wristbands for air sickness, do they work ?

Hi Jack.

I wanted to add one more thing to your new arsenal of remedies that I
didn't see mentioned here. I too had this problem when I started. I
will never forget one of my first solo flights. My instructor was
watching from the ground as I entered pattern. By the time I turned
final, I was getting really nauseous and knew I was moments away from
woofing my cookies; cold sweats, dry mouth, etc.. I realized that
doing this on final could be very hazardous to my health, so I
clenched my stomach, focused madly on the touchdown spot, and somehow
willed myself not to throw up for the next 20 seconds. When I landed,
my instructor rushed over to congratulate me on a great landing. I
climbed out quickly and threw up on the tarmac right in front of him.
Not my proudest moment, but certainly memorable...

A fellow pilot suggested Peptid AC an hour before flight. It made no
sense to me but as there were no side affects, I gave it a try.
Happily it worked, and I haven't been sick since. Maybe one of the
doctors following this thread can comment, but my theory is that it
reduces the stomach acid which may be one of the factors that
contribute to the onset of air sickness. Stress was not mentioned as
a factor, and new pilots have lots of stress. Stress produces stomach
acid. That may be one of the reasons (certainly not the only one)
that air sickness is reduced as you get used to flying.

So as a rule, before I fly, I;
1) eat a bland lunch like a turkey sandwich, light on the mayo and
mustard.
2) take a Peptid AC about an hour before flight
3) keep hydrated!!!
4) keep air on the face during flight

Good luck!

At 17:21 10 November 2008, Frank Whiteley wrote:

Not sure about that. We had a know-it-all (according to the ride
pilot) young person with 1500 hours claimed on a flight simulator.
Puked his guts out on his first glider ride.

Well, it's always tough to be the other guy in the glider
when the passenger starts hurling chunks. Then again,
it must have been at least a little bit satisfying in this
case. In fact, if the PIC had contrived to make the flight
just a bit more exciting than was really necessary, I
wouldn't have blamed him.

Jim Beckman

On Nov 10, 9:59*pm, sisu1a wrote:
*this is based off of acupuncture, only there is NO puncture. *

Isn't that called acupressure?

-Paul

Thanks Paul, I couldn't remember acupressure (works on the same
concept as the wrist band thingy).
From what I understand, however, the back of the ear is the place for
the pressure to help motion sickness.
micki

At 17:21 10 November 2008, Frank Whiteley wrote:


Not sure about that. We had a know-it-all (according to the ride
pilot) young person with 1500 hours claimed on a flight simulator.
Puked his guts out on his first glider ride.


Brilliant! This had me laughing out loud at the start of the day in
theoffice.

Gavin
Std Cirrus, CNN now G-SCNN, #173
LSV Viersen, Keiheuvel, Belgium

Very intertaining thread, almost as much as the SN-10 vs PDA thread.
Both reveal much about the human condition!

After giving hundreds of glider rides for a comm. operation, the
airsickness thing has me baffled, I could not and still cannot predict who
will or will not get sick. But I think I understand the underpinnings of
it. Here are my empirical observations:

I've really only been nauseous twice, once on my first soaring glider
ride, and second in the back of a helicopter, head down trying frantically
to troubleshoot an airborn mapping system while maneuvering randomly.
Brain got way behind of the flight trajectory that day!

EVERYONE has a reason why they got sick, except that their inner ear was
fooled. And each persons reason is wholly unique. The experience of
getting sick seems to trigger a strong need for correlation! I presume
this stems from humans, over millions of years, eating the wrong thing
from time to time.

On Anyone's first glider ride after the first 1/2 hour, the chances of
getting nauseous is probably a coin toss. If they liked the first 1/2
hour they can land and come back again, and with little chance that they
will get sick on the second ride.

Some people would never get sick, even if you circled 60 deg, 2k agl, oat
100+, for the entire flight. Figuring that out would go a long way towards
a remedy.

I have no experience with any of the remedies discussed in thread. I know
Dramamine has no reliable effectiveness, and heard that it is very
unpleasant on the way back up.

Evidence for multiple previous points is one riders deduction... "that
dramamine made me sick because I took it on an empty stomach"

Finally, I don't really know why I believe the best remedy for a
physiological problem is a psychological one, except that on most pilots
the left brain is firmly connected to the right. I think the best remedy
is...
After a good nights rest, exposure to soaring conditions in a confident,
casual, relaxed concentration state. If there is one, the only common
thread I see with the people who get sick is nervous stress. I believe
that for some, the brain gets stressed, and becomes too busy to properly
process the inner ear functions. When giving rides my boss told me to
never ask them if they think they will get sick, to avoid the issue
entirely. Later I understood that to mean that keeping them relaxed was
paramount, that it was my resposiblity to monitor the nausea issue.
Introducing the idea to the rider only makes them nervous and preoccupied
about it, leading to airsickness. They really had no real way of knowing
if they would get sick anyway. Many who said they would get sick never
had any problems. "I guess I only get sick when I can't see outside
very well".

Along with that, at the first HINT of nausea get on ground as smoothly and
as swiftly as possible. I would think flying around sick has got to set
you up for future failure. Land and stop associating flying with nausea.
Oh so difficult to do on a day when you are on your way to 14k. Better
though, to rinse and repeat... the following day or weekend.

On a huge tangent, relaxed focus is a very subtle and tricky thing to do
well when things get stressful. In rock climbing, there is always fear
due to risk, but managing it makes all the difference. The problem is
that you only get scared when it gets difficult. I once heard a
description by one climber that stuck with me. "On a difficult section,
while your body is at complete maximum, engine at absolute redline, your
mind should be like it is on the couch reading, with great curiosity and
imagination, an intricate novel". Fear/nervousness adds an incredible
demand on the body that can limit capabilities dramatically. If unmanaged
fear enters the picture, you no go up, period! That is one reason why
it's so fun, your physical potential is first limited by your mental
potential. No real physical redline in soaring, but the mental stress and
demand due to percieved/actual risk element is the same. I think there is
a nausea connection in there somewhere... just stay relaxed and focused,
it's that 'simple', right?

I rarely post, but evidently when I do I write a small novel. You are all
fortunate that I did not post to the SN-10/PDA thread!

On Nov 9, 2:10*am, "Jack" None wrote:
I am learning to fly gliders and I struggle with motion sickness.

Reply from Bob Wander:

Hi Jack,
Take a number - you are not the first nor the last. I wish you well as
you ... become one of the birds like the rest of us.

Here is an excerpt from my book "Everybody's First Gliding Book" - the
excerpt addresses the newbie airsickness problem. Note that the US Air
Force chooses to confront, rather than ignore, the problem! If it
works for them...

Safe soaring,
Bob Wander
+++++++++
Excerpt from Bob Wander's "Everybody's First Gliding Book"
Truth… Or Dare?
There have long been two schools of thought regarding motion sickness
and flight training. The first (and to my mind, discredited) school of
thought is, essentially, to ignore the problem. Here is a direct quote
from the promotional literature of an American flight school: “Nausea
is rare among pilots. Occasionally it may take a few lessons to get
used to the sensation of flight. After a few hours in the air, normal
flight often begins to feel as natural as driving a car.”

Any instructor who has logged more than ten hours teaching flying will
tell you that the preceding statement was written by the marketing
department, not the flight training department. Among new pilots at
least, nausea is a very common occurrence. It's as common as moths, or
rats, or pigeons.

The second school of thought is to recognize the motion sickness
problem and its common causes. Here are several condensed extracts
from the United States' Air Force Flight Surgeon's Guide:
Motion sickness is a well-known phenomenon in humans in unusual
environments. Motion and acceleration effects in aviation are for the
most part highly respected, if not feared, among aviators. Motion
sickness is defined as a response to real or apparent motion to which
a person is not adapted; it is not a disorder, and the symptoms are
normal responses to an "abnormal" stimulus... Airsickness can be a
significant issue in flight training... The most complete models
include interactions or mismatches between perception, cognition,
affect, and physiology... The acceleration of normal gastric motility
(about 3 waves/min) to tachygastria (4-9 waves/min) accompanies the
subjective signs (pallor, apathy) and symptoms (salivation, sweating,
nausea, vomiting) of motion sickness. Motion sickness results from a
maladaptive physiological reaction. It is estimated that one hour of
simple classroom awareness training on the basics of motion sickness
(normalization and identification of symptoms, basic vestibular
physiology), along with rudimentary methods of prevention (foods,
dietary schedule, stress management, etc.) can reduce airsickness
incidence by as much as 30%.

The Air Force has chosen to recognize and manage the motion sickness
problem. We who fly gliders, or seek to fly gliders, should do the
same. It is nonsensical to deny that the problem exists.

So, you ask, what's a mother to do?
1. First thing is to recognize that most pilot trainees have some
degree of trouble with nausea/airsickness. This probably includes
you! Ask your instructor for advice on how to manage the problem.
2. Next, on those days when motion sickness affects you, recognize the
symptoms early and promptly terminate your flight.
3. Schedule some training flights when the air is stable and the ride
is smooth.
4. Track your resistance to nausea/airsickness. The vast majority of
pilots discover that incidents of nausea decrease in number and
intensity as their flight training program progresses. In other words,
the more time that you have in the air, the less bothersome that
airsickness is likely to be.

Eventually your body learns that the sensations of flight, while
novel, do not present an immediate hazard to your safety or well-
being, and you adapt to your new environment: The Sky.
-submitted by Bob Wander
-end

Relief bands worked for me. Medically think along the well accepted
practices of acupressure and acupuncture. You can find "relief bands"
at most pharmacies for around 15 bucks or so. Flying power under the
hood with an instructor also helped quite a bit. I also find the more
flying I do the less I feel sick. The beginning of the soaring
season always involves a slight queasiness curve I have to work
through. Good luck, have faith, you will overcome. Topher.

At 00:15 14 November 2008, newbie wrote:
Relief bands worked for me. Medically think along the well accepted
practices of acupressure and acupuncture.

"Well accepted?" I don't think either one has ever worked in
a real double-blind test (such a test being difficult to do, but
not impossible). Way too far OT to discuss here, however.

You can find "relief bands"
at most pharmacies for around 15 bucks or so.

Which is sort of ridiculous, isn't it? I mean, it must cost
about 15 cents to make one. You could make one yourself.
But would it work? I suspect it has more to do with the
15 dollars than anything else.

Jim Beckman