Motion Sickness and Glasses: Does Eyewear Make It Worse?

Can wearing eyeglasses trigger motion sickness or make your symptoms worse? The simple answer is yes, but the details are slightly more complicated. Let’s start with why motion sickness happens and then find out why reading in the car or on a train with your glasses on might make you feel queasy or queasier. 

Why Glasses Can Intensify That Queasy Feeling

Motion sickness starts with a disagreement between your senses. Your vestibular system (in your inner ear) detects motion and changes in balance, but your eyes perceive a stable environment like a car or train interior. Your body and eyes send different signals to the brain creating a sensory mismatch that can produce nausea and other motion sickness symptoms. Glasses add another layer to that conflict, which can make symptoms worse.

Every eyeglass lens has an optical center, and if it isn't aligned with the center of your pupil, light bends incorrectly and creates a prismatic effect that tricks your brain into thinking objects are slightly out of place. Your eyes have to work harder to fuse the resulting images, and the brain, which is used to seeing things in a certain way, now has to reconcile new distorted signals with the other signals your body is sending it.

Progressive and multifocal lenses can compound this further, especially if you’re getting used to a new prescription or wearing these types of lenses for the first time. These lenses create astigmatic blur (blur with stretched or elongated edges) in side vision and displace object positions, an effect known as a self-motion illusion. That distortion shifts depending on where your eyes are looking, not just the direction your head is facing. Since peripheral (side) vision is one of the main channels your brain uses to judge motion, warped side vision is a common trigger for queasiness especially in a moving vehicle.

Why Reading and Phones Make It Worse

Add a book or a phone screen and you've stacked a second conflict on top of the first. Let’s say you’re reading a book while on a train. Your eyes are locked on a stationary object a few inches away while your body is actually moving with the train. Your inner ear registers the motion, your eyes report stillness, and the mismatch intensifies — glasses or no glasses. Add glasses with one of the above lens effects and your symptoms become worse. 

This won’t happen with everyone who wears glasses, but it’s something to be aware of if you wear glasses and become motion sick. Some people notice the effect can be worse with newer glasses or a fresh prescription, since the brain hasn't yet learned to adapt to the new visual signals. You may just need time to get used to your new lenses.

Note, if glasses-related nausea or dizziness is frequent or severe, talk to your eye doctor. You may need an adjustment to your frames or prescription.

Tips for Staying Ahead of Motion Sickness

For a woman managing a packed schedule — commuting, running errands, catching up on emails between meetings — motion sickness isn't just uncomfortable, it can disrupt your whole day. A few actions can help you stay in front of it:

• Look up and out, not down and in. If you feel the slightest bit ill, look ahead at a fixed point on the horizon to give your visual system a stable reference that matches what your inner ear is sensing.
• Allow time to adjust to new prescriptions. If you've recently updated your glasses, motion sickness symptoms may ease as your brain adjusts but don't wait until you're already queasy to plan around it.
• Take breaks from screens and books. Don’t look down too long while moving. Every 15–20 minutes, glance out the window to help re-sync your visual and vestibular systems.
• Sit where motion is felt least. Commute time on a train or bus can be a great opportunity to get work done or relax with a good read. To avoid motion sickness, choose a front seat or forward-facing seat where you can view the horizon ahead. These seats typically offer a steadier ride than the back.
• Build prevention into your routine. Preventing motion sickness is easier than stopping it once symptoms arise. You can do both with medicine or supplements, but for best results take the recommended dose ahead of your commute or travel.

This is where a trusted motion sickness medicine like Dramamine® Less Drowsy or Less Drowsy Chewable fit into a well-planned day. You can take your first dose 30 to 60 minutes before you travel or commute for up to 24 hours of relief and protection. 

If you prefer a completely non-drowsy, non-medicated option*, Advanced Herbals® Non-Drowsy by the Makers of Dramamine® offers a ginger-based option you can keep handy in your bag or backpack.

With any motion sickness medicine or supplement, read and follow the package directions for dosage and daily dose limits, and check with a doctor or pharmacist if you're taking other medications, are pregnant or nursing, or have a health condition that could be affected.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.