Motion Sickness, Nausea, and Your Eyes: How They're Connected

Do you often struggle with nausea? Do you get car sick, especially as a passenger? Are roller coasters and spinning rides difficult for you? Or maybe you experience frequent dizziness? Many people experiencing these issues are often thought to have inner ear or "vestibular" problems. However, the symptoms don’t stop there – they might also feel clumsy, have trouble with balance, feel unstable when walking, or experience a sensation of moving as if they were on a boat. Despite seeing multiple doctors and undergoing various tests, many still don’t find relief.


If you’re one of those individuals dealing with motion sickness, nausea, and dizziness, you may have tried everything without success. What worked for others doesn’t seem to work for you.
 

Binocular Vision Dysfunction: A Potential Cause

What if your dizziness, motion sickness, persistent nausea, and balance issues were caused by a visual problem? It’s possible your eyes are the root cause of the symptoms that disrupt your life.


You might have a small misalignment of the eyes that routine exams don’t catch. If not addressed, this misalignment can lead to double vision, which the brain can’t tolerate. To avoid double vision, the eye muscles overcompensate and strain, leading to the “vestibular” symptoms of Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD). A specialized eye doctor can conduct a NeuroVisual Examination to determine whether your eye misalignment is causing your symptoms.


The good news? BVD is treatable with specialized aligning lenses.
 

Motion Sickness and Binocular Vision Dysfunction

If common treatments haven’t worked for you, Binocular Vision Dysfunction might be the cause of your motion sickness, nausea, and dizziness. These symptoms occur when one of your three balance-sensing systems detects movement, while the others do not. The three systems are: the eyes (visual system), the inner ear, and the position-sensing nerves in your arms, legs, neck, and head. This conflict between the signals from the eyes and inner ear is what causes nausea, dizziness, and motion sickness.


Our specialized aligning lenses can help treat your motion sickness by eliminating conflicting visual signals.
 

A Hidden Impact: Weight Gain and Children

One of the often-overlooked consequences of motion sickness and nausea is difficulty gaining weight. This is particularly concerning for children. When children feel nauseous constantly, eating becomes a struggle. But eating is crucial for growth and health. If vision misalignment is the cause, aligning lenses can alleviate the symptoms, helping your child gain weight and thrive.
 

Case Study: A Life Transformed

Dr. Debby Feinberg shares a compelling case in her book If the Walls of My Exam Room Could Talk. One patient, a 60-year-old man, arrived at Focus On Eyes in a wheelchair, suffering from constant dizziness and an inability to keep food down. Once an active softball coach, he had deteriorated quickly, and doctors were unable to explain his sudden decline. After being referred to Focus On Eyes by a fellow patient, he left the office walking independently, after receiving eye-aligning glasses.


This man had spent months struggling with his symptoms, never suspecting his eyes were the cause. His case was extreme, but many others suffer daily from dizziness, nausea, vertigo, and balance issues without realizing that vision could be the underlying cause – and that help is available.
 

Get Help from the Experts

Do these symptoms sound familiar? At Focus On Eyes, our patients come first. We are committed to providing the right vision prescription for you. In addition to a standard eye exam, our compassionate doctors conduct a comprehensive NeuroVisual Examination to assess your eye misalignment. Based on the results, we prescribe specialized aligning lenses that can address your Binocular Vision Dysfunction, along with any other vision issues. This treatment provides relief from nausea and restores clear, effective vision.


Don’t let nausea stop you from living life to the fullest. Call us today to find out if we can help you find relief.