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How to Read in a Car (without Headaches, Dizziness, or Nausea)

Why It Happens:
Headaches and/or nausea when reading in a car are actually symptoms of motion sickness. About 38% of the population is born with an innate inability to read in a car. That inability may vary with road conditions, fatigue, and age. More females than males are affected. When a person looks down while traveling in a car, the visible motion from the side windows strikes the eyes at an angle different from the usual one, and that is what triggers the symptoms. Most affected people can read in an airplane or at night in a lighted car, because less motion is perceived from the side windows. Car sickness at night is rare.

Methods Of Eliminating Mild Symptoms Without Therapy:

Because it is the act of looking down while perceiving motion from side windows that produces the symptoms, using one or more of the following should help reduce or eliminate the symptoms.
  • turn you back to the side window
  • hold the reading material up to or close to eye level.
  • slouch down in the seat and hold reading material up close to eye level
  • use “blinders” of some kind to shut our the view from the side windows.
  • keep your head as still as possible
  • sit in the front seat if possible
A Cure For Severe Motion Sickness:
If you have a more serious problem with motion sickness and/or an unusual sensitivity to light and possibly frequent headaches (the See Sick Syndrome), a program of dynamic adaptive vision therapy provides a permanent cure. It consists of precisely prescribed desensitizing eye exercises that are done at home each day for a few weeks, with weekly in office consultations. More detailed information, and questionnaire is available from the office. Call today for a more enjoyable ride.

Motion Sickness Questionnaire
Full Name:
Phone Number:
Birthdate:
1. Can you read in a car without nausea, headache or dizziness?  YesNo
If no, how long can you read comfortably in a moving car?
How long has this been present?
2. Do you become nauseated or get a headache when riding in the back seat of a car on a straight road? YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
3. Can you sit close to a movie screen or watch a train go by without nausea, headache or dizziness? YesNo
If no, how long has this been present?
4. Can you turn around three to four times
without extreme dizziness, neasuea or headache?
YesNo
If no, how long has this been present?
5. Are you super-sensitive to light?
(for example: Do store lights seem too bright?, Do you have to wear sunglasses even on days when the sun is not out?
And do you have after images for a long time?)
YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
6. Do you have frequent, sometimes daily,
headaches or “pressure” in your head?
YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
7. Do you develop nausea, headaches, dizziness or spacy feelings when shopping or moving through crowds of people? YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
8. Do you have an unusual fear of heights? YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
9. Do you feel unusually stressful when driving over narrow bridges or through tunnels? YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
10. Do you feel as if their is something constantly in motion inside of you? YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
11. Are you klutzy? YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
12. Do you lose your place easily when reading? YesNo
If yes, how long has this been present?
13. List any other symptoms which you feel may be due to your see sickness, what makes them better or worse?