, buses, boats, or ships. This has made me an expert on motion sickness. You have googled ‘How to cure motion sickness permanently.’ If anyone would know how, it would be me. A motion sickness sufferer and doctor.

The bad news is no miracle cure. You cannot eliminate your tendency to be motion-sick forever.

You can try to prevent it from happening again. Be prepared. Plan in advance.

Get familiar with simple tactics to help minimize the symptoms discussed in my post link below.
Learn about the medication options available, discussed in depth in this post.

Also read: Simple tactics to minimize motion sickness

Also read: What triggers motion sickness?

Table of Contents

How to cure motion sickness permanently with medication

As mentioned, there is no guarantee.

“My take home message is to start medication early.
Take your first dose way before starting to travel.”

How long in advance should you start?

For bus, train, and car commutes, start at least 2 hours before your journey.
For flights, start medication at least 2 hours before take-off.
For boat trips and cruises, I recommend starting medication 24 hours in advance.

Over-the-counter (OTC) natural remedies

Ginger

I love ginger. Imagine a ginger smoothie could cure motion sickness? A dream come true.

The origins of the medicinal properties of ginger date back some 5,000 years to China and India. It was a valued commodity through Roman times and is still used today for various illnesses.

Image by Marge Nauer from Pixabay

Ginger prevents nausea. Many studies have shown that it is superior to sugar tablets as an antiemetic. ¹

The verdict on motion sickness is varied. In some studies, people with mild to moderate motion sickness rate it better than a placebo. ² In other studies, ginger is rated superior to Dimenhydrinate, a medication commonly used for motion sickness. ¹ In others, no value was found at all. ³

There are no studies that can accurately guide us on dosage. From my reading, 1g, one to four times daily, is the range.

Reasons to try it:

Ginger tablets are cheap, easy to find, and have a low side effect profile.
Even if ginger doesn’t help with the spinning, it will reduce nausea.
Using ginger as a baseline treatment might allow you to lower the dose of other medication and reduce side effects.

OTC herbal patches

These OTC patches contain combinations of herbal ingredients. Mainly ginger, borneol, and mint.

They are of no help to me. This is expected in my case, as high-dose ginger tablets do nothing for my motion sickness.

Other people find them useful. I am surprised that the 20 plus OTC motion sickness patch brands available on Amazon.com all rate higher than 4/5.

If you have mild motion sickness, give these a go.

They are easy to use, readily available, and have few side effects.
Using these patches as a baseline treatment might allow you to use a lower dose of other medication, thereby reducing side effects.

OTC ‘drugs’ that work

Cyclizine

Available worldwide, this should be part of every DIY travel medicine kit. It is not specific for motion sickness but helps with all types of nausea.

Needs to be taken every 6 to 8 hours.

Cinnarizine

This is my lifesaver. I could be the poster girl for this medication. Without it, I would not be able to travel comfortably.

It is in the antihistamine class of medication. I, fortunately, have no side effects, but some people feel drowsy after taking it.

Start early, as explained above. After that, one tablet every 6 to 8 hours, depending on how rocky the journey is.

Cinnarizine is not available in the USA.

Dimenhydrinate

Also known by the trade name Dramamine. Dimenhydrinate must be metabolized into its active ingredient, diphenhydramine, to attain its antinausea effect.

SAPHRA and the FDA both issued warnings about the health risks of diphenhydramine at high doses.

Although widely used internationally, dimenhydrinate is not registered for motion sickness in South Africa.

Prescribed Treatments

Scopolamine transdermal patch

This is unavailable in South Africa, so I have never used it. If I ever have the opportunity to try it, I will.

Reviews on Transderm Scop, as with all other treatments, are mixed.

This patch is stuck behind the ear and replaced every 72 hours. Much more convenient than taking tablets every 6 to 8 hours.

Make sure the skin behind the ear is clean and cream-free so that the patch sticks. It’s not going to work if it is falling off. I saw so many flapping patches and floors littered with patches on the last two cruises I went on. Before applying it, clean the area with an alcohol swab, which you will have in your DIY Travel Kit.

In June 2022, my partner Jaco and I went on a cruise around Iceland.

We made new friends on this trip, mainly from the USA. Many were using Transderm Scop with good effect. We had a few rough nights at sea.

One of them, Prof. H, used them continuously for two weeks and developed no side effects.

In Summary

It is worth trying the herbal options as they are safe and easily available.
Always travel with an emergency stash of cyclizine. Read my blog on my OTC DIY Travel Medicine Kit next.
Prescribed medication will work but potentially have side effects. This fixes one problem while causing another.
Sometimes, side effects are better than motion sickness. I prefer fatigue to nausea.
Try ginger as a baseline therapy. This may mean you can use a lower dose of cyclizine, cinnarizine, or dimenhydrinate, avoiding side effects.
There is not one solution that works for everybody. We are all different, so find what works for you.

References

Bode AM, Dong Z. The Amazing and Mighty Ginger. In: Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor S, editors. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2011. Chapter 7. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92775/
Lien, C., Sun, W. M., Chen, H., Kim, H., Hasler, W., & Owyang, C. (2003). Effects of ginger on motion sickness and gastric slow-wave dysrhythmias induced by circular vection. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00164.2002
Stewart, J. J., Wood, M. J., Wood, C. D., & Mims, M. E. (1991). Effects of ginger on motion sickness susceptibility and gastric function. Pharmacology, 42(2), 111–120. https://doi.org/10.1159/000138781
White B. (2007). Ginger: an overview. American family physician, 75(11), 1689–1691.