Why do I feel seasick?

Introduction

Whenever we meet any mariner, one of the questions which we definitely ask from him is the “Are you sea sick?” All of us who have sailed on ships do experience it initially upto varying extents. We feel like doing vomiting, feel dizzy unable to balance ourselves, find a corner or a seat to sit and hold our head. Thought comes- what the f&%*k is happening with me?”

                              (image source_google images)   

                 

What is seasickness?

The feelings described above felt when the body is moving (in anticipation or suddenly), are called motion sickness. It is also felt by some people travelling in car, bus, trains, planes etc. apart from by boats and ships.  According to Wikipedia, Seasickness is a form of motion sickness characterized by a feeling of nausea and, in extreme cases, vertigo, experienced after spending time on a craft on water (vertigo is the feeling of misbalanced state of the body).

What causes seasickness?

Motion sickness, Seasickness in this case, happens when the entire body doesn’t sense the movement you are going through. That is, some part of you may sense that you are in some motion but your other organs don’t agree to it. 

We know that ear, apart from helping us with hearing abilities also provides a balancing mechanism to the body. The balancing part is especially handled by the vestibular system of the inner ear, along with our visual and sensory systems. The Visual system orientates us in our surroundings. The vestibular system detects both circular motion and movement in a straight line. This includes everyday actions such as stopping, starting or turning. The sensory system keeps tracks the movement and tension of our muscles and joints and also monitors the position of our body with respect to the ground. The brain receives signals from all these three systems and processes the information gathered to produce a sensation of stability. In other words it occurs when these systems no longer know where the vertical plane is.

                
     (image source_google images)

When there is conflict in the signals sent by these three systems, it results in motion sickness, or if at sea, its sea sickness. At sea, when you are in a cabin (such as bridge), your ear sense the motion due to waves, however, the visual system is not able to detect any motion at sea, especially over the high seas. This causes the brain to send an alarm to the body affecting various internal activities, including digestion system. It is not very clearly known why vomiting happens, however one theory is that the brain thinks it could be due to poisonous food and tries to clear the toxins in the stomach causing vomiting. 

Cure and survival

Everyone new to sailing experiences seasickness a bit initially, however it is generally overcome by experience. 

Few tips are-

•    Try to focus on the horizon.
•    Stay away from sea sick perons.
•     DO NOT STOP eating in any circumstance, eat easily digestive food instead.
•   If serious, take seasickness tablets after consulting with doctor.
•    If possible take a nap.
•    Avoid alcohol. 
•  Don't panic. 

                              (image source_google images)

Finally, relax, nobody dies of seasickness. 

Good luck budding mariners!

Note: You are welcome to share your inputs/comments below!