Travel health service
Travel sickness remedies for every journey
A car-sick child on the M56, a rough Irish Sea crossing, a bumpy descent into Manchester Airport or a fortnight at sea each need a slightly different plan. Our Timperley pharmacists match the remedy to the trip and check it suits you.
Answer first
Why do I get travel sick, and what actually stops it?
Travel sickness starts in your inner ear. The NHS puts it plainly: the inner ear sends different signals to your brain from those your eyes are seeing, and those confusing messages make you feel unwell. On a winding Cheshire lane or a rolling ferry deck your balance organs register every lurch while your eyes, fixed on a phone or the seat-back, report a scene that is not moving. The brain cannot square the two: cold sweat, pale face, headache, dizziness, nausea and sometimes vomiting.
What stops it is closing that gap: look at the horizon so your eyes see the motion your ears feel, sit where the vehicle moves least, keep the air fresh, and if you know you are prone, take a remedy before the journey rather than once you feel rough. It is most common in children, and TravelHealthPro notes that motion sickness can make pregnancy-related nausea worse. This is general information from a pharmacist, not a personal recommendation, and it never replaces the leaflet in the box. We stock everything on this page at 250 Stockport Road in Timperley, near Manchester Airport, with a pharmacist on hand 9am to 9pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 6pm on Sundays.
Choosing
How do you choose between the tablets and the bands?
Start with the journey, then the person. A short crossing or a quick flight favours something fast-acting taken just before you go; an all-day coach or a long-haul sector favours something that lasts. Then ask whether drowsiness matters: if you are the driver, the drug-free bands come first, and if you take a tablet, avoid alcohol and do not drive, ride a bike or use machinery until it wears off. The NHS gives that warning for both cinnarizine and hyoscine.
Age and health decide the rest. Under-4s get bands. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, glaucoma, prostate problems, epilepsy, an overactive thyroid, heart failure or a fast heartbeat, Parkinson's disease and many regular medicines all change the advice, and doubling up on two tablets is never the answer. It is a two-minute conversation at the counter in Timperley.
Who it affects
Who is most likely to get travel sick?
Susceptibility is very uneven. Children are most affected — it is especially common between about ages 2 and 12 — and many people grow out of it as adults. TravelHealthPro notes that motion sickness can exacerbate pregnancy-induced nausea, so a journey that was merely uncomfortable before can be much harder going. It often eases later in life, with a catch: TravelHealthPro advises the usual over-the-counter remedies be used with caution in older travellers because of a greater risk of confusion, drowsiness and dehydration.
- Most common in children aged roughly 2-12; often improves with age
- Can make pregnancy-related nausea worse (TravelHealthPro)
- A heavy or spicy meal, alcohol, stuffy air and strong smells all lower your threshold
Drug-free first
What can you do without taking any medicine?
For many people, especially children and anyone who wants to arrive alert, the non-drug measures are enough on their own. The principle is always the same: reduce the motion your body feels, and let your eyes see whatever motion is left. The NHS also suggests closing your eyes and breathing slowly, and distracting children with talking, music or singing. Ginger helps some people, and so do acupressure bands, though the NHS is honest that they do not work for everyone.
- Sit where movement is least: the front of a car, over the wings on a plane, mid-ship and low on a boat
- Fix your gaze on something still, ideally the horizon, not passing cars or rolling waves
- Fresh air: open a window, angle the vent at your face, go out on deck
- Eat lightly, skip anything spicy and alcohol, and break long drives with stops
Longer journeys
When is Stugeron (cinnarizine) the better choice?
For an all-day coach tour, a slow Holyhead crossing or a long-haul flight, this is usually the one to reach for. Stugeron contains cinnarizine, a sedating antihistamine that calms the signals from the inner ear. It is widely used and suits longer journeys because its effect lasts well, although it can take a couple of hours to start working so it needs to be taken before you set off. Like all sedating antihistamines it can cause drowsiness. The typical adult dose is two 15mg tablets about two hours before travel, then one tablet every eight hours during the journey if needed — but always read the label and ask our pharmacist, as suitability and exact dose vary by age.
- Active ingredient: cinnarizine 15mg — a sedating antihistamine
- Take the first dose around two hours before you travel
- Suitable for adults and children, typically from age 5 at a lower dose
- Not recommended for children under 5
- Can cause drowsiness — take care driving; avoid alcohol
Shorter trips
When does Kwells (hyoscine) make more sense?
A short hop, a last-minute decision, or a teenager fine until the boat cleared the harbour wall: this is where hyoscine earns its place. Kwells contains hyoscine hydrobromide 300 microgram, an anticholinergic that is often considered the most effective remedy for shorter trips and works quickly — you can take it up to about 30 minutes before travel or at the first sign of nausea. The tablet can be sucked, chewed, dissolved on the tongue or swallowed. It is for adults and children over 10 (the NHS gives it as age 11 and over for this strength), with a maximum of three doses in 24 hours stated on the label. Because it is anticholinergic it can cause drowsiness, dry mouth and blurred vision, and is not suitable for everyone — always check with our pharmacist.
- Active ingredient: hyoscine hydrobromide 300 microgram (an anticholinergic)
- For adults and children over 10 only — children aged 4 to 10 need the 150 microgram children's strength, and it is not suitable for under-4s
- Works fast — take shortly before travel or at the first sign of sickness
- Can be sucked, chewed, dissolved on the tongue or swallowed; do not take more than 3 doses in 24 hours
- Anticholinergic effects: drowsiness, dry mouth, blurred vision — not suitable with glaucoma, an enlarged prostate or certain bowel/bladder blockages; extra caution in the elderly and with some other medicines
For children
What about Kwells Kids for younger children?
Parents heading down the M56 with a car-sick four-year-old ask about this one most weeks. Kwells Kids contains the same active ingredient, hyoscine hydrobromide, but at the lower 150 microgram strength designed for children. It is suitable from age 4, with the dose depending on age, and like the adult version the tablet can be sucked, chewed or swallowed and taken shortly before travel. It is not for children under 4, and an acupressure band may be a gentler first choice for younger children. Our pharmacist will confirm the right product, strength and dose for your child.
- Active ingredient: hyoscine hydrobromide 150 microgram — half the adult strength
- Suitable from age 4; not for children under 4
- Take up to about 30 minutes before travel, or at the first sign of nausea
- Same anticholinergic cautions as the adult version, with a maximum of 3 doses in 24 hours — read the label
- For children under 4, ask us about drug-free travel sickness bands instead
Drug-free option
Do Sea-Band wristbands work, and who are they for?
The NHS lists acupressure bands among the options a pharmacist can suggest, adding fairly that they do not work for everyone. If you would rather avoid medicines, acupressure wristbands such as Sea-Band are an excellent drug-free alternative. They have a small plastic stud that presses on the P6 (Nei-Kuan) acupressure point on the inside of your wrist. You wear one on each wrist, ideally putting them on before the journey starts. Because there is no medicine, they suit children and are widely used in pregnancy, and they cause no drowsiness — a real plus if you are the driver. They are reusable and washable, so one pair can last for years.
- Completely drug-free — no drowsiness, so fine for drivers
- Work by pressure on the P6 (Nei-Kuan) point on the inner wrist
- Wear one band on each wrist; put them on before you set off
- Suitable for children and widely used in pregnancy
- Reusable and washable — good value for frequent travellers
Journey by journey
Which remedy suits which journey?
The same tablet behaves differently on a forty-minute airport run and a fortnight at sea; none of this changes the doses on the box.
Car journeys: the A556, the M56 and the school run
Winding A-roads are worse than motorway, so the lanes past Knutsford cause more grief than the M56. Front seat or a clear view forward, window cracked, screens off. Give a child's remedy before you leave the drive: Kwells Kids up to about 30 minutes before (from age 4), Stugeron two hours ahead (typically from age 5).
Coach tours and day trips
Long, stop-free and high above a bendy road. Ask for a forward-facing seat near the front with the vent on you. With hours ahead, the longer-acting Stugeron usually fits better than a fast tablet you would have to repeat: around two hours before departure.
Flights from Manchester Airport and turbulence
Smooth flights rarely trouble anyone; turbulence and the descent do. Sit over the wings and use the air nozzle. Time the tablet to the airport: Stugeron about two hours before take-off, roughly at check-in; Kwells up to about 30 minutes before boarding or at the first sign of nausea. Long-haul? See our DVT guide too.
Ferries from Liverpool and Holyhead
The Irish Sea from Liverpool and Holyhead has a well-earned winter reputation. Get on deck or find a mid-ship window seat, watch the horizon not the waves, and skip the bar. A fast crossing suits Kwells before boarding; an overnight sailing suits Stugeron. Bands go on in the car park.
Cruises and a fortnight at sea
TravelHealthPro notes seasickness affects up to a quarter of cruise passengers. Many settle after a day or two, so a remedy for sailing day and rough stretches is often enough. Our cruise travel health guide covers cabin choice, norovirus, the flights either side and packing.
Small boats, snorkelling and diving trips
A small boat idling at anchor in a swell is the worst place for motion sickness; floating face-down over a reef in the same swell comes close. If you are taking a tablet, take it before you board rather than as the boat starts to roll, and watch the shoreline heading out. One caution: both cinnarizine and hyoscine can make you drowsy, and hyoscine can blur your vision too, which is the last thing you want in the water, so if you are snorkelling or diving talk to us first and tell the dive operator what you have taken — the drug-free bands are often the safer option.
VR headsets, reading and screens in the car
Reading in the back seat and a VR headset make you sick for mirror-image reasons: in the car your ears feel motion your eyes cannot see; in a headset your eyes see motion your ears cannot feel. Same fix: stop, look at something real and still, get some air.
FAQ
Travel sickness, journey by journey: your questions answered
Travelling soon and dreading the journey itself?
Call in at 250 Stockport Road, Timperley (free parking, two Metrolink stops from Altrincham) or get in touch first. We will match a remedy to your journey and check it against your medicines.