5 foolproof tips to prevent and ease car sickness

We all know someone who has felt car sick at least once in their life. And also those who, no matter who is driving or how long the journey is, end up suffering intense nausea and the urge to vomit, having a miserable time every time they have to travel by car.

What causes car sickness?

Motion sickness, as it is also known, is caused by a mismatch between the movement our inner ear senses and what we see. It often happens in children, and less frequently in adults. Its main symptoms are pallor, excessive warmth, nausea, cold sweats and, in the worst case, vomiting.

That is why at Ecumotorstock we want to share with you 5 simple tricks that will help you prevent car sickness, whether your own or that of a relative or an acquaintance.

1. Don't look at your phone: Well, more than not looking at your phone, the trick is not to fix your eyes on any object inside the car. The information the brain receives from the different senses does not match: when we look at our phone or a book, for example, our brain understands that we are still, when in reality we are moving, as our ear tells us. And it is precisely this discrepancy between the two that makes us feel sick.

2. Let the air flow: Opening the car window a little will not eliminate motion sickness, but it will greatly ease its symptoms. So if you are one of those who like to drive with the windows closed so as not to hear the noise from outside, you should at least open the window of your poor queasy companion from time to time so they can cool down a little.

3. Stop from time to time: Motion sickness is not something that comes suddenly and without warning. Rather, it starts little by little, as a slight discomfort in the stomach that gradually grows until it becomes nausea. Then come the dizziness and the cold sweats. And finally, well, you know... So if we plan frequent stops, with enough time for the affected person to recover, we reset the counter to zero, and it will be harder for that person to suffer the more severe symptoms described above.

4. Take Biodramina: First-generation antihistamines such as Biodramina or Cinfamar help to combat vertigo and dizziness. Of course, before taking them you should consult your family doctor, in case you are allergic to these types of medicines and the cure turns out to be worse than the illness.

5. Moderate your driving style: This is one of the crucial factors in preventing car sickness. Our driving must be smooth, that is, with very gentle acceleration and deceleration and, above all, trying to make the change from acceleration to deceleration and vice versa imperceptible. To achieve this, we must get it into our heads that the accelerator and brake pedals are not a switch with only two positions (on-off), but that when we let them go we should do so gently, in a similar way to when we smoothly release the clutch with the left foot so that the car does not jerk.