If you feel like you’re about to throw up, the fastest things you can do right now are sit upright, breathe slowly through your nose, and get fresh air on your face. Most nausea passes on its own within minutes to hours, but there are specific techniques that can settle your stomach faster and keep you comfortable if vomiting does happen.
What to Do Right Now
Sit up or prop yourself up so your head and chest are elevated. Lying flat can make nausea worse because it allows stomach acid to move toward your throat more easily. If you need to lie down, rest on your left side with your head slightly raised on a pillow.
Take slow, deliberate breaths. Inhale through your nose for about four seconds, hold for a moment, then exhale slowly through your mouth. This activates your body’s calming response and can interrupt the nausea cycle. Shallow, rapid breathing tends to make the feeling worse.
Open a window or step outside. Fresh, cool air helps more than most people expect. Strong smells are one of the most common nausea triggers. Perfume, cooking odors, cigarette smoke, scented candles, and cleaning products can all intensify the urge to vomit. If you can’t get away from the smell, even holding a cool, damp cloth over your nose and mouth can help filter it.
Try the Wrist Pressure Point
There’s a spot on the inside of your wrist called P6 that can reduce mild nausea when pressed firmly. To find it, place three fingers from your opposite hand across the inside of your wrist, starting just below the crease where your hand meets your arm. The point sits right below where your third finger lands, in the groove between the two tendons that run down the center of your inner wrist.
Press firmly with your thumb on that spot. It shouldn’t hurt, but you should feel definite pressure. Hold for one to two minutes, then repeat on the other wrist. You can also gently tap the insides of both wrists together at that same point while taking deep breaths. This technique is used in hospitals for post-surgical nausea and during chemotherapy, so it’s not just folk medicine.
How to Drink Without Making It Worse
The instinct to gulp water or ginger ale when you feel sick usually backfires. A full stomach of liquid can trigger vomiting faster. Instead, start with tiny sips: about a teaspoon (5 mL) every five minutes. If that stays down, gradually increase the amount. This approach is the same method hospitals use for rehydration, and it works because your stomach can absorb small volumes even when it’s irritated.
Good options include plain water, clear broth, or an oral rehydration solution. You can also suck on ice chips if even small sips feel like too much. Avoid anything carbonated, caffeinated, or acidic (like orange juice) until the nausea has fully passed. Room-temperature or slightly cool liquids tend to be easier to tolerate than ice-cold drinks.
Ginger Actually Works
Ginger is one of the few natural remedies with solid clinical evidence behind it. A systematic review of studies found that taking ginger supplements for three or more days significantly reduced vomiting, with doses up to 1 gram per day showing the strongest effect. But you don’t need to wait days for some benefit. Even in the short term, ginger can calm the stomach by speeding up the rate at which food moves out of the stomach and into the intestines, which reduces that heavy, queasy feeling.
The form doesn’t matter much. Ginger tea, ginger chews, capsules of powdered ginger, or even ginger mixed into yogurt all showed results in studies. If you’re reaching for ginger ale, check the label. Many brands use artificial ginger flavoring and contain almost no real ginger. A cup of fresh ginger tea (sliced ginger steeped in hot water for five to ten minutes) is a more reliable option.
What to Eat When Your Stomach Settles
Don’t force yourself to eat while you’re actively nauseated. Wait until the wave passes and you feel a slight appetite returning. When you’re ready, start with bland, easy foods. The old BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is fine for a day or two, but you don’t need to limit yourself to just those four items. Brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, plain crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal are all gentle on the stomach and provide more variety.
Once you can keep bland food down for several hours, start adding more nutritious options: cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without skin, avocado, plain chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. The goal is to widen your diet as your stomach tolerates it rather than staying restricted longer than necessary. Eat small portions spread throughout the day instead of full meals. A half-empty stomach handles food better than a completely full or completely empty one.
If You Do Throw Up
Sometimes nausea ends in vomiting no matter what you do, and that’s okay. Your body has this reflex for a reason. If it happens, here’s how to take care of yourself afterward.
Rinse your mouth thoroughly with water or a diluted mouthwash. This is important because stomach acid coats your teeth when you vomit, and brushing immediately can scrub that acid into your enamel. Wait at least 30 minutes before brushing your teeth. A rinse protects your teeth while your saliva neutralizes the acid first.
After vomiting, wait about 15 to 30 minutes before trying to drink anything. Then go back to the small sips method: a teaspoon every five minutes, increasing gradually. Your stomach will be more sensitive right after throwing up, so patience matters here.
Over-the-Counter Options
If the nausea keeps coming back or lasts for hours, a few pharmacy options can help. Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) coats the stomach lining and can settle nausea from food-related causes or stomach bugs. Phosphorated carbohydrate solutions (like Emetrol) work by calming stomach muscle contractions and are available without a prescription. If you have diabetes or hereditary fructose intolerance, skip the phosphorated carbohydrate solutions because of their high sugar content.
For motion sickness or dizziness-related nausea, antihistamine-based options like dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) or meclizine can help, though they cause drowsiness. Bismuth subsalicylate shouldn’t be given to children under 12, and meclizine carries the same restriction.
Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most nausea is harmless and resolves within a few hours. But certain combinations of symptoms signal something more serious. Get medical help if your nausea comes with severe abdominal pain, chest pain, or a high fever (102°F or higher). Vomiting that contains blood or looks like dark coffee grounds needs immediate evaluation.
Other warning signs include confusion or changes in mental clarity, new weakness on one side of your body, difficulty breathing, or signs of significant dehydration (no urination for 8 or more hours, dizziness when standing, dry mouth that doesn’t improve with fluids). Nausea after a head injury or a possible toxic ingestion also warrants emergency care. If you’ve been vomiting for more than 24 hours and can’t keep any fluids down, you likely need IV fluids to avoid dehydration.