Do the Blind Get Seasick ?

[James S]

Excelent question hpeer.

[martinjrichter]

Once took a troop of boy scouts for lunch aboard the aircraft carrier Coral Sea docked in San Diego Harbor. Three of the 12 kids where sea sick, mostly because they had all talked about being sea sick before they boarded.

I went thru pilot training and saw pilots get air sick while pre-flighting their aircraft before they had ever gotten into the aircraft.

You can draw your own conclusions.

[Astrid]

It is in the inner ear, not in the eye. Blind people get seasick.

correct.

[capn_billl]

The worst for me is in transitioning between the cabin, and the deck. Once in either place I feel nothing, but when going below or coming on deck I feel a little disoriented for a few seconds. especially in rough weather.

[Sunbird]

Originally Posted by Astrid

correct.

I've done some personal research on the subject to see if bio-feedback can relieve seasickness. In my experience it is both a visual and inner ear problem. When either (visual or balance) signal to the brain is distorted beyond normal everyday levels people tend to get seasick. The inner ear is definitely more sensitive. Audio bio-feedback works better at relieving motion sickness than visual..but both methods are effective.

[Blue Stocking]

Many of the visually impaired describe themselves as "partial" or "total" V.I.
.
I have had 3 "totals" and 1 "partial" sailing with me on 1 occasion.
My observation, and their concurred opinion, is that is very much an individual re-action to movement.
Confidence in a V.I.'s individual mobility, ie, with a cane, is largely based on his or her's " Spacial awareness". This is wide ranging, and is the reason you will see V.I.s sometimes "sounding" a wall, eg, and others, confidently taking a clear path of movement.
Balance, and orientation of the body to the boats angle of sailing trim, seems to be an individual thing as well.
As one guy said to me, "lets see how good my gyro really is".

[Sunbird]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

I have had 3 "totals" and 1 "partial" sailing with me on 1 occasion.
My observation, and their concurred opinion, is that is very much an individual re-action to movement.

Out of the 4 individuals. How many of them did get seasick? And would you say that the blind are less prone to seasickness than the average individual or are they just as susceptible as the rest of us?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Sunbird.

[Sunbird]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Sunbird.

Thanx GordMay, and greetings from a sunny Cape Town!

[keepondancin]

Interesting topic as it changed to hearing impaired. I have had hearing issues most of my life. Dr. thinks is was from ear infections and antibiotics. I have never been seasick. I probably just jinxed myself, but it has never been a problem.

[Sunbird]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Sunbird.

21,661 posts...you've been busy..

[Sunbird]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

I have had hearing issues most of my life.

Do you know if your hearing problems are related to your vestibular system in any way?

[Jim Cate]

FWIW,

In my early days of sailing (mostly o n SF Bay) I sometimes became seasick. I noticed that the onset was often associated with a task that required close-in focusing of my eyes... things like reefing where I was tethered closely to the mast and focusing on the reefing winch about 18 inches in front of me.

I've no idea if this is a common observation or idiosyncratic to me. Fortunately, with much more experience over the years the mal-de-mer has pretty well vanished, but I still remember how absolutely rotten one can feel, and I'm sympathetic to sufferers.

Cheers,

Jim

[justlearnin]

So do an experiment and put 2 of those jumbo band aids over your eyes and spend some time on a boat and let us know. Then we will be edumicated too. I would though suggest to keep the sticky parts off the eye brows or you could look like a bit of a freak or is it trendy or perhaps manscaping.

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by justlearnin

So do an experiment and put 2 of those jumbo band aids over your eyes and spend some time on a boat and let us know. Then we will be edumicated too. I would though suggest to keep the sticky parts off the eye brows or you could look like a bit of a freak or is it trendy or perhaps manscaping.

Nope--don't work that way.
Once you have possessed vision, the mind/ memory will make allowances for not putting in the vision element at that moment.
Its the reason a sighted person can navigate a very dark room with reasonable success after having seen the room.
Its part of the spatial awareness element.
Other senses may play a part in motion sickness susceptibilty, varying amongst individual V.I.s
Audio input is important to V.I.s, who many times receive sensory input which we sighted folk, who receive 70% input visually, don't get.
Maybe an experienced V.I. sailor can tell us if he/she uses the feel of wind on the face, or the sound of wind in the ears, to keep a boat in the "windward" groove.
BTW, I am not a professional in this field, my comments are from observation and discussion having raised a "total" V.I. from birth through 3 language, and a law qualification.