Why do I feel dizzy after going to an amusement park?

Say you're on a ride at the fair, and it's spinning you around and upside down. Your eyes see one thing, your muscles feel another, and your inner ears sense something else. Your brain can't take in all those mixed signals. That's why you end up feeling dizzy and sick.



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Your brain receives signals from motion-sensing parts of your body: your eyes, inner ears, muscles and joints. When these parts send conflicting information, your brain doesn't know whether you're stationary or moving. Your brain's confused reaction makes you feel sick.

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For many people vertigo is infrequent, triggered by a roller coaster ride at an amusement park in 8th grade, or a head cold that must have affected the ears as well. Symptoms are terrible, but can be fairly short lived. Maybe lasting a day or two or three.

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Dizziness and vertigo are also commonly experienced at theme parks. The Los Angeles Times conducted a study of common complaints after riding amusement park rides and found that a significant number of people experienced motion sickness. The symptoms included feeling nauseated, dizzy, and even fainting.

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These jerking motions can leave some riders with whiplash. In rare instances, neck movements can lead to cervicocephalic arterial dissection and then stroke. This particular type of stroke is hard to diagnose because the main complaints — headache and neckache — are associated with many other conditions.

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As people age, they may feel the bumps and drops of a roller coaster more strongly or take longer to recover from dizziness after having been spun at high speeds. They may just not enjoy the thrill as much as they did as a kid.

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Serious injuries associated with amusement parks can include:
  • Deadly falls.
  • Carotid artery dissection and stroke (tears to the major artery in the neck)
  • Traumatic brain injury.
  • Brain aneurysms.
  • Paralysis.
  • Drowning.
  • Inflatable ride injuries.
  • Lacerations.


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After analyzing acceleration data, it was determined that the front row had the greatest negative acceleration in the z direction and was therefore the “best place” to sit. Most people who enjoy roller coasters have a favorite place to sit when riding, but no quantitative reasons for sitting there.

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First, there are those long walks just to get on the roller coasters, then when you go on the thrill ride they're a good workout for your hearts and lungs. Roller coasters are good for stress relief, fighting phobias, and clearing your sinuses.

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According to clinical psychologist Judy Kurianski, high tempo rides expose us to “good fear.” Our brains perceive the drops and heart-stopping twists to be “safe” and “predictable,” so riding these thrill rides becomes therapeutic, especially as we scream out our anxieties.

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Your eyes see one thing, your muscles feel another, and your inner ears sense something else. Your brain can't take in all those mixed signals. That's why you end up feeling dizzy and sick.

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