Avoiding Car Sickness

Toyota goes above and beyond to make sure that we engineer and manufacture cars to be the most comfortable and feature-friendly cars and trucks on the roads.  Despite all of the comfort measures one can possible install in a car, thousands of people all over the country still deal with car sickness.  What exactly is car sickness?  Well, according to dmv.org, “car sickness is defined as a condition in which the fluid contained in the semicircular canals of the inner ears becomes disturbed, and the eyes and inner ears dispatch conflicting motion-sensor feedback to the brain.”  Confused yet?  I know I am!  Basically, what is happening is your inner ear senses movement when you are in a car but “your eyes trick your brain by focusing on a stationary object within the car, like a book or a radio knob and when this occurs, the brain gets heaved out of whack and defensively reacts by stimulating the body’s histamine reactors – which in turn instigate nausea and vomiting.”  Okay…so that may not have helped you understand it any better, but it will at least help you if it should ever come up in a heated game of trivia…That all being said, you are probably more concerned with how to prevent it.  Here are some tips from your local certified Toyota St. Louis dealer.

1. Avoid the back seat if you can.  When you are in the back seat you are sitting lower in the car and unable to see around you…which is what tricks the brain.
2. Avoid looking at one steady object for long periods of time (a book, a computer, etc.)
3. Avoid strong smelling scents in your vehicle.  Even strong car fresheners can cause you to feel nauseated.
4. If you or your children have a history of car sickness, keep a stash of crackers in the glove box and eat them when feeling the nausea coming on.