Stephanie Yip is one of our vestibular therapists here at Ladner Village Physiotherapy. In Part 1 of her two part series on motion sensitivity, Stephanie explains what motion sensitivity is, why some people suffer from it and what we can do about it. Enjoy!
As a kid growing up, cars were my nemesis. I still have vivid memories of throwing up on pretty much every family road trip, and even worse, throwing up in my friend’s dad’s brand-new car on the way to a soccer game. Planes were even worse. One of my earliest memories is of me as a 5-year-old, non-stop projectile vomiting on a 12-hour flight, with everyone around us handing us their puke bags since I had used up all of my own. As I got older, my motion sensitivity got a bit better in the sense that I didn’t necessarily puke during every car ride, but I would still feel sick within minutes of being in any moving vehicle.
How many of you can relate to this? After sharing with friends, I discovered that there are so many of us out there, struggling with cars, buses, boats, and thinking that this is something we just have to live with. Well, I am here to share with you all the greatest revelation which has completely turned my world upside down.
This does not have to be our reality.
There is a solution. Just like how we rehabilitate and strengthen our ankle after a sprain, we too, can rehabilitate and strengthen our vestibular system to improve our motion sensitivity!
But let’s back this up, and start with…
What is motion sensitivity?
There are two main types of motion sensitivity. One is considered visually induced motion sensitivity in which you experience symptoms due to complex visual environments. Do you ever find yourself feeling sick at the grocery store as you scan the aisle for that one type of flour you need? Does scrolling on your phone too quickly make you feel loopy? If so, this may be the type of motion sensitivity you have.
The second type is the one we mostly think about when we think of motion sensitivity, and that’s why it’s called true motion sickness in which symptoms are caused by passive motion. Passive motion means that you are not actively moving but something is moving you i.e. being in a car or boat.
What are some common symptoms of motion sensitivity?
After sharing my experiences with friends, I’ve discovered that everyone experiences motion sensitivity quite differently, so this list of symptoms is definitely not all-encompassing. Personally, I get a weird background headache, followed by a woozy feeling in my head almost like I’m floating. Despite my earlier experiences of nausea and vomiting, I rarely feel sick to the stomach now unless I’m on a tiny boat with very choppy waves. On the flip side, many of my friends have described nausea as their main symptom. Other common symptoms include fatigue, imbalance, increased sweating, disorientation, palor (aka looking quite pale), excessive production of saliva, and burping.
So you’re probably thinking great, I definitely get motion sensitivity, but why does this have to happen to me?? Do you ever watch your kid reading in the backseat and think man, why can’t I do that?
Why do I get motion sensitivity?
If you’ve been an avid reader of our blog, you will already know that our sense of balance comes from three main sources: the vestibular system, the visual system, and the somatosensory system. (In case you missed it, check out our earlier blog posts on the vestibular system here and here.)
People who get motion sensitivity often rely too much on their visual system, which means their brains can easily be tricked. If you’re sitting in your parked car, and the truck next to you starts moving, your vestibular system is telling your brain that you’re not moving, but your visual system is saying the opposite. If you’re someone who over relies on their visual system, that system will take over, convince the brain that you are indeed moving, and make you feel really sick. This can also be referred to as visual vestibular mismatch, or VVM.
So what can you do about it?
Treatment for motion sensitivity
If you’re a lifetime sufferer of motion sensitivity, you’ve probably already tried Gravol, ginger pills, cracker nibbling, looking straight ahead when the car is moving, etc. etc. But all of these things are only band aid solutions to help you cope. What if you could cure your motion sensitivity?
Just like an ankle sprain, there is no magic wand that can cure you in an instant, but there are many exercises you can do to start training yourself so that you no longer experience motion sensitivity. There are two main elements you will need to work on:
We need to train the brain to stop its over-reliance on the visual system, and to start relying more on the vestibular system instead. How? Take the other two systems away. Stand on your cushy couch, close your eyes, and don’t fall over.
We need to gradually desensitize or habituate the brain so that it can tolerate these icky situations more and more. This means that yes, we do need to trigger those symptoms to train the brain, but only mildly. You should feel only mild symptoms that resolve within 5 minutes. What that may look like totally depends on the individual. For some, that may mean 1 minute in the car as a passenger. For others, it may mean getting on a roller coaster if that’s the only trigger they have.
For more exercises that you can easily incorporate into your everyday life, check out part 2 of our motion sensitivity series where I will be sharing my Top 10 Motion Sensitivity Exercises. Some of them are actually pretty fun and include playing video games or hanging out with your kids, so be sure to check out that post when it goes live!
If you want to get started on your motion sensitivity rehabilitation, give us a call at (778) 630-8800 or book online at ladnervillagephysio.com .