Tiktok is a goldmine for discoveries. The most recent one being a pair of kooky spectacles that have no lenses. They’re called motion sickness glasses. These glasses are not your typical eyeglasses because they’re designed to help people suffering from the ailment manage their condition.
And depending on your comfort for weird fashion, motion sickness glasses may clash with most (if not all) of your outfits.
What are Motion Sickness Glasses?
Motion sickness glasses look like they’re designed for extra terrestrials with four eyes: two in the front and two on each side of the temple. The rims are tubular and filled with red or blue liquid. The spectacles also look like the kind you’d have to put on when you’re at your optometrist getting fitted for glasses or checked for vision problems.
Several companies have come out with their version of the anti motion sickness glasses.
Hian’s pair is made from ABS material, contains no lens but has liquid glasses circle and may be worn for 10 to 14 minutes to relieve symptoms.
Seetroen is made by automaker Citroen and uses Boarding Ring™ technology, which is developed by a French start-up company. The brand says its motion sickness eyewear is simple and ergonomic, having been designed by a studio in Paris. It also doesn’t have lenses. Wear them for 10 to 12 minutes to prevent motion sickness.
Then there’s Boarding Glasses from Boarding Ring, the company that patented the device for motion sickness prevention. Hubert Jeannin, father of the CEO, patented the glasses and tested them with the French navy, with results reportedly indicating the device’s efficacy against motion sickness.
But how does this odd-looking eyewear work?
Do These Glasses Work for Motion Sickness?
The design of the anti-motion sickness glasses re-synchronize your senses. Motion sickness occurs when your eyes, inner ears and muscles do not communicate well with the brain; each one gets mixed signals, causing you to feel uneasy and sick during a car ride, a yachting trip or even a calm ride at the state fair.
What the eccentric-looking motion sickness glasses does is create an artificial horizon in your field of vision through the liquid in the rims. When a car, boat or carnival ride moves, the liquid moves along with it. And this rising, falling and turning balances the information your brain gets. Without the sensory mismatch, your body doesn’t create a stress response and the car motion sickness glasses allows you to not retch or feel dizzy during a ride.
What is the Best Motion Sickness Prevention?
You can’t get rid of motion sickness permanently because there is no cure just yet. The anti-motion sickness glasses may help according to anecdotal evidence (e.g., testimonials from people who’ve used them). And unlike taking Dramamine for nausea, Boarding Glasses or Seetroen are natural options. If you don’t mind looking a bit odd. But who knows? With its popularity on Tiktok, motion sickness glasses may even be a hip accessory — even for people who don’t feel dizzy or nauseous in moving vehicles or boats.
But before these odd-looking glasses came on the market, other products have been helping people manager their condition.
Anti-Motion Sickness Products
Motion Sickness Patch
A few are offered on the market, and some are not recommended for pregnant women and kids. So be careful about the patch you choose. In all, patches for motion sickness prevention work by correcting the imbalance of natural substances, which occurs when your condition hits. It also stops signals to the brain, preventing nausea and vomiting.
Motion Sickness Bands
Bands work like acupressure, stimulating a nerve on your wrist to prevent motion sickness symptoms.
Motion Sickness Pills
For some people, wearing devices may not be enough to quell motion sickness. Sometimes, you just have to pop a pill. Dramamine is the most popular among motion sickness pills.
Other Natural Ways to Prevent Motion Sickness
But if you’d rather stick to the natural ways of dealing with motion sickness, try the following steps before boarding a boat, plane, bus, train or your car:
- Suck on hard candies in peppermint of ginger flavor
- Don’t eat spicy or acidic food that would upset your stomach before a trip
- Drink plenty of water
- Instead of staring into your phone of tablet, put them away and look in the distance
- If at all possible, recline in your seat and lie back with your eyes closed
- Do not smoke, or quit the habit altogether
Aside from these practices before going on a ride, the placement of your seat may also be helpful in managing symptoms from motion sickness.
When traveling in a car, choose the front passenger seat. When commuting by bus, pick a window seat; the same placement may be ideal for train rides, but go with the forward-facing window seats.
If you’re headed somewhere remote and a boat is the only way to travel, seat in the middle of the boat on the upper deck. If the only mode of transportation to your destination is a plane, pick a seat above the wings. Just tell ticketing agent or the flight crew you’ve got motion sickness and the only way to manage it is to not be in a place where movement is felt.
Manage Motion Sickness
Motion sickness may not be life-threatening by itself, but it could put you in risky situations when your behind the wheel. There is no cure just yet. What you can do is try to shift your lifestyle toward healthier choices. To be critical about where you sit in a vehicle or mass transportation. And to give new inventive devices a try.
The motion sickness glasses may not be discreet. But some people who’ve used them swear by their results. Choose your glasses well. And travel safely.
