What Does Car Sickness Feel Like? Real-Life Accounts and Practical Tips From 3 Travelers
Key takeaways:
Car sickness happens when your brain gets mixed signals during motion.
Car sickness can cause symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, sinus irritation, and lightheadedness.
Some people say strategies such as chewing gum and sitting in the front seat of the car can help manage symptoms.
Have you ever felt queasy during a car ride, especially as a passenger? If so, you’re not alone.
Car sickness happens to children and adults alike. And it can turn a pleasant trip into an uncomfortable ordeal.
Car sickness — one form of motion sickness — happens when your brain receives conflicting signals from your eyes and inner ear when the car is in motion. This mismatch can lead to symptoms such as drowsiness, dizziness, and nausea.
For some people, it’s a mild irritation that passes quickly. For others, it’s a debilitating sensation that leaves them avoiding certain forms of travel. To make traveling more bearable, some people use strategies such as chewing gum or sitting in the front seat.
To better understand what it feels like, we spoke to three people about their experiences with car sickness and the strategies they use to cope.
She stays hydrated and always asks to sit in the front
Vanessa Gordon, 35, of Long Island, New York, travels often for work — and pleasure — as the CEO and publisher at East End Taste Magazine. But she finds managing her motion sickness to be a challenge.
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While in a car, “I can never read or look at my phone, even for a short while,” Vanessa says. “For me, it feels like a sudden rush or wave of feeling hot and uncomfortable — perhaps similar to claustrophobia — followed by extreme dizziness, with the only relief being to throw up.”
Vanessa’s car sickness is even worse in warmer climates, because heat and dehydration are her main triggers. She always asks to sit in the front seat, knowing a ride in the back guarantees sickness. She also carries plastic bags with her for emergencies.
When she’s with family or friends, she prefers to drive, since she only gets carsick as a passenger. Though, she does suffer from other types of motion sickness. Sharp turns and steep dips in small planes, small boats, and helicopters also bring on bouts of vomiting, she says.
Vanessa says she thinks her car sickness began during her childhood after she’d had severe ear infections. She finds some relief with Dramamine (dimenhydrinate), which comes as a prescription and an over-the-counter medication and can help prevent or lessen the effects of car sickness. But she says it doesn’t always work for her. And other options people have recommended — like compression wristbands and ginger chews — don’t work for her at all.
Vanessa’s young son now also deals with car sickness. When he starts feeling unwell, she tells him to remove his outer layers of clothing and roll down the window for fresh air.
Despite the inconvenience, Vanessa says car sickness is an occupational hazard and she wouldn’t give up her adventures for the world.
Here are Vanessa’s tips for managing car sickness:
Choose the right seat. Sit in the front seat to reduce conflicting signals from your eyes and inner ear.
Avoid triggers. Don’t use your phone while the car is moving.
Keep medications handy. An antihistamine may help curb nausea.
Stay hydrated and cool. Remove extra layers to avoid overheating.
How sinus sensations signal his motion sickness
Brian Gorman, 45, of Cumberland, Rhode Island, got carsick as a child. But it wasn’t until a couple of years ago when he and his wife, Shiori, took a trip to Japan that he was reminded of how uncomfortable it can be. During the long road trips they took across the country, he found himself experiencing the symptoms all over again.
Brian, a marketing director and co-owner of the travel experiences website BrianShio.com, says his car sickness begins with a dull headache around his eyes. Then, “I get this strange sensation in my sinuses,” he says, comparing it to the feeling of inhaling the menthol smell of Vicks VapoRub. That’s followed by an anxious, unsettled feeling in his stomach.
Brian says he avoids medications in general and tries to manage his symptoms by sitting in the front seat. He looks straight ahead — instead of looking down to scroll through his phone or read — and, when it’s practical, rolls down the window to feel a rush of fresh air. He also finds the repetitive action of chewing gum provides him with a distraction and helps take his mind off the nausea.
Brian says he only gets motion sickness when he’s in a car. But sitting in certain spots on an airplane can also cause an issue. “If I can’t see out the window, I really am uncomfortable,” he says.
Here are Brian’s tips for managing car sickness:
Sit in the front seat. Like Vanessa, he finds that choosing the right seat matters.
Look ahead. Focus on looking out the window instead of looking down to scroll.
Get some fresh air. Roll down the window if you can.
Chew gum. A repetitive distraction might take your mind off of the nausea.
Dealing with altitude-induced motion sickness in Hawaii
Bryan Murphy, who is 43 and lives in Corona, California, is the founder of Hawaii’s Best Travel. He regularly travels to Hawaii for work and pleasure but, in recent years, he’s been experiencing bouts of car sickness during trips involving elevation changes.
In 2023, Bryan was driving toward the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island that is 13,800 ft above sea level. The drive features winding and unpaved roads with steep elevation changes. And he started to feel nauseous and uncomfortable.
“It’s a dizziness, lightheadedness, kind of woozy feeling,” Bryan says.
To manage his symptoms, Bryan uses a combination of strategies. He sits in the front seat, keeps the windows slightly open, and focuses on the horizon. He also pulls over regularly to adjust to elevation changes, uses ginger chews, and does deep breathing exercises. And he finds chewing gum provides a rhythmic distraction.
Unlike people who have navigated car sickness their entire life, Bryan has only developed car sickness as an adult. “It’s something I have to be more aware of now than I have had to in the past,” he says.
Here are Bryan’s tips for managing car sickness:
Focus on the horizon. Sit in the front seat and look out the windshield.
Take breaks. Pull over during long trips to allow your body to adjust and reset.
Try ginger chews or gum. Chewing on something can provide a repetitive distraction and ginger is known to help with nausea.
Do deep breathing exercises. Taking deep breaths can calm you down.
What does the doctor say?
Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH
Senior Medical Editor
Motion sickness can make even short trips uncomfortable. Despite the name, motion sickness isn’t a sickness. It happens when your body gets confused by mixed signals your eyes and inner ears are sending about movement. Anyone can feel motion sickness, but some people are more sensitive to it.
The good news is: There are safe and easy ways to stop or even prevent symptoms of car sickness. As these stories show, sitting in the front seat and looking at the road ahead instead of at a screen or book are simple tricks that work for many. These strategies help your brain process movement.
Lying down and closing your eyes can also help because it reduces the number of signals your body has to sort out. Getting fresh air is another good approach. It can help with symptoms such as sweating and overheating. A breeze might also remind your body that it’s moving with the car.
There are prescription and over-the-counter medications that can help, too. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl), dimenhydrinate (Dramamine), and meclizine (Bonine) are popular options. There’s also a prescription-only patch called scopolamine (Transderm Scop). These medications work best if you take them — or put on a patch — 2 to 4 hours before traveling. (The exact timing depends on which mediation you use.) And for long trips, you might need a second dose to stay comfortable.
If you have any health conditions or take any medications, talk to your healthcare professional about the best medication options. Not everyone responds to treatments for motion sickness the same, so if one doesn’t help, try another. And keep in mind that these medications work best when paired with tried-and-true methods like sitting in the front seat and keeping your eyes on the horizon.
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