Our Creative Director, Sam, as told to Frenshe Editor Sara Li
I’ve had mild car sickness my whole life, but it wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles five years that it became noticeable. What usually sets it off is stop and go traffic; my main symptoms are just nausea and the type of dizziness that you’d feel on rollercoasters. If I’m not anxious about it, I’d rate the discomfort a 6 or 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. But once you start recognizing car sickness early on in the car journey, you’re like, “Oh, no.” For me, that triggers the anxiety and it causes an even bigger spiral.
And of course, when you commute for work like I do, there’s not an option of turning back. It’s a sort of “I have to endure this, I have to get there” mentality that’s no fun.
I’ve tried pretty much everything to help my car sickness. I’ve tried oil on the back of the ear, ginger chews, aromatherapy, motion sickness glasses, Dramamine. Taking Dramamine does work, but there’s noticeable side effects like grogginess that I can’t have if I’m driving to a photoshoot or something.
My mom, who is a nurse, was the one who recommended acupressure. The brand I get is Sea-Band and it looks like an 80s sweat bracelet; it has a little pressure point ball in it that goes against your wrist. The science is that acupressure can manage symptoms in the body, like car sickness. A trick for when I don’t have my band—which is rare—is that you can hold down three fingers down from the bottom of your hand on your wrist.
I’ve been using them for a while now; I would recommend it for shorter car rides (30 to 45 minutes). They take the edge off and I don’t get nauseated, I’m not on the verge of vomiting, and I can do the brutal traffic in Los Angeles.
Of course, people have different degrees of motion sickness. If you’ve tried everything like I have, I would recommend getting an acupressure band and even combining it with another natural cure, like ginger chews or chewing gum. I can also take off the bands and put them in my bag for access and ease. I know that firsthand how frustrating car sickness can be, so I hope that for any readers who struggle with it, this might be able to help!