Seasickness is a very unpleasant condition that affects people when they are on a boat that is rocking on the waves. The irregular or rhythmic movements of the boat make people who are sensitive to them feel unwell, even to the point of vomiting. When we think of seasickness, we immediately have an image of people leaning over the railing who look quite green. What is it, why does it happen and most importantly, what can we do about it?
Source: Old picture postcard
Pay the toll to Neptune
- What is seasickness or kinetosis
- Causes of seasickness – How do you get it?
- Who gets seasick?
- Ship movements
- Symptoms of seasickness
- Remedy for seasickness
- Preventing seasickness
- Pills and patches
- Tips against seasickness – How to get rid of it
- Remedy against arrogance
- Nantucket Method
- Proverb
What is seasickness or kinetosis
Seasickness is very annoying, but it is not a real disease. It’s the sea that makes you feel unwell. It is also called ‘le mal de mer’ , getting sick from the sea. Seasickness is a motion disorder, kinetosis . The choppier the sea, the greater the chance that you will get seasick. However, not everyone is affected by it.
You have to go through it
Healing is not possible; you have to go through it. However, there are some preventive measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of kinetosis. If you make a long sea voyage, you will get used to it after about three days. That’s called snaking. You get swept up on board, you get your sea legs. Almost anyone can become a victim of seasickness and almost everyone gets over it. Because seasickness is not a real disease, seasick sailors cannot claim a day of seasickness from their health insurance. It costs them a day off. Sailors who have a tendency to get seasick prefer to be behind the helm, because almost no one suffers from that.
Causes of seasickness – How do you get it?
The longer you spend on a ship dancing on the waves, the more likely you are to fall prey to the condition. The position of the ship relative to the waves and the frequency of the movement play a role in this. The more intense the movement, the greater the chance that you will suffer from it.
Nauseous
You become nauseous because the movements that the vestibular organ registers do not match what the eyes see. The organ of balance is in the ear and with your eyes open you are moved by what you see from the embankment to the ditch. The vestibular system registers that the ship is rocking up and down, but your eyes register something different. They determine position based on the moving ship. Your eyes say: nothing is moving and your vestibular organ says: something is moving. The brain gets confused and you lose your bearings and feel nauseous.
Who gets seasick?
Seasickness is a condition that is very personal. Not everyone will experience it, but there are a number of catalysts that contribute to it. Those who are afraid have a greater risk of seasickness, just like those who have drunk alcohol. Fatigue and heat also play a role. Someone who is rested and fit is more likely to get through the rolling waves than someone who is exhausted. Furthermore, infections and strong odors do not help. You can easily become nauseous on board from the smell of diesel or exhaust fumes. What might otherwise smell so wonderful can be the trigger for nausea on board a pounding ship: coffee, cigarettes, perfume or food. People with a highly developed sense of balance are more likely to suffer from seasickness.
Source: Old picture postcard
Source: Old picture postcard
Source: Old picture postcard
Ship movements
The ship moves on the waves and three ship movements can be distinguished:
- Pounding : the bow of the ship repeatedly dives into the waves and immediately rises again;
- Rolling : the ship moves around its horizontal longitudinal axis, the movement goes from left to right and back;
- Yawing : the ship moves about its vertical longitudinal axis, turning about its center.
When pitching, seasickness is usually not too bad, but with a combination of rolling and yawing you have to be careful.
Symptoms of seasickness
Kinetosis has a range of symptoms and side effects:
- Dizziness,
- nausea,
- vomit,
- pale face,
- to sweat,
- oppressive feeling
- fear
- shivering feeling
- change in blood pressure
- headache,
- yawning,
- drowsiness,
- extra saliva production,
- to sigh,
- hyperventilate
- lethargy, decreasing desire to work,
- loss of interest.
Remedy for seasickness
A seasick person feels miserable. Instead of enjoying the sea voyage, you hang over the railing or lie on the bed with a puke bag. There are several remedies to prevent seasickness. Some of these are personal and can be classified as home remedies. Eating a fatty meal is one of these, or eating nothing at all. For someone else, a cognac before the trip works very well. You will have to find out for yourself whether that works for you.
Salty cookie
Doctors advise not to drink alcohol before sailing. There must be enough to drink, but in the form of water. The advice is no carbonated drinks and coffee with caffeine. Eating an energy-rich meal before departure is not a bad thing. If you are on board and you are still struck by nausea, do not drink but eat a salty biscuit. That absorbs the stomach acid. Drowsiness, diminishing desire to work and lethargy limit the employability of someone who has to work on board. Seasick sailors would do well to inform the skipper that they are ill. Sailors also do not have to be ashamed of their seasickness.
Preventing seasickness
Seasickness is actually the expression of a conflict between the ears, the balance organ and the eyes. By lying flat and closing your eyes you can try to eliminate the conflict between the eyes, balance organ and brain. This is how you prevent seasickness.
Good food and drinks
Before boarding, preparation consists of good food and drinks: no carbonated drinks and coffee, no alcohol until 12 hours before the sailing and make sure you board well rested. Stress and seasickness are good friends. You can also avoid trouble by doing something and staying interested. It is best to stand on deck in the fresh air; if possible, do not stay indoors.
Stop on time with coffee and drinks
It is important to prepare and not to take measures to prevent seasickness too late. So stop with your coffee and drink on time, eat normally and take easily digestible cookies with you. Keep eating.
Pills and patches
There are seasickness pills you can take. They are available from pharmacies without a prescription. There are also plasters that you can stick behind your ear, acupressure bands and magnetic plasters. Take your measures in time: once you get seasick, it is too late to take the pill. Be sure to consult your doctor, because many drugs have side effects. The remedy should not be worse than the disease.
Danger
Seasickness is not really dangerous, unless someone vomits for days in a row and drinks little. Then he runs the risk of dehydration. The skipper must always be wary of seasick people walking on deck in a somewhat disoriented manner. They may be so confused that they fall or even go overboard.
Glasses
The Tempest Glasses are an invention against seasickness. The special glasses have a black horizontal bar in each lens that hangs in a liquid between the double lenses. The wearer is therefore always visually aware of the actual position of the horizon. That seems to help.
Tips against seasickness – How to get rid of it
Here are some tips that can help you survive a sea voyage. Some measures can be taken before departure and others on board:
- Go sailing with a stable boat;
- Find a place on deck where the movement is least noticeable and bend your neck slightly and hold it that way;
- wear nice warm clothes and make sure you stay dry;
- make sure you are rested at the time of departure;
- try to go to sleep;
- the best place is centrally in a cabin as deep as possible in the ship;
- look in the direction of travel and take the horizon as a reference point, but do not fixate that point;
- try to follow the movement;
- don’t peer through binoculars;
- try to let your brain recover by going to sleep;
- don’t read;
- do not smoke;
- make sure you are in fresh air, avoid diesel fumes;
- if you are already nauseous, eat a salty biscuit;
- lie down and close your eyes and sway with the movement of the waves;
- don’t start a conversation, just be silent for a while;
- chew a piece of ginger;
- drink cola without carbon dioxide (just shake it or throw in some sugar), which soothes the stomach;
- put a cotton ball in one ear: if you are right-handed, put it in the left ear;
- take vitamin C at a dose of 2000 milligrams per day.
Remedy against arrogance
Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet and playwright who lived from 1759 to 1805. He called seasickness one of the best ways to combat arrogance. A person hanging over the railing forgets his allure.
Original: Eines der best Mittel gegen Arroganz ist Seekrankheit. A man of the world hangs, errst seine Allüren.
Nantucket Method
Nantucketers, residents of the island of Nantucket that became famous and wealthy from whaling, had their own method to combat seasickness. They made the sufferer swallow a piece of pork fat on a string and then pulled it out again. The seasickness would then pass. If the symptoms did return, the procedure was repeated again.
Proverb
He has paid his toll to Neptunis.
He got seasick.
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