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You are here: Home / Your Body / What Causes Seasickness?

What Causes Seasickness?

July 17, 2020 by Karen Hill

Seasickness may feel like it begins in the stomach, but it actually starts in the ears!

Your sense of balance is controlled by canals filled with lymph inside the ears. Now, when you’re on a ship that is rocking back and forth, the lymph rocks back and forth too, sending messages to the brain that keep changing as the position of the deck changes.

Eventually, these changing messages “overload” the brain and confuse the nervous system. This confusion produces the nausea, dizziness, sweating, and other discomforts we call seasickness.

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Filed Under: Your Body

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Do Your Ears Help You Keep Balanced?
Next Post: What Are the “Bends”? »

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