Sea Sick Wrist Bands

jimmynoboat

jimmynoboat

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OK - Last one for a while. promise. But you've all given such good advice before.
I have a real problem with sea-sickness. Tried lots of remedies to no avail. I'm now thinking of buying one of those expensive electronic wrist bands. Does anyone know if they are worth the money?
 
I bought one for the missus before our summer cruise. She has always suffered pretty badly in anything above an F4. The gadget seemed to cure this at first, but one F6 downwind run later proved otherwise. Having been sick with it on once, she lost faith in it and felt sick exactly as she did before I invested £90 in a watch that doesn't even tell the time.

My advise? Skip it. Or buy mine!
 
GF suffers the same, I don't!

Now I used to if I went below, but what did it for me was a non-smoking book.

The psychology hell knows, and I didn't give up smoking! But from I understand this the feeling is real but how you deal with it varies. We now put the GF in charge, helm and skipper and I do believe this helps.

Keeping busy, concentrating, etc. However when it gets rough then I must admit I think we all suffer a bit, but have now got to the point where a few days in and everything is a lot less green (I wont say it never happens however).
 
Can't be all in the mind - the one SWMBO bought worked.

I offered to wire her up to the battery but she wouldn't let me, turned quite nasty in fact.

She ended up preferring a quick chunder to getting electric shocks up her arm - so another £100 down the tubes then.
 
Purchased the "Relief Band" this September for a 350 mile offshore leg as I am on long term medication following kidney transplant and was concerned about loosing drugs whilst barfing.......nasty corkscrew motion as boat being hit on the beam for hours going down to Lands End from Milford Haven,,,,,,,Barfed ,,,,,,,(till I could give no more though stomach kept trying,,,,,,,,wished for deaths sweet release) lost all drugs from stomach,,,,,,still feeling wretched for hours after and "Relief Band" was 100% applied to my wrist in the correct fashion (continual elcetric shocks up to the finger tip and I even cranked it up to setting no 5 which is so strong it can give you involuntary muscle twitching appeared to have no remedial effect whatsoever. Following day I "got my sea legs" ,,if I started to feel even a slight bit quesey I got up on deck where I could see horizon (It really is true that your eyes have to see what your ears (where the balancing mech of the body is) can feel)Continued for a further 6 days no probs as whatsoever. Skipper said it always happens, for me worse £ 90.00 ever spent but if you really want to give it a try I will happily sell you mine with a spare set of new batteries for £ 60.00, as new in September from Force 4 Swindlery in Bristol in original packaging, 1 DAYS USE!
otherwise tell her to wrap up really warm and stay on deck at all costs until used to the motion and don't stare at something like the compass rose when you feel a bit queasy ,,look out to sea.
 
As a retired Navy medical officer I have had a lot to do with seasickness over many years. (Never for myself, thank goodness). Many trials have been performed on all modes of prevention, and no non-medication method has been shown to be superior to placebo. It is considered that even with drugs, thirty percent of the response is a placebo effect, so if some slight benefit has been achieved from a wrist band, it is reasonable to believe that it was the placebo working.
My advice, for what it is worth, is "save your money".
 
I get a bit queasy for the first day or so and sometimes got taken by surprise by a heave. I got one of the watches and found that sometimes it worked well and others to lesser extent. Now I've been told it's all placebo, it won't work at all for me, will it. Have found it useful for those on boat for first time - it did fix somebody who was sweating and heaving quite worryingly
 
I read somewhere that moving with the motion of the vessel as opposed to trying to counteract any movement helps.
worth a try?
 
SWMBO bought one of these a couple of years ago. Having left the RN when they could do no more to than offer her another bucket we were dubious to say the least. However, the (very quick thinking) saleman offered us a refund if it didn't work on the proviso that she write a testimonal if it did. Sometimes now I have to take it off her to get some peace! Although she says it does not totally take away the symptoms it stops her actually being sick and therefore takes the pressure off and allows her to get on and enjoy the sail. Equally, she found it a great help during bouts of Morning Sickness!
Having said all that, I found it did nothing! We have also lent it to pregnant friends who equally found it of little use.
So, after all that, my advice is, if possible, try before you buy. It simply works for some people and not for others.
(BTW - Check out the Nauticalia catalogue for a (slightly embellished) version of the testimonial)
 
so is it just a tens machine then?

Maybe I should try lending my tens to the crew when she is a bit off, apply to stomach?

Is a lot cheaper than £90 and a lot more powerful I am sure...
 
Hi, I'm a newbie who suffers from seasickness quite badly. She could try the patches, sorry can't remember name, packet at home, but various pharmacies sell them. Believe there is only one brand anyway. I tried them on our last weekend's sailing and they worked for me, was quite rough as well. Cost about £8.99 for a packet of two, but only one is worn at a time. I did have side effects, you can get blurred vision which is a bit unnerving, and also my taste buds altered, everything I ate tasted very salty which was very strange. She could also try the sea bands, stretchy bands which have acupressure points on the wrists, they seemed to work as well, although I was uncomfortable with constant pressure on my wrists - others say the same. I got mine in Superdrug by the way!
 
If the bands which fit by elastic bandage are too tight for you and cause discomfort, (they actually caused bruises on my wrists) you can get some that use velcro to adjust the band to the correct fit.
 
Whether it's all in the mind or whatever is not relevant. Everyone has missed the main point. The gadget depends absolutely on the two contacts beneath it making firm contact with the nerves in the underside of the wrist which run parallel with or among the tendons. I am fairly skinny and the problem I have is that every time I move my wrist in a way that flexes the tendons, the contacts part company with the nerves and the thing no longer operates. It's fine if I keep my wrist absolutely still but to imagine you can continue effective contact while doing a job of work in the cockpit, cranking jibsheets etc, is hopeless. Also, the gadget is easily dislodged by the cuff of your jacket. Even when you strap the gadget in place with elastoplast (I worked in a cruise ship in Antarctica for ten weeks last year and used it frequently when crossing Cook Strait) I found it only partially effective. A surgeon friend suggested I should tape it to the nerve centre at the bottom-right part of the neck, the spot that bobbies try to crack with a truncheon to induce instant paralysis. Try holding the thing in place and feel the tingle going right up your ears! But I didn't have the nerve to do this. But it did work fine for each of my two daughters when they had morning sickness while pregnant. It was for this use that two gynae-specialists (who happened to sail) developed the gadget in Seattle. In a word: don't bother unless pregnant.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned ginger. Raw ginger can be powdered to make a drink or maybe make up a batch of homemade ginger beer beforehand. I always carry a supply of crystalised ginger on board in case I have any sufferers. But don't bother with gingernut biscuits the ginger content is very low.
 
Would agree with Glayva Re the ginger. Although I have always liked anything with a ginger flavour ,I was unaware that it could relieve s/sickness .I took some chrystallized ginger during the dazed kipper course and it worked well, so now keep some on the boat as a standby but... it has put me off the taste as my brain now seems to associate it with feeling grotty!
 
The patches are based on scopolamine but indeed have some unpleasant side-effects on many people. Ginger tastes nice and comforting, but most clinical trials show it to be no more effective than a placebo. I like the stuff and use crystallised ginger as a snack on night watches - you can buy good stuff loose at very low prices in French supermarkets. However, if anyone feels queasy the best answer in most cases is Stugeron - dissolved under the tongue to produce a fast effect.
 
The "accupuncture" type bands (both elastic and velcro type) have perfectly cured both my girlfriend and my best mate of any problems with sea-sickness....Pam can even go down below and make sandwiches in a force 7 now!!!

Nick
 
Patches and potions

If you're going to be a sea for a few days the best thing I've found are the Scopoderm patches, they work for 72 hours, but make sure you wash yer hands after applying them...and I also stick a plaster over the top, just to stop it coming off....they do have side effects, thirst, hallucinations etc, but these vary between people, they also used to be perscription only...but they work well

Next best thing I've found are Kwells...which like the patches use Hyoscine hydrobromide as the active ingredient...these are tablets, and can be chewed or sucked, and last for 6 hours...the good thing about chewing or sucking is that they don't have to enter the stomach to work, very handy if it's 2 way traffic down there! 6 hours is also a good time, usually a day sail, and by that time you're either there, or your sealegs are getting better...when you get in that evening you can have a drink or 2 which you can't with the patches

Ginger Nuts and crystalised Ginger are also good to munch on, and ginger is a herbal remedy that keep the gut in one way traffic mode...

Ive tried most things, and in spite of what some people say it's not in the all in mind. BTW Stugeron - stopped me being sick, but still felt it, Accubands - Didn't work at all, Cinnarizine (same active ingredient as Stugeron but in a higher dose) - Worked, but were perscription only...I had a herbal remedy, a small vial of brown petit pois sized balls, which tasted foul but surprising worked.

If kept busy all the time the body doesn't tend to realise how much it's bouncing around, sickness is more than likely to start when you relax and have nothing to do...having said that even when I've been busy I've still fed the fish!
 
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