do seabands really work

[mamaofami]

The sea bands work for me too. They're uncomfortable and ugly, and I don't sleep in them unless it's really rough, but they do work.

[donaldsc]

Wondering are they worth the money? My cruise is 6 days long can one band be used the whole time?

 

It would be really hard to scientifically determine if they really work because of the placebo effect.

 

In any medical study, you need to have 2 groups - one group that gets the medication and one that does not. Neither the people getting the medication or the people giving them the medication can know which medication they are getting. Some people who get the placebo will get better because they think that they are getting real medicine even though they were not.

 

This was a problem with my wife. Many years ago, she got pneumonia. After she got better, she kept on coughing. The doctor told her that she was OK but she could not stop coughing. So with my approval, the doctor gave her a prescription for sugar pills with a really impressive scientific name. Within 2 days, she stopped coughing. I never told her what we did because she would have never believed us.

 

Now here is the problem with bands. How do you do a placebo with a band? The person knows if they have the band - you can not hide it.

 

So, try the bands. If they work, they work. If they do not work, have a plan B. The bands are not medicines so they can not harm you and the worse case scenario is that you waste a bit of money on the bands and you get seasick.

 

DON

[Elaine5715]

What Keith said about the 50%.

 

Problem with Bonine, is even though it's marketed as "non-drowsy", it does put a good percentage people to sleep. If you don't want to risk sleeping through your cruise, take some before you travel and see how it affects you.

 

There is nothing in Bonine that can cause drowiness. Ask the

Pharmacist.

However, prior to travelling, many of us have trouble sleeping. We take our Bonine, relax and fall asleep.

[happy cruzer]

I love the seabands. They do work. They are non-medicated and work on acupressure (similar idea to acupuncture, but no needles).

 

I have a problem with some of the OTC meds as they make me drowsy (even the ones that state that they don't make you drowsy). I prefer to enjoy my cruise awake and alert as opposed to drowsy so I don't take the bonine nor dramamine.

 

The patch is prescription and has too many side effects that concern me as far as enjoying my cruise - so i don't use that either.

 

The seabands should really go on your wrists before the ship starts moving. If the seas are calm (such as in the Carib when no storms are in the Carib), then you can try taking them off and see if you get queasy. If you do, PUT THEM BACK ON IMMEDIATELY and you will feel better after a while.

 

You can shower in them, wear them in the pool, etc. I will take them off in port, but then I have to remember to put them back on before the ship sails.

 

I do not know if it is a placebo effect or not - but if it works, it doesn't matter. :)

 

They work for me as well. I did not "believe" in them at all. Never expected them to work. But did try them since I get all the side effects of the meds. Read the directions. You must have the accupressure point in the right spot which is fairly high on your wrist.

 

The seabands work in med to high seas. I get motion sickness as well as sea sickness so they are always with me for car trip, planes, etc anything that move. In extremely rough seas, I have to go to bonine and deal with side effects.

[jcl410]

You really have to believe in them for them to work.

 

 

There have been several scientific studies to determine whether or not Sea-Bands (or acupressure at the correct point) can reduce morning sickness in pregnant women.

 

Ususaly the control group will wear a Sea Band without the little button. Most, if not all, of the studies have show a significant reduction in nausea ik those wearing the "real" Sea-Bands..

 

Here's a link an abstract to one of these studies:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11277163

 

(the full text is at: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/74975/j.1552-6909.2001.tb01522.x.pdf?sequence=1)

 

(And no, I could NOT follow all the statistics; I just trust the abstract. :-)

 

)

 

Aloha,

 

John

[momof3terriers]

that was very interesting. Thanks for sharing it.

[OCruisers]

We never have used them or any other thing for becoming seasick.

You might want to consider not using anything....

 

LuLu

~~~~

[flamomo]

Another option, that is not a "drug", is ginger capsules. Can be found at your local WalMart and drugstore for under $10 for a bottle of 100 caps.

 

My cousin, who had a really hard time with Mal De Mer, even WITH a patch, had very good results with ginger capsules .... she took one 500 mg capsule 3 times a day, and no more nausea! No prescription needed, inexpensive, and no nasty side effects like can be gotten from the "Scop" patches (such as severely dry mouth, blurred vision, confusion, difficulty urinating, and others).

[jdvmd]

Wondering are they worth the money? My cruise is 6 days long can one band be used the whole time?

Yes, they do work but you need to start wearing them prior to the onset of symptoms. It is the same with taking Dramanine etc. Doesn't work once you have started to feel ill. The bands cost about $7 and do not wear out. In a pinch, you can use a nickel and a rubber band but it is not as comfortable.

[Jhawktraveler]

I did meet with the doc today, and bought the seabands. I am going to try them, if I feel they do not work and only if I am getting sea sick will I use the patch.

 

Hopefully I won't need the patch, it is a just incase since I am going to Bermuda during huricanne season.

I haven't used them so I can't comment on effectiveness but I have considered it but just can't get over the sweatband appearance. On another thread about this topic someone included a link to Queasybeads which operate on the same principal but are a bit more stylish. Here's the link http://www.queasybeads.com. It sounds like you've already bought the bands but these might be another option if you want a different look.

[Langley Cruisers]

Here's the link www.queasybeads.com. ...

 

How pretty are those! Thank you for the link; I had not seen them before.

[xnavydoc2]

Another option, that is not a "drug", is ginger capsules. Can be found at your local WalMart and drugstore for under $10 for a bottle of 100 caps.

 

My cousin, who had a really hard time with Mal De Mer, even WITH a patch, had very good results with ginger capsules .... she took one 500 mg capsule 3 times a day, and no more nausea! No prescription needed, inexpensive, and no nasty side effects like can be gotten from the "Scop" patches (such as severely dry mouth, blurred vision, confusion, difficulty urinating, and others).

 

You are 100% correct about the ginger capsules. My DW swears by the sea bands and ginger caps. I have a good friend who is the manager of a health food store located near an Air Force base. She has a tough time keeping ginger tabs/caps in stock because so many pilots come to the store and pretty much by them all up. You can get them at WalMart or Wallgreens.

[momof3terriers]

I followed all of your advice and got the seabands but also got ginger and bonine (just in case). But I think the bands and ginger will work.

[jaybird from SC]

Well, say what you want BUT i have used the bands for years for cruising, car sickness and general viral illnesses and they have always worked for me. Maybe its "mind over matter" but as long as it works, I'm a believer. When I was first told about the seabands, I was the biggest doubter ever but not anymore....

[Bear-n-Babe]

Our family has only cruised once so far and it was a short 3 day cruise. Because my daughter and I get easily sick just riding in a car, I bought some Bonine before our cruise. I took one dose the first day, but after that I didn't feel the need to continue. I was doing ok without it. But that may have been because our cruise was relatively smooth. The only time I minded the motion was the last day when I guess the captain was trying to make up time and we were going rather fast against a headwind. When I was up on the top deck in the gym, I could really feel the motion and felt relieved when I went down a few decks and away from the front of the ship.

I won't be doing a cruise again for another couple years, but I am paying attention to all this advice to prepare myself for our future cruise. Just a LOL... the first night, I don't know if it was the ship motion or the few extra shots of alcohol or the Bonine or combo of the three, but I was like I was floating all evening.

[attilamom1217]

There is nothing in Bonine that can cause drowiness. Ask the

Pharmacist.

However, prior to travelling, many of us have trouble sleeping. We take our Bonine, relax and fall asleep.

 

Pharmacists may say that Bonine doesn't cause drowsiness and while they should know - they are wrong - at least in my case. Bonine knocks me out. So does the original Sudafed which states right on the box - 'non-drowsy formula'. Sudafed is the greatest when I have a cold - I take two and sleep for hours!!!! I have had several discussions with several Pharmacists about that and they did state that for many people, drowsiness will set in.

 

Same thing with Bonine. I sleep like a baby.

[kteachcruiser52]

I used the bands on the Carnival Tropicale which was a small ship. For whatever reason, they worked for me. When I took them off because I didn't want a tan line I started to feel queasy. On the bigger ships, I never feel seasick. When we were going to Hawaii in Jan. and I knew rough seas were a possibility, I talked to my doctor about the patch. He said that he had tried it on one cruise and the side effects were awful. He said he felt like he had a mouth full of cotton and was constantly thirsty. He said there was a scientific study done that said if you always stood so one leg was slightly in front of the other one and bent you were less likely to be seasick.

[Bookish Angel]

but did not work for me. Bonine makes my SO sleepy as do all of those type of meds so I buy the generic stuff and take one before bed every night of the cruise and 2 days before. I sleep soundly and have no seasickness.

[Stickman505]

I've noted that many people state that one must take Bonine before rough seas are encountered. So my question is, are passengers forewarned by the crew that rough weather is approaching or does a daily bulletin provide a forecast?

[StampedersFans]

Yes they work for me! Also ginger is amazing. I use ginger pills, ginger candy and fresh ginger and ginger tea when I am home. I suffer severe migraines and some other health issues and ginger is the only thing that stops my nausea. The sea bands helped me get used to the motion of the ship on my first cruise and I use them when I get queasy at home. I cannot take anti-nausea pills, they give me bad side effects.