Brand: Marine Chandlery

Product Code: MZ-47050

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What is motion sickness?

Different textbooks have different definitions, but basically motion sickness -- also called air sickness, sea sickness or car sickness -- is nausea and vomiting triggered by disturbance of the vestibular apparatus. The vestibular apparatus refers to the semicircular canals of the inner ear which we use to maintain balance and sense orientation and movement.

One theory of motion sickness focuses on sensory conflict. Cruise ship passengers are far more likely to get seasick when below because their vestibular sense detects motion while their eyes reveal motionless surroundings. The standard advice for seasickness is to get up on deck where visual input agrees with vestibular input. Likewise, studies have shown that a child is far less likely to experience car sickness when in an elevated child seat that provides a good outside view.

Motion sickness produces a whole range of symptoms, of which nausea and vomiting are the most severe. Actually, symptoms generally follow a path of increasing severity. Early indications of motion sickness onset may include headache, increased salivation and swallowing, eructation (a nice medical word for belching and burping), flatulence (same idea, different orifice), pallor and cold sweats. The victim may then develop nausea -- which is defined as the sensation associated with anticipation of vomiting -- and ultimately may experience emesis (the medical term for vomiting) or retching (unproductive vomiting movements).

Motion sickness remedies can be classed as drug or non-drug.

I have found Stugeron to be a particularly effective drug, one which does not induce sleepiness. Non-drug treatments include Ginger, Acupuncture or the Relief Band which stimulates the median nerve on the inside of the wrist. Acupuncture is hardly practical aboard and out at sea.

The Relief Band weighs 1.2 ounces and contains electronics plus a pair of coin-size lithium batteries. The underside of the device has a pair of gold-plated electrodes that contact the skin. To use the device, the wrist is first cleaned with an alcohol swab, after which a small dab of conductive gel is applied to the skin (same stuff that's used when you take an EKG). The Relief Band is positioned so that its electrodes are between the two tendons on the inside of the wrist, about an inch from the skin crease between the wrist and palm. This places them above the median nerve.

The face of the Relief Band has a dial that permits the device to be turned on and off and adjusted to any of five stimulation levels. The face of the unit clearly displays the selected intensity, labeled 1 through 5. The face also has a two-color LED that blinks green to verify the unit is working, changing to red when the batteries are within eight hours of becoming exhausted.

Upon the first signs of distress, the wearer turns the device on and adjusts the dial until a mild tingling sensation is felt. For maximum battery life, the unit should be adjusted to the lowest setting that provides the desired relief.

Nominal battery life is 144 hours at the medium-intensity setting, after which the batteries can be easily replaced. The Relief Band uses two standard CR-2025 coin cells. If you have not acclimatised to the motion of the boat after 6 days, you shouldn't really be out there!

The Relief Band has undergone extensive clinical trials in the control of nausea and vomiting. It is presently FDA-approved as a treatment for nausea in chemotherapy patients, for the control of "morning sickness" in pregnant women, and for relief of motion sickness.

Cancer patients don't like the available anti-nausea medications because they either don't work well or are so sedating that the patients cannot function while taking them. The Relief Band suppresses nausea and vomiting with no sedative side effects, and it even works on "anticipatory nausea" of chemotherapy on which meds do not work at all.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum is the medical term for the intractable vomiting associated with pregnancy, colloquially referred to as "morning sickness." It's a huge problem for physicians because you really don't want pregnant patients taking anti-nausea medications due to the possible effects on the baby. Relief Band is highly effective in this application too.