Nausea and Vomiting

Nausea has a way of taking over the whole body — that sinking, clammy unease that makes it hard to think about anything else. At Acupuncture Zen in Delray Beach, nausea and vomiting are among the conditions where acupuncture has some of its most consistent research support, particularly for the queasiness that follows surgery or chemotherapy. Dr. Tony Willcox, A.P., offers acupuncture as a complementary approach that works alongside a patient’s medical team and their prescribed anti-nausea care, never as a replacement for it.

Nausea is the uncomfortable sensation of needing to vomit, while vomiting is the forceful emptying of the stomach. Both are protective reflexes coordinated by the brain and gut, and they can be set off by a huge range of triggers — from medications and motion to infection and anxiety. They’re symptoms rather than diseases in themselves, which is why identifying what’s driving them matters so much.

Nausea and vomiting can arise from many sources, including:

• Postoperative recovery, as anesthesia and surgery commonly upset the stomach
• Chemotherapy and other cancer treatments
• Motion sickness and inner-ear disturbances
• Pregnancy-related nausea, especially in the first trimester
• Digestive conditions, infections, migraines, and certain medications

Because nausea and vomiting are symptoms with many possible causes — some serious — it’s important that a physician evaluate the underlying cause. Acupuncture is used to ease symptoms as part of a broader plan, not to bypass finding out what’s behind them.

In Chinese medicine, nausea and vomiting are understood as Stomach Qi ‘rebelling’ upward instead of descending as it naturally should. The point most associated with settling this is Neiguan, or P6 (Pericardium 6), on the inner forearm above the wrist. Stimulating P6 is thought to harmonize the Stomach and redirect that upward rush — which is why this single point has become one of the most widely used and best-studied in all of acupuncture for calming queasiness of many kinds.

The workhorse for nausea is the P6 (Neiguan) point on the inner wrist, which can be stimulated with needles, with acupressure, or with a wearable band. It’s thought to influence the nerve and brain pathways involved in the vomiting reflex, and its accessibility means patients can often be taught to press it themselves for extra support between visits.

For nausea tied to tension and anxiety, the calming effects that draw many patients to acupuncture for stress can also play a supportive role.

A Cochrane overview of P6 stimulation found the most consistent benefit for postoperative nausea and vomiting — across 26 trials and more than 3,000 patients, real P6 stimulation outperformed sham in both adults and children (Ezzo et al., J Alt Complement Med, 2006). For chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, a 2023 meta-analysis found acupuncture added to usual care may improve control of vomiting. However, the authors rated the certainty of that evidence as low. So acupuncture is offered as a supportive complement — strongest for post-surgical nausea — not a stand-alone cure.

A first visit begins with a conversation about what’s triggering the nausea, how severe it is, and what medical care and anti-nausea medication are already in place. Dr. Willcox will select points — often centered on P6 — to settle the stomach and can show patients how to apply acupressure to the same point at home. Many people find the sessions calming, which helps when anxiety is part of the picture. Because the right approach depends heavily on the cause, treatment is always coordinated with the patient’s broader medical care.