Motion Sickness Bracelets?

[Peacock]

Good afternoon everyone,

I was wondering if anyone here has heard of motion sickness bracelets? They're supposed to work by applying pressure to a point on your wrist that blocks the effects of nausea. Usually the pharmacy I go to puts the homeopathic crap in with the herbal/natural remedies, so I can easily avoid them. But I saw the bracelets right next to the regular meds (as a children's remedy no less) and was wondering if this is something new or just B.S. They were also quite expensive. I get the feeling it's just a scam, but there are a lot of MD's on this forum and I'd just like my suspicions to be confirmed. Thanks!

 

[tkingdoll]

Placebo effect, nothing more.

HOWEVER!!!! As much of motion sickness is psychosomatic, placebo is precisely the right cure.

But do not waste money on custom bracelets. An elastic band does just as well.

My favourite motion sickness cure is a can of Diet Coke. Works every time, even though I know it! Weirdness!

 

[Henners]

My favourite motion sickness cure is a can of Diet Coke.

Me too. I just get someone to whack me firmly on the back of the head with it.

 

[sthomson]

Tested by the mythbusters. Interestingly enough, a placebo worked the best on one of the testers.

Edited to add: Also, I've completely misremembered that episode - I thought it was garlic pills that worked best. But no, it's ginger pills.

 

[dissonance]

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had terrible morning sickness that I wound up taking drugs to control. Some people swear by those bracelet things for morning sickness; didn't do diddly squat for me except make me look like an enormous dork. I've also used them for motion sickness, as I'm very prone to it, and they didn't help me at all.

 

[Blue Wode]

I was wondering if anyone here has heard of motion sickness bracelets? They're supposed to work by applying pressure to a point on your wrist that blocks the effects of nausea. Usually the pharmacy I go to puts the homeopathic crap in with the herbal/natural remedies, so I can easily avoid them. But I saw the bracelets right next to the regular meds (as a children's remedy no less) and was wondering if this is something new or just B.S. They were also quite expensive. I get the feeling it's just a scam

It probably is a scam. Here's the abstract of a study that was published in 'Aviation, space and environmental medicine' in 2004:

Efficacy of acupressure and acustimulation bands for the prevention of motion sickness

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to examine whether acupressure and acustimulation prevent motion sickness, taking into consideration whether or not the acupressure and acustimulation are administered properly. These techniques claim to reduce nausea through stimulation of the P6/Neiguan acupuncture point by applying acupressure or electrical acustimulation.

METHODS: The Acuband and ReliefBand were used to administer acupressure and acustimulation, respectively. There were 77 subjects who were assigned to 1 of 5 conditions: Acuband trained or untrained; ReliefBand trained or untrained; or placebo. Subjects were exposed to a 20-min baseline and a maximum of 20 min of optokinetic drum rotation. Untrained subjects read the device directions, used it as they deemed appropriate, and completed a usability analysis following drum exposure. Trained subjects read the device directions and were trained to use the device appropriately prior to drum exposure. Symptoms and gastric myoelectric activity were monitored during baseline and rotation.

RESULTS: In all conditions, symptoms of motion sickness and gastric tachyarrhythmia increased, and 3 cpm gastric myoelectric activity decreased, during drum exposure. The only difference found between conditions was a potential delay in symptom onset for the ReliefBand compared with the Acuband. While the Acuband was found difficult to use (0 untrained subjects used it correctly) and only a few minor usability issues were identified for the ReliefBand, usability had no impact on efficacy.

DISCUSSION: Neither band nor placebo prevented the development of motion sickness, regardless of whether the bands were used correctly or incorrectly.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15018290