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May/Jun 2009 | www.MyFamilyDoctorMag.com | 29 How Does It Work ? Find the P6 to find the p6 point for acupressure, bend your wrist and lay the first three fingers of your other hand across it, starting at the crease. the finger farthest from the wrist will be at about the right level. now, press between the tendons in the center and you will find a slightly tender point. by andrea Gordon, M.D. D oes acupressure or ginger prevent nausea and vomit- ing? As with many alterna- tive treatments, the consensus is a bit up in the air. The studies that exist are not very good, and most are quite small. Until we have a more definitive answer, I think these remedies are worth trying. My patients with morn- ing sickness often find them helpful. Many people with nausea from mo- tion, surgery or chemotherapy also say they've found relief. The question of how these treat- ments work may be as hard to answer as whether they work. But I'll give it a shot. THE WRIST BOnE'S COnnECTED TO THE … STOMACH BOnE? The acupressure point most com- monly used for nausea is called P6, or pericardium 6. It's on the wrist's inner surface. It may seem odd that a spot on your wrist could stop nausea, but not to traditional Chinese medi- cine practitioners. They see the body as channels of energy. The pericardium channel first passes through the membrane around the heart called the pericardium. But it also goes through the stomach and therefore influences digestion. From a Western medicine point of view, this does not make sense. And P6 doesn't correspond to a nerve or anything that would make it work in Western thinking. However, in one intriguing study, a radioactive tracer put into an acupuncture point trav- eled along a path that correlated with a Chinese energy channel. (Acupunc- ture uses needles; acupressure uses pressure. Both use the same points on the body.) Another explanation is that acupuncture—and perhaps acupres- sure—makes the body release endor- phins, a kind of natural morphine. Or perhaps it causes the brain to release serotonin, a feel-good chemi- ginger and acupressure for nausea cal that inhibits the nausea and vom- iting reflex. It may do either of these things by stimulating muscle nerve fibers, which send signals to the spinal cord and brain to activate the chemi- cals' release. yuMMy TO My TuMMy Ginger taken in capsules, candied or as tea also may help reduce nausea. One study found it to be better than Dramamine for motion sickness. Re- sults for morning sickness have been mixed. If you want to try it during pregnancy, ask your doctor. From a traditional Chinese medi- cine point of view, ginger is warming and helps the stomach do its job of digestion. Western medicine believes certain chemical components of gin- ger may stimulate the body to release more saliva, gastric juices and bile. Ginger as a whole has been shown to help with gastric emptying and im- prove the gut's ability to move things forward. This may all be another way of saying it helps the stomach do its job! Talk to your health-care provider before using large amounts of ginger. Also, ginger might increase your risk of bleeding, so use caution if you're on medicine that slows blood clotting or if you're having surgery. If you want to give these a try, you can find ginger at health-food stores and sometimes at grocery stores, especially the tea form. Acupressure wristbands that hold pressure over the P6 point are available over-the- counter at the pharmacy. Board-certified family doctor andRea goR- don, M.d., is director of integrative medicine with Tufts University Family Medicine Resi- dency Program at the Cambridge Health Alli- ance in Malden, Mass.