Travel sickness: what actually works
Quick answer
Travel sickness happens when your inner ear, eyes and body send conflicting signals to the brain. Pharmacy antihistamines such as cinnarizine or hyoscine can help if taken before symptoms start. For frequent or severe motion sickness, a clinician can discuss prescription options.
What causes travel sickness
Travel sickness, also called motion sickness, happens when the balance system in your inner ear senses movement that your eyes and joints don't confirm in the same way. A classic example is reading below deck on a boat: your inner ear feels the pitch and roll of the sea, but your eyes are fixed on a stationary page, and the brain struggles to reconcile the two signals. That confusion is what triggers nausea, sweating, dizziness, a headache, and sometimes vomiting.
It isn't a sign that anything is wrong with you. It's a normal, if unpleasant, response to an unusual combination of sensory information, and it can happen to almost anyone given the right conditions. Children between around 2 and 12 tend to be more susceptible than adults, and susceptibility often falls again in later life, though plenty of adults are affected too. Some people are simply more prone to it than others regardless of age, and it can run in families.
Migraine is also linked to a higher chance of motion sickness, and pregnancy can make some women more sensitive to it, partly because nausea is already more common at that time.
Common triggers
Boats and ferries are the classic trigger because the motion is continuous, often unpredictable, and easy to combine with looking at a fixed point indoors, such as a phone or a book. Car and coach travel, particularly on winding or hilly roads, and turbulent flights can also bring it on, especially for passengers who aren't driving and don't have a clear view ahead.
Reading, using a phone or tablet, or facing backwards while travelling tends to make symptoms worse because it increases the mismatch between what the eyes see and what the inner ear feels. Fairground rides and virtual reality headsets work on the same principle and can trigger very similar symptoms in people who are otherwise fine on ordinary journeys.
Strong smells, a full stomach, dehydration, and poor ventilation can all make an already-borderline situation worse, which is part of why symptoms often build gradually rather than appearing all at once.
Non-drug steps that help
Simple positioning changes often reduce symptoms before medicine is needed. Sitting where movement is felt least makes a real difference: over the wings on a plane, in the front seat of a car, in the middle of a coach, or on deck facing the horizon on a boat. Fixing your eyes on a stable point in the distance, such as the horizon or the road ahead, rather than reading or looking at a screen, helps realign the conflicting signals between the eyes and the inner ear.
Fresh air, avoiding heavy or rich meals and alcohol shortly before travel, staying hydrated, and taking regular breaks on long car journeys are all reasonable, low-risk steps worth trying alongside or instead of medicine. Some people find ginger, taken as tea, capsules or crystallised sweets, settles their stomach, although the research supporting it for motion sickness specifically is mostly anecdotal rather than robust clinical evidence.
Acupressure wristbands, which apply pressure to a point on the inner wrist, are widely sold for travel sickness. Evidence for their effectiveness is mixed and inconsistent in adults, and there is no dedicated research confirming they work in children, even though they're often marketed for that age group. They're low-risk to try, but shouldn't be relied on as your only plan for a journey that matters.
Pharmacy medicines for travel sickness
Several travel sickness medicines are available from a pharmacy without a prescription, and a pharmacist can help match one to your journey, your age, and any other health conditions or medicines you take.
Hyoscine hydrobromide is often considered one of the most effective ingredients for preventing motion sickness and tends to be used for shorter journeys, generally up to around four hours. Cinnarizine is usually chosen for medium-length journeys of roughly four to eight hours. Promethazine is longer-acting and better suited to longer trips, including overnight travel, and is sometimes preferred for younger children under specialist guidance.
All of these medicines can cause drowsiness and can significantly affect your ability to drive or operate machinery, so it's sensible to know how a particular product affects you before relying on it for a journey you need to drive yourself. They shouldn't be combined with alcohol, which increases the chance of drowsiness.
Timing matters more than people expect. Most travel sickness medicines work far better when taken before symptoms start, typically 30 minutes to two hours ahead of travel depending on the product, rather than once you already feel unwell. Once nausea has properly set in, tablets are harder to keep down and less effective, so planning ahead is worth the effort.
Who should be careful with these medicines
Travel sickness medicines aren't suitable for everyone. People over 60 are generally advised not to take hyoscine-based tablets or patches without checking with a doctor or pharmacist first, as older adults can be more sensitive to their effects, including confusion and blurred vision.
These medicines also need care in pregnancy, in certain eye conditions such as glaucoma, in some prostate and urinary conditions where they can make emptying the bladder harder, and alongside certain other medicines, including some antidepressants and sedatives. It's always worth asking a pharmacist before use if you're not sure whether a product is right for you or someone you're buying it for.
Not all products are licensed for young children, and doses vary considerably by age and by brand, so check the age guidance on the packet or ask a pharmacist rather than assuming an adult product can simply be given in a smaller amount.
Planning ahead for a specific trip
If you know you're prone to travel sickness, it's worth thinking about the journey in advance rather than waiting to see how you feel on the day. Booking a seat in a lower-motion spot where possible, such as a window seat over the wing on a flight or a cabin with a porthole on a ferry, can reduce your exposure before you've taken anything.
For a journey with several stages, such as a drive followed by a ferry crossing, it can help to take medicine before the first leg rather than waiting until symptoms appear partway through, since most products are aimed at prevention rather than quick relief once nausea has started. Carrying a spare dose for a return journey, and checking timings against how long the packet says the effect lasts, avoids being caught out partway home.
When it might be more than travel sickness
Occasional queasiness on a bumpy crossing or a winding drive is normal and usually settles fairly quickly once the journey ends. It's worth getting checked if nausea or dizziness happens without any travel involved, doesn't improve once you're off the move, or comes with symptoms such as a severe headache, chest pain, fainting, slurred speech, or persistent vomiting that stops you keeping fluids down.
Frequent or severe motion sickness that affects your ability to travel for work, family visits, or holidays is also worth discussing with a clinician rather than just accepting it as unavoidable. After a proper assessment, prescription-only anti-sickness medicines such as prochlorperazine may be an option for people whose symptoms aren't well controlled by pharmacy products, or who can't take the usual over-the-counter options for another medical reason.
Getting help from My London Pharmacy
If pharmacy travel sickness medicines aren't controlling your symptoms, or you have a health condition or other medication that makes over-the-counter options unsuitable, a consultation lets a clinician review your history and discuss whether a prescription-only treatment is appropriate for you, subject to suitability. This is a doctor-led, clinically reviewed service, so any treatment offered is based on your individual circumstances rather than a one-size-fits-all recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
How long before travelling should I take travel sickness tablets?
Most travel sickness medicines work best when taken in advance, generally 30 minutes to two hours before you set off, rather than once symptoms have already started.
Can adults and children take the same travel sickness medicine?
No. Products differ in their minimum age and dose, and not every medicine is licensed for young children, so always check the packet or ask a pharmacist before giving anything to a child.
Is it safe to drive after taking travel sickness medicine?
Most travel sickness medicines can cause drowsiness and affect concentration, so driving or operating machinery isn't advisable until you know how a particular product affects you.
Do travel sickness wristbands actually work?
The evidence for acupressure wristbands is mixed and inconsistent. Some people find them helpful, but they haven't been reliably shown to prevent motion sickness, and there's no dedicated research in children.
Can I take travel sickness tablets if I'm over 60?
Hyoscine-based products aren't generally recommended for people over 60 without first checking with a doctor or pharmacist, as older adults can be more sensitive to their effects.
What if pharmacy medicines don't control my travel sickness?
If over-the-counter options aren't enough, or you have a condition that makes them unsuitable, a clinician consultation can review whether a prescription-only anti-sickness treatment is appropriate for you.