Motion sickness is a very common disturbance of the inner ear. It is a complex syndrome that includes many features besides nausea and vomiting. In this case report, a patient who applied to our Pediatrics Polyclinic due to intractable nausea and vomiting due to motion sickness and whose complaints regressed after compression on the relevant acupuncture points will be presented.

acupuncture, motion sickness, nausea, vomiting

Motion sickness is a very common disturbance of the inner ear. It is a complex syndrome that includes many features besides nausea and vomiting. Acupuncture consists of two Latin words (acus: needle and puncture: prick). Traditional Chinese acupuncture has 3000 years of history. Versatile research on acupuncture began in China after the cultural revolution in 1965. Acupuncture training is provided within the Faculty of Medicine in many western countries, including France, Germany, England and Austria. About 70–80% of the acupuncture points are the same as the trigger points, and it has also been determined that most of them are the same as the motor points of the muscles [1–5].

The acupuncture points associated with nausea and vomiting are the belly button, along with the tendon in the middle of the wrist. In this case report, a patient who applied to our Pediatrics Polyclinic due to intractable nausea and vomiting due to motion sickness and whose complaints regressed after compression on the relevant acupuncture points will be presented.

A five-year-old girl was admitted to our Pediatrics outpatient clinic due to motion sickness. In the medical history taken, it was stated that nausea and vomiting were observed even in half an hour of travel. It was learned that they were unable to travel due to motion sickness and this situation significantly reduced their quality of life. System examinations were normal in the physical examination. During travel, it was recommended that tendons in the middle of the wrist, which are acupuncture points related to vomiting and nausea, and a dried bean should be placed on the navel and pressure applied by tape (Figure 1 and 2). It was learned that she had no complaints on the road after the procedure during a 7 h drive. In addition, it was learned that our patient slept comfortably while traveling because she had no complaints.

Figure 1: The appearance of press made by sticking a bean to the tendons in the middle of the wrist.

Figure 2: The appearance of press made by sticking dried beans to the belly button.

The use of antiemetics in children is often not recommended due to side effects. In this respect, compression of the relevant acupuncture points, which is a non-invasive and drug-free method, can be used in motion sickness as in our case. In this way, children will not be exposed to many drugs, there will be no unnecessary medicine costs, they will be able to travel comfortably and their quality of life will increase. This case is presented as a contribution to the literature.

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3. Cabýoglu MT, Ergene N, Tan U. The mechanism of acupuncture and clinical applications. Int J Neurosci. 2006;116(2):115-25.
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5. Bensky D. Introduction to Chinese Medicine. In: O’Connor J and Bensky D, editors. Acupuncture. Washington: Easland; 1988. p.1-30.