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Not medical advice. The Atlas is not a substitute for a clinician who can examine you.

Acupressure and Shiatsu

Finger-pressure therapies from China and Japan

Evidence grade 2 of 5, Thin. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.

The clearest signal is PC6 (Neiguan) acupressure and acupressure wristbands for nausea and vomiting: the Cochrane review by Lee et al. (CD003281, ~40 trials, ~4,800 participants across surgery, chemotherapy, and pregnancy contexts) found PC6 stimulation reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting versus sham, with the authors cautioning that blinding is difficult and trial quality varied. Acupressure also shows preliminary to moderate benefit for some pain (dysmenorrhoea, low-back, labour) and sleep in older adults, so ev around 2, while shiatsu as a distinct therapy rests on almost no controlled evidence (Robinson, Lorenc and Liao 2011 found only 1 shiatsu RCT of insufficient quantity and quality), keeping whole-body and shiatsu-specific claims at grade 0 to 1.

FDA
Not regulated as a medical product; acupressure wristbands for nausea are sold over the counter as low-risk devices. Shiatsu practitioner licensing varies by country and US state.
WADA
Not applicable

Reference only. Not medical advice.

What can go wrong

PROMINENT RISK: Low risk overall; firm pressure can leave soreness or bruising. Avoid pressing over injuries, blood clots, or fragile bone, and use caution with anticoagulants. Some points are traditionally avoided in pregnancy; check with a clinician first. As with all hands-on care, the real danger is using it in place of evaluation for a serious or worsening condition.

Acupressure and shiatsu treat the body with finger and palm pressure instead of needles. Acupressure presses on the same surface points used in acupuncture; shiatsu, whose name means finger pressure in Japanese, adds stretches and rhythmic leaning along the body. Both grew from anma, a Japanese massage tradition that itself came from Chinese hands-on therapy. They are usually explained through qi (life energy, pronounced chee) flowing along meridians (channels), which is a traditional model rather than confirmed biology. The clearest evidence is narrow: pressing or banding the PC6 point on the inner wrist can reduce nausea and vomiting, including after surgery, which a Cochrane review (a respected evidence summary) supports. Beyond nausea and some short-term pain and sleep effects, the data are thin and the studies small. For shiatsu specifically, controlled evidence is almost absent.

Finger pressure on acupoints

What people take it for

These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.

  • Nausea, including after surgery and in pregnancy
  • Tension, stress, and relaxation
  • Low-back, neck, and labor pain
  • Sleep problems
  • Headache

What people get wrong

  • Often saidPressing acupoints redirects qi and treats disease throughout the body.

    ActuallyMeridians and qi are a traditional framework, not measured anatomy. Reliable benefit is limited mainly to nausea via the PC6 point; whole-body disease claims are unsupported.

  • Often saidAcupressure bands cure motion and morning sickness.

    ActuallyThey modestly reduce nausea for some people and are low risk, but effects are partial and not universal.

Who profits, and who pushes back

  • Cochrane reviewers (Lee et al.)

    Pushes backEvidence synthesis on PC6 stimulation

    PC6 acupressure helps with postoperative nausea, but the certainty of evidence is low to moderate and broader shiatsu claims are unsupported.

  • Long, Huntley and colleagues

    Pushes backAuthors of a shiatsu and acupressure systematic review

    Shiatsu research is of insufficient quantity and quality to draw firm conclusions about effectiveness.

  • Sea-Band and similar wristband makers

    Sells this. Has a commercial interest in a product sold as this compound, as of July 2026.

    Promotes itManufacturers of PC6 acupressure bands

    Sell consumer products marketed for nausea; the PC6 evidence is their strongest support.

  • Japan Shiatsu College and shiatsu associations

    Sells this. Has a commercial interest in a product sold as this compound, as of July 2026.

    Promotes itTraining bodies and professional groups

    Certify practitioners; promote shiatsu within the meridian framework.

  • Integrative nursing and midwifery researchers

    Promotes itAcademic proponents

    Study acupressure for nausea, labor pain, and sleep; many trials are small or unblinded.

Where the research comes from

Most of the published research on this comes from one place. 55% of it is from East Asia. Findings that no unrelated group has reproduced are weaker than the study count makes them look.

Share of published research by country of origin.
PlaceShare of published research
East Asia55%
North America20%
Europe18%
Rest of world7%

Research published from: China and Japan.

How we got here

Acupressure is the older and broader practice: pressing the same surface points used in Chinese acupuncture by hand, a technique embedded in East Asian medicine for many centuries. In Japan that hands-on lineage became anma (amma), a massage tradition practiced for generations and, for a long period, notably by blind therapists. In the early twentieth century Tokujiro Namikoshi refined a pressure-based method from anma and Western massage, opening a shiatsu institute in Hokkaido in 1925 and the Japan Shiatsu Institute in Tokyo in 1940; he framed shiatsu in Western anatomical and physiological terms rather than qi language, which helped Japan approve it within anma in 1955 and recognise it as a distinct therapy by the 1960s. Shizuto Masunaga later developed a more meridian-oriented Zen Shiatsu, and today shiatsu spreads worldwide as relaxation bodywork while acupressure appears most concretely as over-the-counter anti-nausea wristbands (for example Sea-Bands) and in nursing and midwifery research.

The lineage runs from China to Japan. Chinese hands-on therapy seeded a Japanese massage tradition called anma (or amma), which spread in Japan over centuries and was for a long period practiced notably by blind therapists. Acupressure is the broader idea of pressing acupuncture points by hand, shared across East Asian medicine. In the early twentieth century, Tokujiro Namikoshi refined a pressure-based method, opening an institute in 1925 and the Japan Shiatsu Institute in 1940; he deliberately described shiatsu in Western anatomical and physiological terms rather than qi language, which helped Japan legally recognize it in the 1950s. Shizuto Masunaga later developed a more meridian-based Zen Shiatsu. In its modern iteration, shiatsu is offered worldwide as relaxation and wellness bodywork, while acupressure shows up most concretely as over-the-counter anti-nausea wristbands and in nursing and midwifery research.

  1. 700Chinese manual therapy adapted in Japan as anma
  2. 1925Tokujiro Namikoshi opens his shiatsu institute
  3. 1940Japan Shiatsu Institute founded; Western-anatomy framing
  4. 1955Japanese government legally recognizes shiatsu
  5. 2015Cochrane review supports PC6 stimulation for postoperative nausea

At a glance

Acupressure
acupuncture points pressed, not needled
Shiatsu means
finger pressure in Japanese
Modern shiatsu
formalized by Tokujiro Namikoshi
Strongest data
PC6 wrist point for nausea

What this entry does not yet cover

What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Acupressure and Shiatsu. A short entry is not a safe entry.

  • Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
  • Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
  • Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
  • What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
  • How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
  • Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.

Sources