A holidaymaker has shared her ‘life-saving’ remedy for travel sickness – and it’s a common ointment most people already have in their medicine cabinet.Â
In a video posted to Instagram, American content creator Kiki Rough, who goes by @kikirough, explained how, during a recent trip, she found herself battling extreme nausea while travelling in a taxi to the airport.Â
She informed the taxi driver that she would not only cover the cost of cleaning fees if she was sick in the vehicle, but would provide her a generous tip for enduring the unpleasant experience.
But as Kiki ‘fought for her life’ in the back of the car – the driver did something unexpected. Â
Instead of running the risk of her passenger vomiting, the cabbie pulled out a pot of Vicks VapoRub and instructed Kiki to ‘put it under her nose’.Â
As reported by the Mirror, the content creator gushed: ‘When I tell you, three decades of my life where I have fought to not throw up on every long-form car trip just disappeared. My nausea? Out the window.’Â
The taxi driver even happened to have a small, empty pot on her person, which was topped up with ointment and passed to Kiki for her journey home, accompanied by a message that read: ‘Don’t get sick on your flight.’Â
Although Vicks VapoRub is not scientifically proven to treat motion sickness, many people anecdotally report it helps, perhaps due to the sensation of clearer breathing, or its strong odour potentially blocking potent smells that could trigger nausea.Â
A holidaymaker has shared her ‘life-saving’ remedy for travel sickness – and it’s a common ointment most people already have in their medicine cabinet (stock image)
The over-the-counter ointment, which contains medicated vapors such as menthol, camphor and eucalyptus oil, is primarily designed to relieve and treat cough and cold symptoms.Â
While most viewers of Kiki’s video were left astonished by the ‘life-saving’ hack, with many vowing to stock up on Vicks for their forthcoming trips, other seasoned travellers on Reddit backed up the content creator’s recommendation.Â
One person, issuing advice to a plane passenger who frequently suffers with motion sickness, wrote: ‘Try Vicks Vapor rub.Â
‘AÂ little dollop in each nostril goes a long way. You may even breath better but smell less.’
Another Redditor suggested any product containing mint, writing: ‘Quick fixes – hard mint candies, mint gum, mint lip balm, sniff some rubbing alcohol, rub a little Vicks VapoRub under your nose.’
The NHS explains: ‘Motion sickness is caused by repeated movements when travelling, like going over bumps in a car or moving up and down in a boat, plane or train.Â
‘The inner ear sends different signals to your brain from those your eyes are seeing. These confusing messages cause you to feel unwell.’Â
It recommends looking straight ahead or closing your eyes and breathing slowly to alleviate the effects of motion sickness.Â
As Kiki Rough ‘fought for her life’ with nausea in the back of a taxi car – the driver did something unexpected: instructed the content creator to put Vicks VapoRub under her nose (stock image)
But Australian author, Zoe-Foster-Blake previously revealed you can use your smartphone to avoid getting motion sickness while in the car.
She explained that people with the Apple IOS 18 update on their iPhone can actually turn on a special setting called ‘Vehicle Motion Cues’.Â
Found in the settings part of the phone, the Vehicle Motion Cues appear as ‘animated dots on the edges of the screen that represent how the vehicle is moving without interfering with what you’re doing on iPhone.’Â
The sensors can detect when the user is in a moving vehicle.Â
Apple says users need to click on the motion button in the accessibility section of settings. They can select to put on vehicle motion cues.Â
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Holidaymaker shares ‘life-saving’ travel sickness hack you should try on your next trip