Seamanship

90% of all water sports enthusiasts affected
The motion sickness kinetosis - seasickness - in its mild form affects almost 90% of all water sports enthusiasts. In the worst case, the safety of the crew can be impaired. According to current medical knowledge, seasickness cannot be cured and can affect anyone. The experienced blue water sailor as well as the absolute beginner, the softie and the tough guy, children and adults, even the ship's dog.

Different reactions
Since the motion sequences during seasickness and their evaluations in the brain stem are extraordinarily complicated, and the reactions of those affected vary greatly from person to person, there are also different methods of treatment. Have courage, risk getting seasick without taking any medication. The charter trip over a usual daily distance, with the possibility of calling at a port in the meantime, is best suited for this.

Symptoms
What will happen? You are overcome by a slight tiredness, a slight shivering despite the best equipment, even the tastiest snack in between can no longer excite you and maybe a slight headache is nagging you. Now do not listen to yourself, anxiously awaiting further developments. Your body reacts - as it must in a healthy person - to a flood of information that is too great to process at the moment with defense, and this unfortunately manifests itself through the stomach. Just give your body enough time to store the new movements, to classify them correctly, and then to react accordingly. Assuming a normal course of the disease, kinetosis on board is unavoidable and should be accepted by the affected person. After two to three days, the body should have adjusted to rolling, pitching and yawing and medication should not be necessary at all.

A worse clinical picture requires treatment
In the case of a worse clinical picture - repeated vomiting, depression, apathy, general flaccidity - the victim must be treated, the symptoms must not be ignored. Because the transition to "real", dangerous seasickness is fluid, and comes quickly. Typical are physical total loss, visual disturbances, severe headaches, up to self-sacrifice. It must not come so far, therefore an honest self-assessment about the own seasickness is important before the beginning of the trip or - without knowledge - a first "test" is absolutely appropriate. How can I protect myself? Wear an eye patch, put on a walkman, eat saltines and drink Coca Cola with a view of the nearby land! Might help. Putting your head in the neck, eating a matie and passing the time with simple children's games is also said to have shown success.

Fear makes you seasick
The fact is: there is no patent remedy, so some tips that seem bizarre can certainly be helpful. Psychologists who have studied kinetosis intensively now know that our entire personality contributes decisively to the development and course of seasickness. That means in plain language: Who is afraid, becomes faster seasick, smells of diesel, dirty water or food strengthen the developing malaise, strong noises such as engine roar, wind affect. Confirmed practical tips: Prepare for the trip with wave. Have a normal breakfast, dress warmly but not constrictively, make sure that all personal belongings you will need during the trip are on hand to avoid having to go below deck later. Take care of a fixed, responsible task on board, find a good place for yourself because it is safe.

Medication
The market today offers about 50 different remedies. But whether swallowed, stuck behind the ear, sucked or taken rectally ... no medication is without side effects, because the most important active ingredients dampen the processes in the nervous system. This means: You don't have to throw up, but you don't care about your environment, you are "more or less beside yourself". So why shoot with cannons at sparrows right away? Try a common remedy for motion sickness such as Rodova, Reisegold, Bonamin or Peremesin. The basis of these drugs is dimenhydrinate or meclozine, which take effect about an hour before the start of the trip. The "harder" drugs Stutgeron or Scopoderm patches require a prescription, and the statements about mode of action and side effects are very contradictory. Some professional skippers had the best experiences; the Navy stopped using the patches because of hallucinations and serious visual disturbances.

Alternatives
Acupressure bands that stimulate the Nei-Kuan point have shown varying degrees of success. In contrast, the relief band, so far only available in the U.S., which applies electrical stimuli to the point, is performing well for U.S. pilots. Ginger, the powder from the rhizome of the Southeast Asian perennial, was used in ancient times to treat stomach problems. Today, it is an ingredient in the drug Zintona, which is available without prescription in pharmacies.

Seasickness as a learning process
How should we prevent it? Not at all! Let the first cruise come to you with described personal preparation. You got seasick? So what? Try the second day, and usually you will have learned to deal with it. You have been hanging over the railing for 6 days on your 7-day trip and suffered all the symptoms described? Then stay ashore and devote yourself to your rose bushes!

Source: Charter Horizonte