Elastic band nausea cure

Press, 28 September 1988, Page 50

Elastic band nausea cure

NZPA London Morning sickness which makes pregnancy a misery for thousands of women can be reduced by the simple remedy of wearing an elasticated band round the wrist, British doctors claim. A study of 350 pregnant women concluded that pressure applied to a spot on the inside of the wrist known as the Neiguan point successfully reduces morning sickness. Early morning nausea and vomiting occurs in up to 88 per cent of pregnancies, being most common between the sixth and fourteenth weeks. The study was carried out by two doctors at the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast, after seeing a “convincing demonstration” on a visit to China of the effectiveness of acupuncture on the wrist to reduce postoperative sickness. They have published details of their study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. For a year they allocated pregnant patients at random to different

groups, one being asked to apply daily pressure on the Neiguan point, known as P 6, and another being asked to apply pressure to a “dummy” point on the elbow. The doctors found that those pressing the wrist point suffered significantly less sickness than those applying pressure to the dummy point on the elbow. . They say: “We cannot exclude a psychological explanation for our findings, but the superiority of . the beneficial effect of pressure at the P 6 as compared with a dummy point suggests that the former has some real therapeutic value.” The doctors point out that even if the technique does not help all patients suffering from morning sickness, it has absolutely no harmful side effects. Pressure is applied to the precise point on the wrist by wearing an elasticated wrist band with a small stud placed to press on the right spot, approximately three-fingers-width from the first crease of the wrist.