Most nausea passes on its own, but you don’t have to just wait it out. A combination of simple strategies, from what you eat and drink to pressure-point techniques and over-the-counter options, can shorten the misery and keep it from getting worse. The right approach depends on what’s causing your nausea, but several remedies work across nearly all types.
Start With What You Sip and Eat
When nausea hits, your first move should be managing what goes into your stomach. Stick to clear liquids you can see through: plain water, broth, ginger ale, diluted apple or grape juice, popsicles, and tea without milk. Sports drinks (choose colorless versions) can help replace electrolytes if you’ve been vomiting. Take small, frequent sips rather than gulping, since a sudden rush of liquid can make things worse.
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast), and it’s fine for a day or two. But Harvard Health notes there’s no reason to limit yourself to just those four foods. Brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal are equally easy on your stomach. Once things settle, gradually add more nutritious options like cooked squash, sweet potatoes without skin, avocado, skinless chicken, fish, and eggs. These are still bland and easy to digest, but they give your body the protein and nutrients it needs to recover. The goal is to avoid being overly restrictive for too long, since your body heals faster with adequate nutrition.
Ginger Actually Works
Ginger is one of the few natural remedies with solid clinical data behind it. In a multicenter, double-blind trial of cancer patients experiencing chemotherapy-related nausea, standardized ginger capsules reduced the incidence of delayed nausea from 79% in the placebo group to 49% in the ginger group by the third treatment cycle. Delayed vomiting dropped from 23% to just 2%. The ginger group also had significantly lower rates of malnutrition.
You don’t need a specific supplement to benefit. Ginger tea, ginger chews, crystallized ginger, and flat ginger ale (let it go flat so the carbonation doesn’t irritate your stomach) all deliver the active compounds responsible for the effect. For capsules, look for products standardized to contain gingerols and shogaols, the two compounds that appear to do the heavy lifting. Start with a small amount and see how your stomach responds.
Try the P6 Pressure Point
Acupressure at a spot called P6 (or Neiguan) on your inner wrist is a drug-free option recommended by institutions including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. It’s simple to find: hold your hand up with your palm facing you, then place three fingers from your other hand across your wrist just below the crease where your wrist bends. The point sits right under your index finger, between the two tendons you can feel running down the center of your inner forearm.
Press firmly with your thumb for two to three minutes, then switch wrists. You can repeat this as often as needed. Wristbands designed for motion sickness (often marketed as “sea bands”) work on the same principle, applying steady pressure to P6 so you don’t have to do it manually. This technique is especially popular during pregnancy and after surgery, when medication options may be limited.
Over-the-Counter Medications
Several pharmacy options can help depending on the type of nausea you’re dealing with. Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) is an antihistamine that works well for motion sickness and general nausea. It blocks histamine and muscarinic receptors in the brain, which are part of the signaling chain that triggers the vomiting reflex. The trade-off is drowsiness, so it’s not ideal if you need to stay alert.
Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) coats the stomach lining and can help with nausea tied to indigestion or mild stomach bugs. For motion sickness specifically, scopolamine patches (available by prescription in many countries) are roughly as effective as dimenhydrinate in clinical trials but work through a different mechanism. In one study, both significantly outperformed placebo for reducing nausea during motion exposure. Scopolamine’s main side effects are dry mouth and occasional blurred vision; dimenhydrinate leans more toward drowsiness.
Pregnancy-Related Nausea
Morning sickness affects up to 80% of pregnancies, and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) is the standard first-line recommendation. It’s often combined with doxylamine (an antihistamine found in some sleep aids) in a prescription delayed-release tablet. The typical starting dose is two tablets at bedtime, with gradual increases over several days if symptoms persist, up to a maximum of four tablets spread throughout the day. This combination is one of the most studied treatments for pregnancy nausea and has a long safety track record.
Ginger and the P6 acupressure technique described above are also commonly used during pregnancy. Eating small, frequent meals and keeping crackers at your bedside to eat before getting up in the morning can prevent the empty-stomach dip that often triggers morning nausea.
Quick Environmental Fixes
Sometimes the simplest changes make the biggest difference. Fresh, cool air helps: open a window or step outside. Avoid strong smells, especially cooking odors, perfume, and smoke. Lying down with your head slightly elevated can reduce the sensation, and loosening tight clothing around your waist takes pressure off your abdomen. If you’re in a moving vehicle, look at the horizon or a fixed point in the distance to help your brain reconcile the mismatch between what your eyes see and what your inner ear senses.
Avoid lying flat on your back right after eating, since this can push stomach contents toward the esophagus and make nausea worse. Sitting upright or reclining at a slight angle is a better option until your stomach settles.
Warning Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most nausea resolves within a day or two, but certain combinations of symptoms point to something more serious. Vomit that contains blood, looks like coffee grounds, or is green requires urgent medical evaluation. The same goes for nausea paired with signs of dehydration: very dark urine, dry mouth, dizziness when standing, or urinating much less than usual. A severe headache alongside nausea, especially one that feels different from any headache you’ve had before, also warrants prompt attention.
Call emergency services if nausea and vomiting come with chest pain, severe abdominal cramping, confusion, blurred vision, or a high fever with a stiff neck. For adults, vomiting that continues beyond two days deserves a call to your doctor. For children under two, the threshold is 24 hours; for infants, 12 hours. Recurring nausea lasting more than a month, or unexplained weight loss alongside nausea, should also be evaluated even if each individual episode seems manageable.