Nausea: How Does it Develop and What Helps?

Nausea is not a disease, as is often assumed, but a symptom. Through the unpleasant feeling the body tries to tell us that something is wrong. Here you can find out how nausea develops and what helps against it.

What is Nausea?

Nausea is not itself a disease, but a symptom of various diseases and can therefore have various causes. Nausea often leads to vomiting, because for the body it is actually a kind of protective reflex: it tries to get rid of harmful substances that are caused, for example, by infections with viruses or bacteria.

What Happens with Nausea?

Most of the time, the first thing we feel is nausea due to a queasy feeling in our stomach – although it actually originates in the head. This is because the so-called nausea centre in the brain decides whether we feel nauseous and whether nausea should occur. The brain receives the appropriate signals for this mostly through the digestive tract. Causes can be, for example, increased pressure in the stomach or intestines, inflammation or too much alcohol.

Do We always have to Vomit when We Get Nauseous?

Nausea does not always lead to vomiting. Nausea, for example, can only ensure that we do not consume again a food that the body has classified as harmful.

What are the Other Symptoms of Nausea?

Besides vomiting, there are other physical reactions that can occur as an accompanying symptom of nausea. These include:

• Chest pain
• Eye Pain
• Headache
• Loss of appetite
• Fever (you can find home remedies for fever here, by the way).
• Cough (home remedy for coughing can be found here.)
• Diarrhea (What helps against diarrhea? You’ll find out here!)
• Belly ache
• Feeling of fullness

Causes: Which Diseases does Nausea Indicate?

There are many possible causes of nausea – not all of them are harmless. Common diseases as the cause of nausea are:

• Poisonings
• Stress (You can reduce stress with these tips)
• Infectious diseases, e.g. gastro-intestinal infection
• Gastritis
• Food intolerances
• Migraine
• Stomach
• Diabetes (untreated)
• Hormonal changes, e.g. through pregnancy
• Concussion
• Sunstroke

What Helps against Nausea?

If a serious illness is the cause of the nausea symptoms, treatment should be carried out in consultation with a doctor – then often with medication. For so-called travel sickness, over-the-counter drugs are available in pharmacies. If nausea suddenly occurs without a directly identifiable reason, the following tips can help:

• Relaxing in a quiet atmosphere. You can lie or sit, depending on how you feel better
• Close your eyes, breathe deeply into your nose and out through your mouth
• Let fresh air into the room by airing the room regularly. If you feel well enough, you can also take a short, slow walk
• Drink a lot – especially if vomiting is added to the nausea. Water and tea with ginger or camomile are suitable for this
• Avoid stimulants such as alcohol, coffee or cigarettes – these irritate the stomach
• Several small and above all light meals should be eaten throughout the day, e.g. rice with steamed vegetables
• Strong odours should be avoided – they activate the crushing centre