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Does CBD Help with Motion Sickness?

CBD, also known as the balance medication, has found its way into our daily routines and activities.

It affects mood, anxiety, and other nerve-related conditions due to its close relationship with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS).

It is a medicinal extract of the hemp plant that has found its way into many treatment processes and procedures.

This is due to its effects on the ECS and its ability to influence reactions related to the ECS.

As more and more medicinal uses of the cannabis plant extract pop up, questions are raised on how many conditions to which CBD is a solution?

One of these is motion sickness, a condition associated with nausea and vomiting thanks to excessive body movement and imbalance.

How do you know if you have motion sickness?

Can you use CBD for your motion sickness help?

Does it work?

Here is all you need to know about motion sickness and the effectiveness of CBD medications for it.

What is Motion Sickness?

Motion sickness is less prevalently known as kinetosis, which refers to nausea and dizziness when in motion.

However, why do you not feel motion sickness when running or walking around the street?

Motion sickness is not just about being sick when moving; it’s a bit more than that.

Motion sickness results from miscommunicated signals between receptors in the brain rather than a change in position.

This difference accounts for the effectiveness of CBD in treating motion sickness since it also relates to the ECN.

The dizziness and nausea result from confusing signals sent by the sense organs of your body to your brain receptors.

Your inner ear, made up of three pairs of semicircular canals, a saccule, and a utricle, is responsible for sending information from happenings around you to your brain.

However, while your ear sends a signal of current motion, your eyes do not experience the same sensation leading to confusing signals.

These confusing signals cause the symptoms we have accustomed to motion sickness.

Do You Have Motion Sickness?

Motion sickness is usually self-diagnosed and easy to pinpoint once it happens.

It can be treated differently, with some cases more severe than others.

Although, there are also different types of motion sickness which means they could be more suited to different treatment methods.

Regardless of its variability, motion sickness can be divided into three primary subgroups.

Since it is most associated with transport and travel, motion sicknesses are grouped based on the means of transport.

They include seasickness, car sickness, and air sickness.

Symptoms of Motion Sickness

Some of the symptoms of motion sickness include:

Nausea
Headaches
Shallow breathing
Vertigo
Dizziness
Pale skin
Loss of appetite
Increase in saliva production

Ways To Prevent Motion Sickness

You can take some precautions to avoid getting motion sickness while in transit.

Some might involve taking certain medications; others might involve avoiding doing certain things.

Here is a list of preventive measures you can take if you are prone to having motion sickness in transit.

You can sit by the window since a good blast of fresh air can help relieve the symptoms of motion sickness.
Avoid strong smells and wear a mask if possible. For example, the smell of smoke or fishy smell can cause motion sickness.
Avoid fatty, spicy food before or during a trip. Fatty or spicy food has a way of making motion sickness much worse, especially when taken during the trip.
You can take certain medications before travel to avoid motion sickness when in transit. Such medications include scopolamine and meclizine. However, these conventional medications have side effects like agitation and dizziness.

Can CBD Help With Motion Sickness?

Motion sickness occurs due to miscommunication of signals between receptors of the brain, which causes the feeling of dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.

Since CBD balances out these reactions in the endocannabinoid system, it is being explored as a possible solution to motion sickness.

When it comes to preventing or managing motion sickness, CBD is an excellent option since it works on multiple sensor reactions simultaneously, including those that result in motion sickness symptoms.

The endocannabinoid system (ECS), a network of cannabinoids and their receptors, plays a significant role in regulating nausea and vomiting.

A study done in 2010 showed a link between motion sickness and the level of cannabinoids in a person’s system.

They found out that the people who had motion sickness symptoms had a lower level of cannabinoids while those who didn’t have symptoms had a higher level of cannabinoids.

This led to the conclusion that enhancing the ECS can be therapeutic for motion sickness.

In 2014, another study was done in rats, which confirmed that enhancing the endocannabinoid system can alleviate motion sickness symptoms.

Since there are similarities between endocannabinoids produced by your body and the cannabinoids, like CBD and THC, which are found in the marijuana and hemp plant, then it could be a pointer to the effectiveness of CBD in the relief of motion sickness.

Tips on Using CBD for Motion Sickness

It would be best to note some tips when buying and using CBD.

Here are some of the tips to guide you on the use of CBD for motion sickness:

Buy Quality CBD Products

When getting CBD products, ensure that you get those of high quality.

Avoid CBD with contaminants.

There are many sites to acquire products; therefore, research for certified sellers.

Get CBD products from quality vendors.

One thing you should take note of is how much they know the quality of what they are selling.

Also, when buying CBD for nausea, you can opt for CBD products with an added flavor like peppermint to improve the taste.

Opt For Full-Spectrum CBD Extracts

It is better to opt for full-spectrum products since they contain all the compounds, including cannabinoids.

However, if you want to stay away from THC, you can go for broad-spectrum CBD, which contains all the same compounds as full-spectrum CBD except THC.

CBD Isolate is also a good opinion, but it is not advisable to use it for motion sickness because removing all the other cannabinoids may reduce the anti-nausea effects of the CBD product.

Please seek medical advice from a qualified CBD expert as they are in a better position to recommend the best CBD for motion sickness and direct you on the type to take.

Start with the Smallest Dose of CBD

If this is your first time taking CBD, it is best to start with the smallest dose and then progress upwards.

This gives your body time to adapt well to the new treatment.

Most companies, however, give an idea of how much or how frequent you should take their CBD product, so ensure to read the label first.

Take CBD Dosage Before Your Trip

Before getting on board, either a plane or a car, it is advisable to use the CBD product, allowing the body time to adjust.

You can take it about 30 minutes before your trip is sufficient as taking it too early might not be very effective because the effects might wear off during your trip.

Also, the duration of the journey and your tolerance level for CBD determines the dosage you’ll take.

For best effects, take CBD before symptoms start to kick in.

There are many CBD edibles and capsules that you can take during your journey, and this takes us to look at the different ways you can take CBD for motion sickness.

How to Take CBD For Motion Sickness

There are different ways you can consume CBD to alleviate the symptoms of motion sickness.

CBD can be taken as capsules, oils, vapes, edibles, or added to your food or beverages.

The type of delivery system you choose depends on how fast you want the CBD to get into your system and the appropriate one at a particular place or time.

For instance, vaping CBD might be faster than taking edibles; however, vaping is not allowed on a plane.

CBD vapes are relatively fast-acting with strong potency.

The inhaled CBD reaches the lungs quickly, thereby providing quick and fast relief from the feeling of nausea.

Taking CBD capsules is one of the common ways to get immediate relief from feeling sick.

It is easy to use and not location or time-bound.

The capsule has no taste, while it gives you all the benefits of CBD you need.

You can also decide to place CBD oil drops under your tongue, which will allow efficient absorption of the CBD.

CBD gummies (edibles) are also an excellent way to take CBD for nausea, and you can take them on board.

However, it may take time before the CBD gets into your body system.

Conclusion

A few studies show that CBD can help alleviate motion sickness symptoms like nausea and vomiting.

While some people with motion sickness find CBD helpful, research is still ongoing to confirm CBD as an effective and definite treatment for motion sickness.