Acupressure for Nausea

 

Nobody likes nausea. Regardless of why you are feeling nauseous, you want to feel better as quickly as possible. Most of us prefer, if possible, to avoid taking medications which may have significant side effects. Fortunately, there are a number of natural, noninvasive remedies for nausea. One of the oldest, most effective, and least invasive, is acupressure.

Acupressure, in a nut shell, is the art of applying gentle pressure to any of over 2,000 pressure points on our bodies to treat medical or mental symptoms. There are two main pressure points which acupressure uses to treat nausea:

  • The P6 point.To find your P6 points, use your first three fingers. Place your index finger on the crease of your wrist. When the fingers are held together, your pointer finger will be on or near the P6 point. Probe for the most sensitive point and apply gentle pressure.
  • The St36 point. To find your St36 points, put your four fingers together and place them against the lowest point of the outside of your kneecap. The point is between the leg muscles and your shin. Locate the most sensitive spot in that area and apply gentle pressure.

We have two of each pressure point (one on the left, the other on the right side of the body). Gentle pressure should be applied for a few seconds to each in turn. You can repeat this as often as necessary to relive your nausea.

Many in the Western world are unfamiliar with acupressure, but it has been practiced in China and other far eastern countries for thousands of years. While western medical scientists have been slow to approve acupressure (or alternative treatments in general), recent research has shown that acupressure does indeed offer relief from nausea.

The ancient Chinese believed that acupressure helped improve the flow of qi (or life force). They held the belief that interrupted or imbalanced flow of qi is responsible for most physical and mental illnesses. Many modern scientists question the existence of a mysterious life force that keeps our minds and bodies in harmony, trying to offer alternative reasons why acupressure is effective in relieving nausea and other medical conditions.

When dealing with nausea, most people don’t care why acupressure works. What they care about it that it relieves the nausea without causing any harmful side effects. Best of all, it can be used in tandem with other natural or medicinal remedies.