The feeling that one is about to vomit is called nausea; it often precedes, but does not always lead to vomiting. Impairment due to alcohol, anesthesia, or other sedatives can cause inhalation of vomit. Vomiting is when muscles in your belly, chest, neck and head work together to push whatever’s in your stomach out.

Understanding the Context

This forceful expulsion of your stomach’s contents can be a symptom of many conditions. But when you’re vomiting, what you really want is a way to make it stop. Vomiting (throwing up) is caused by food poisoning, pregnancy, or motion sickness. Home remedies and medications can often relieve symptoms quickly.

Key Insights

What Are Common Causes of Vomiting?... Learn more about what can cause you to vomit, along with treatment and prevention options, and when to see a doctor. What are nausea and vomiting? The major causes of nausea and vomiting include acute gastritis, stomach problems, medications, and mechanical obstruction of the bowel. Nausea and vomiting are symptoms of an underlying illness, not a specific disease.

Final Thoughts

There is a distinction between nausea and vomiting. There are many reasons you might vomit or feel nauseated, including motion sickness, pregnancy, and food poisoning. Here's how to treat it at home and when to get medical help. Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of gastric contents caused by involuntary contraction of the abdominal musculature when the gastric fundus and lower esophageal sphincter are relaxed. Vomiting should be distinguished from regurgitation, the spitting up of gastric contents without associated nausea or forceful abdominal muscular contractions. Vomiting is when you throw up.

What causes nausea and vomiting? Nausea and vomiting can be symptoms of many different conditions, including: When do I need to see a health care provider for nausea and vomiting? Nausea and vomiting are common. They are usually not serious.