Oh how-I-wish I never had a need to write one of these posts. But Friday, as I was on my way home from lunch, I got the dreaded call from the school nurse. “I have Nate here for the second time today and he says his stomach is really hurting. Can you come pick him up?”
He spent the weekend with fun bug that had him spiking a fever and vomiting at night. He wouldn’t eat anything for two days. (Who can blame him!) It was a rainy weekend to begin with so we didn’t mind being holed away but I felt badly for him and happened to see this pin – 10 Tips for Easing Pregnancy Nausea – on Pinterest about quelling nausea. While the pin related to pregnancy nausea, nausea is nausea and some pregnancy tips can be applied to anyone who has that barfy feeling. I did a quick search on a few other pins and got a great list of ideas of natural and easy ways to help ease nausea – some of these I already knew but some were new to me – and these can be applied to anyone!
If you’ve got the stomach bug; you’ve got the stomach bug. Sometimes you have to let it run its course. But if you have pregnancy related nausea or car sickness or something in between, some of these remedies are great options for making you feel better:
1. Lemons. This was new to me! Did you know that slicing up a fresh lemon and then putting it just nearby the nauseated person can help ease symptoms? Worth a shot!
2. Anything ginger. I knew this one and often do Ginger Ale when I’m feeling yucky. Ginger ale only has a minimal amount of ginger actually in it, but fresh ground ginger root in tea can be fab if you have it. And if not, a can of ginger ale in a pinch. In small sips of course.
3. Suck on a hard candy. Many pins reference this. I used to have use the Preggie Pops when I was pregnant with my second and they definitely helped.
4. Put a cool, damp washcloth on the sick patient’s forehead. My parents did this for me for a kid with just about any illness and it is definitely soothing! I always take a washcloth, run it under cold water and then ring it out and pour it on my kids’ foreheads when they have a fever, are nauseated or have a headache.
5. Peppermint Wipes. I like Herban Essentials Peppermint Wipes. (Or other brand or any peppermint essential oil even.) My acupuncturist sells these and I’ve also seen them at our local Container Store. I buy them by the bag because my kids also get car sick so we need to have these on hand. They help tremendously. The smell is really overpowering, I will say that, but there is something that seems to quell the puke feeling about the peppermint smell.
6. Press on the following pressure points on your wrist. There’s a spot right below your wrist called the P-6 and you can use your fingers to apply pressure to that spot to relieve nausea and vomiting. This image is from the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and also has an accompanying webpage that gives you detailed instructions on how to do it.
7. PSI Bands or Sea Bands. Not comfortable or sure you can apply the acupressure right? There are some affordable over the counter wrist band options that help to apply the pressure for you – PSIBands which offer some cute wrist band options or Sea Bands which are thicker and look a bit more like a sweat wrist band.
8. Dill pickle juice. I haven’t tried this one myself but it was listed on a number of websites. Small sips of dill pickle juice can apparently abate feelings of nausea.
9. A bland food for the stomach. Obviously this one doesn’t work if you are mid-vomit but sometimes a little nausea can be caused by a number of things that can be helped but something soft and gentle on your stomach like Saltines, a piece of toast or a banana. (When all else fails, follow the BRAT diet – Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast!)
10. Suck on a popsicle or ice pop. My kids love Flavor Ice when they are sick and it’s great when they’ve been vomiting because it gives them a tiny bit of sugars back.
Do have your own natural or at-home nausea remedy? Please share!
Thanks for this review! I am all for ‘Grandma’s’ natural home remedies. . .and most of the time, they really do work!
Rarely(which is fortunate for me that it is a rare occurrence) I experience heartburn- the awful burning feel kind. . so not fun. When I do, I learned that if I take a few small sips of dill pickle juice(your number 8 listed!), within just minutes, the heartburn is totally gone! No kidding.
I always have a ‘just in case’ jar in my fridge.
Have tried a number of your other hints listed as well. They are all great (several dollars out of the doctors’ s pockets).
Dill juice is also great for heartburn. Thanks for posting these super hints!
Love those tried and true solutions…and they work!!! Love the gingerale remedy…it has worked many times and one I have used since childhood. My sister swears by the dill pickle juice and one I will try in the future. I’m sorry Nate did not feel well. Hope he has recovered!!!
I swear by sucking on gingernuts and drinking ginger beer and iceblocks