Seasickness explained

[hocus]

but why do we seem to seek a single specific cause or reason? Like so many things with humans, motion sickness is multifactorial, and for any one episode there is unlikely to be a single provoking factor, but a combination of several. Readers will now have some ideas on possible causes and the various options they can try to reduce their or their crew's chances of suffering. Every person will be motion sick if exposed to enough of the factors, no matter how immune they think they are

 

[Guest]

I agree 100%!

Contributing factors can include (non-exhaustive list):

brain confusion caused by conflict between signals from ears and eyes (I would add, the greater amplitude of conflict, the worse)

diet - especially an acid stomach. Also presence of non-easily digested items, or anything that the stomach may interpret as 'poison', such as by-products from beer drinking!

tiredness - my perception is that the more tired the brain is, the less capable it is of resolving the conflict between the signals it is receiving. You will also find it harder for the eyes to keep up with a fast moving horizon when you are tired. I have noticed that one of the sure signs that a crew is about to get sick is when their eyes become less alert and head begins to roll on the shoulders out of sync with the boat!

stress/fear - I don't know why this is important, but my guess is that it makes us unconsciously tense our gut muscles, which in turn can speed up the vomiting process. I have found that deliberately relaxing muscles in turn, and especially those around the stomach, can help to relieve this

other illness - if you go to sea when you haven't fully recovered from flu etc. then the organism seems to be weakened, and seasickness is more likely.

short term violent exercise - I have found that jumping around eg. in a sail change, especially on a plunging foredeck can trigger it. I think that this is a mix of the exaggerated motion up front (even on deck), but also part of the effect that you get from spinning around too much in a room, which can cause you to fall over and suffer passing nausea. Solution is to slow down.

Cold - don't know why, but probably because it's associated with exhaustion (see above)

 

[ytd]

luckily I rarely suffer except when I have even the slightest hint of a hangover. If it's a bad hangover, I can't even get out of the harbour. Wife and daughter both suffer for the first day but are instantly cured when they lie down. The first day of our cruises is me frantically trying to sail single handed while rushing below to make endless cups of tea and toast.

I'm sure susceptability is genetic. None of my siblings suffer, nor does my mother or any of her family. But my father suffered terribly.

I have a long time sailing friened who also suffers badly. You'd think he'd take up another sport. He is the only person I have seen who actually goes green. Quite disconcerting the first time you see it.