If your holiday is often marred by bouts of travel sickness en route, you’re not alone. Some 33 per cent  of high-flying holiday-makers are susceptible to travel sickness, even during the calmest of flights.

Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s leading flight price comparison web site, packs your journey full of self-help measures, so read on for the remedies that really work.

Travel sickness on aeroplanes is usually caused by conflicting sensory messages. Our eyes see fixed surroundings but our sense of balance detects the motion of flight. The resulting feelings of nausea are caused when the body, assuming the senses have been compromised by some form of toxin, attempts to purge itself of any potentially harmful substances.

Travel sickness is much more common in female passengers and young children between two and 12 years old. And some 50 per cent of migraine sufferers experience severe travel sickness.

Taking antihistamines and other over-the-counter remedies an hour or more before you travel can often help to alleviate the symptoms of travel sickness but simpler solutions like using acupressure wristbands that apply gentle pressure to your inner wrist can be just as affective and much cheaper.

An aisle seat near to the aircraft’s wings will offer the smoothest ride so check-in early to get the best choice of seats. Avoid large meals or glasses of Dutch courage just before you fly and opt for light snacks that are easy to digest and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

If you do find yourself agonisingly afflicted by a bout of high-altitude anguish mid-flight, sucking peppermint sweets or drinking ginger ale can often help to alleviate nausea. Put books and newspapers away, avoid subjecting yourself to the in-flight film and minimalise your head movements. Instead, simply face the direction the plane is travelling and gaze towards the horizon to help restore your sense of balance.

Deep breaths and relaxation techniques will help to calm your fear of feeling nauseous and minimalise the psychogenic effects of travel sickness. And if all else fails, close your eyes and catch some zzzzs. By reducing the conflicting visual and sensory messages your brain is trying to process, feelings of nausea can disappear altogether.

“I’ve been working in the travel industry for 15 years and yet I suffer from travel sickness, but I don’t let it affect my travel plans.  What I find to be helpful is brushing my teeth or chewing on a mint, the freshness of the flavour helps to settle my stomach.  I also recommend not focusing on anything small such as reading too much.  I do read on the plane, but when I start to feel ill, I divert my focus onto the horizon and use breathing techniques to ease my symptoms,” says Francesca Ecsery, General Manager of Cheapflights.co.uk.

So the next time the travel bug bites you, make sure the sickness bug doesn’t by following our top tips for a top trip.

For more information about travel sickness and DVT, visit Cheapflights.co.uk’s Travel Tips page at www.cheapflights.co.uk/travel-tips/travel-sickness-DVT.html

Be sun savvy with SpaFinder''s latest must have summer accessory - a chic white bracelet, which darkens to an attractive shade of purple when exposed to harmful UVA rays. The bracelet bears a metal faceplate engraved with the melanoma initiative‚s motto, “I Will Reflect”.

The phrase reminds wristband wearers to think about sun safety.

"I Will Reflect" Wristbands

With the sun starting to peek out of the clouds, SpaFinder (www.spafinder.co.uk,) the global spa resource, is launching an educational campaign to help the public make good sun safety decisions this summer and beyond. 

To help raise awareness of this deadly but largely preventable disease, SpaFinder has partnered with spas around the globe, enlisting therapists and aestheticians to encourage clients to apply sunscreen regularly and schedule yearly skin check-ups with a dermatologist.   At the centre of the initiative are „I Will Reflect‰ wristbands that change colour when exposed to harmful UVA rays.

“As someone who has suffered with early stage melanoma, this is a cause that is close to my heart ˆ but it’s also close to the spa industry‚s heart because unsafe sun exposure can have numerous negative effects on overall wellness,”says Cassandra Cavanah, Executive Director of SpaFinder Europe. “Spa therapists, who get a close look at people‚s skin every day, are in a unique position to promote skin cancer detection and education - which is why we‚ve mobilized our more than 4,000 spa partners to be aware of this deadly but preventable disease.”

The chic white bracelets, which darken to an attractive shade of purple when worn in the sun, bear a metal faceplate engraved with the melanoma initiative’s motto, “I Will Reflect”. The phrase reminds wristband wearers to think about the five melanoma-prevention tips included in the bracelet’s elegant packaging:

• Be sun and skin smart

• Wear sunscreen year round

• Use a minimum of 15 SPF sunscreen

• Have an annual full-body mole check

• Share this important message with others

SpaFinder‚s "I Will Reflect" bracelets can be purchased from www.spafinder.co.uk for £2.50 each. Proceeds go towards melanoma research and programmes helping raise awareness of this disease.

For more information, please visit www.spafinder.co.uk/melanoma

Does salt hold the answer to relieving the suffering caused by one of the most distressing of skins conditions - eczema? Millions of people in the UK - many of them children - suffer from eczema, experiencing symptoms which make their lives miserable. Up to one in five schoolchildren and one in 12 adults have the condition.

Many sufferers believe that water softeners, using salt as their main ingredient, help to relieve the symptoms of eczema. Now clinical research is being undertaken to prove if softened water holds the answer.

The Salt Association is one of a number of bodies funding trials by Nottingham University on the effects of softened water on eczema sufferers. The three-year Softened Water Eczema Trial (SWET) aims to recruit 310 children who suffer from eczema. Ion-exchange water softeners are installed in their homes, and all water is softened, except one tap supplying drinking water.

Peter Sherratt, General Secretary of the Salt Association, said: "Eczema is a distressing condition. Its severity can vary - with dry, hot and itchy skin in mild forms and broken, raw and bleeding skin in more severe forms. It can be particularly distressing in children.

"Many eczema sufferers seem to notice benefits from the use of softened water, but eczema is a complex condition. A team of researchers from Nottingham University found that eczema is more common in UK primary schoolchildren living in hard water areas compared with children living in soft water areas. The reasons are not properly understood, so in response to these findings scientists are running a clinical trial to see if eczema in children can be improved by deliberately softening all water used in the home.

"We decided to help fund this trial because, if salt really does relieve eczema, sufferers will want proper scientific evidence." The study is a single-blind, randomized controlled study, meaning that the parents (and children) know which group they are in, but the research nurses are blinded to the intervention.

The trials are recruiting children between the ages of 6 months and 16 years who have moderate to severe eczema, and who live in hard water areas in Nottingham/Leicester, North London, Cambridge and the Isle of Wight. Each child will be in the study for 16 weeks. All of the homes where the children live will have a water softener installed for either four or 12 weeks. During the 16 week study period, the child''s eczema is assessed at regular hospital clinic visits.