Anti-Seasickness Bands: How do they work?
The idea of getting sea-sick can deter even the most ardent sea lover from getting on to a boat. Many people suffer from motion sickness and because of this, no matter how much they enjoy sailing, they are never able to set foot on a boat. It can become quite annoying after a while and it compels the sufferers to search for a more permanent solution for the condition.
Understanding the basics
Our bodies remain upright by maintaining a center of gravity by using our visual surrounding as a reference for example the horizon. However, when this visual reference is disturbed by motion, the balance inside the inner ear is affected resulting in dizziness, nausea, headaches and sweating, otherwise also known as Sea Sickness. In case of severe motion almost anyone can experience sea sickness but some people are more prone to it and start feeling dizzy by even setting foot on a boat.
Just the way everybody reacts differently to the motion of a vessel, everybody responds differently to the medicines or the preventive measures. For a few natural remedies might work every time, while for some nothing does the trick apart from an anti-sickness medicines. There are many ways, preventive and curative, which can help in case a person experiences discomfort related to motion. And one of these is called an Acupressure or a motion-sickness band.
What are motion-sickness bands?
Acupressure or motion-sickness bands are soft elastic bands that can be worn on the wrists to stop the uncomfortable symptoms of motion sickness. These bands apply pressure to specific pressure points which helps curb the symptoms of sea-sickness.
How does motion –sickness or anti-seasickness bands work?
To understand how these bands work it is important to understand the pressure points of our bodies that are related to motion sickness. A pressure point, called as Nei Kuan is located on the surface of the forearm which can be found out by keeping the three fingers (index, middle and ring) underside of the wrist with the ring finger touching the first crease of the wrist. Under the edge of the index finger, between the two central tendons is Nei Kuan. Research has found that when pressure is applied to this point it helps relieve the symptoms of sea sickness. This has provided hope to many victims of sea sickness who had to rely on medicines to get through a traumatizing sea journey. The motion sickness bands have a small round plastic button or stud that applies constant pressure on Nei Kuan. This pressure, some say, works as a miracle and helps to eliminate all the symptoms of sea sickness.
Although they are called motion sickness bands, they do offer relief during just sea travel alone. These bands can also be worn by pregnant women who suffer from morning sickness, children who suffer from motion sickness and people who suffer from nausea during air or car travel.
Motion sickness bands are readily available at all the drug stores and the various brands that sell these bands are:
- Sea-band
- Bio-band
- Travel-band
- Acu-Strap
Pros and Cons of Sea-sickness bands
Medicines do work most of the time but with side-effects like dry mouth and drowsiness which do make them a sort of a last resort. The motion sickness bands on the other hand work without any side-effects. Also since they are said to work even after a person starts to experience symptoms of sickness they are more convenient than OTC medicines.
But like all the other treatments this one is not free from pitfalls. Many argue that even after using bands they experience discomforts and sickness symptoms and that it doesn’t work at all. Some people even believe that these bands have a placebo-effect that they don’t actually change anything.
Since everybody experiences the symptoms differently the solutions will also be different. For a few Motion sickness bands might be the only solutions while for some medicines do the trick. Since using these bands is very convenience they are definitely worth a try and with no side effects whatsoever, you can certainly take a chance.
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