Yes, Motion Sickness Bands Can Actually Help With Morning Sickness, & Here's Why

One of the worst parts of pregnancy, at least for me, was morning sickness. I already suffer from intense motion sickness when traveling, but morning sickness hits you even when you’re perfectly still. I’ve used motion sickness bands for car and boat rides, but never thought about the relief they might offer for morning sickness. Do motion sickness bands work for morning sickness, or is that just wishful thinking?

Motion sickness bands don’t look like much, but according to Sea-Band, they are designed to put continuous pressure on your P6 acupressure points, which can help relieve motion sickness and morning sickness, too. The website for Sea-Band noted that recent studies have shown up to 70 percent of pregnant women suffering from morning sickness benefit from using motion sickness bands.

Sounds good so far, but what would a doctor say? Romper asked Dr. Seth Plancher, OB-GYN at Garden City OB-GYN in Garden City, New York, if motion sickness bands were a good solution for pregnant women suffering from morning sickness. “Nausea is nausea,” he says. "So we use them all the time, and they are often beneficial.”

Motion sickness bands, which come in a variety of designs, target the nerves that trigger nausea, whether it's caused by motion or pregnancy. Some bands, like Sea-Bands, apply only pressure, while others send gentle shocks through your nerves, like Relief Band. The website for Relief Band explained that their band sends pulses to the median nerve in your wrist, at the P6 acupressure point. These gentle pulses help regulate the nerve path between your brain and stomach, via your vagus nerve, relieving any nausea or interference with gastric rhythm

So if you’ve been suffering from morning sickness, I’d say trying motion sickness bands is worth a shot. Anything that can help get rid of that awful feeling would be a relief. Luckily, for most women, morning sickness doesn’t last for long, so you can go back to sick-free mornings soon enough. And if you suffer from debilitating motion sickness like I do, you can always use the bands for future travels.