Acupressure Therapy in Greenville, SC
Acupressure Therapy at IHP Greenville. Dr. Hendry, DAOM — NCBAHM-certified, 25+ yrs experience, hospital-credentialed. Call (864) 365-6156.
You already know where P6 is, even if you've never heard the name — it's the point where wristbands sit to reduce nausea. What most people don't know is that the same mechanism works for anxiety, for acute headache onset, for the 3 AM waking that keeps happening. I teach acupressure specifically because the clinical benefit shouldn't stop when you leave the office. The right points, held correctly, produce real physiological effects — and patients who use them between visits get better faster.
How Acupressure Therapy Works
Acupressure uses the same point locations as acupuncture, applying sustained pressure for 1–3 minutes per point with sufficient force to activate the point. Dr. Hendry uses acupressure as a clinical technique for needle-sensitive patients, as an adjunct to needle sessions, and as a self-care teaching tool. He provides written acupressure guides specific to your condition for home use.
Conditions Treated with Acupressure Therapy
Acupressure vs. Anti-Nausea Medications for Nausea Management
Ondansetron (5-HT3 receptor antagonist) and promethazine (dopamine D2/H1 receptor antagonist) are the standard pharmaceutical antiemetics for postoperative, chemotherapy-induced, and pregnancy-related nausea. Both are clinically effective and appropriate when nausea severity warrants pharmacological intervention. Ondansetron carries a dose-dependent QT interval prolongation risk, is classified as FDA Pregnancy Category B with residual uncertainty in first-trimester use, and produces headache and constipation as common side effects. Promethazine produces sedation, extrapyramidal side effects at higher doses, and is contraindicated in children under two due to respiratory depression risk. For patients whose nausea is moderate rather than severe, whose clinical context limits pharmacological options (first trimester pregnancy, post-cardiac surgery, pediatric patients), or who require ongoing antiemetic support over weeks to months (chemotherapy cycles, hyperemesis gravidarum), the option to manage nausea without continuous pharmaceutical exposure is clinically significant. The Cochrane evidence (Lee et al., 2015) establishes that P6 acupressure — whether applied by a clinician or through a patient-worn acupressure band at the P6 location — produces antiemetic effects comparable to active antiemetic medication in controlled settings. Patients can be taught P6 self-application in a single clinic visit and use it continuously throughout their day, creating a pharmacological-free antiemetic baseline with pharmaceutical rescue reserved for breakthrough episodes.
Research & Evidence
Acupressure applies sustained manual pressure to acupoints using the thumb, finger, or a blunt instrument, activating mechanoreceptors in the subcutaneous tissue and along fascial planes without skin penetration. The most extensively researched acupressure application is stimulation of Pericardium 6 (P6/Neiguan), located 2 cun proximal to the palmar wrist crease between the palmaris longus and flexor carpi radialis tendons, for the prevention and treatment of nausea and vomiting. Lee A et al. conducted the definitive Cochrane systematic review (2015) of P6 stimulation for postoperative nausea and vomiting, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and pregnancy-related nausea, finding statistically significant antiemetic effects across all three contexts. The mechanism involves activation of the median nerve through the pericardium channel trajectory, with afferent signals modulating the dorsal vagal nucleus and nucleus tractus solitarius — the brainstem structures that receive emetic input from the gastrointestinal tract, the vestibular system, and the area postrema. This afferent competition for brainstem synaptic resources reduces the net emetic drive without serotonin receptor antagonism or dopamine receptor blockade, the mechanisms of pharmaceutical antiemetics. Acupressure is self-applicable, teachable in a single session, and produces no systemic side effects — properties that make it uniquely scalable as both a clinical treatment and a patient self-management tool.
Your First Appointment
Acupressure is typically integrated into a standard acupuncture session or offered as a standalone non-invasive treatment. No preparation is needed. Dr. Hendry will teach you the most therapeutically valuable self-care acupressure points for your condition at your first appointment.
Why Dr. Hendry for Acupressure Therapy
Dr. Hendry believes patient education and self-care are essential to lasting health improvements. Teaching effective acupressure techniques is part of his commitment to empowering patients to participate actively in their own healing.