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

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.

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

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.