Upweighting Proprioceptive Information for Treatment of Mal de Mer: A Case Report.
Alexa Werner, Carrie W Hoppes, Brooke N Klatt et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
Case in brief
A 46-year-old woman aboard a U.S. Navy ship developed severe dizziness that prevented unsupported walking and substantially limited computer work. She had a long history of motion sickness, mainly seasickness, as well as Eustachian tube dysfunction and bilateral tympanic membrane perforations. Pharmacologic treatment provided minimal benefit. A physical therapist diagnosed seasickness; gaze-stabilization exercises were poorly tolerated amid continuous ship motion, and she needed to lie supine with a foot on the floor for relief. After an improvised sensory-reweighting intervention using available clinic supplies, her symptoms eased enough for unsupported walking and VOR habituation exercises aboard ship.
What made this case unusual
Continuous ship motion limited the effectiveness of initial gaze-stabilization therapy; an improvised sensory-reweighting system enabled functional improvement in this shipboard setting.
Diagnostic / clinical pearl
When continuous motion makes gaze-stabilization exercises poorly tolerated, sensory reweighting may help mitigate symptoms and support progression to habituation exercises.
Why it matters
The report describes a non-pharmacological option using available supplies for persistent seasickness in an austere shipboard setting.