The $180 Reliefband Flex is an anti-nausea accent that’s designed to connect to an Apple Watch, permitting for a single wrist-worn gadget that is ready to lower down on or remove movement illness, migraine nausea, being pregnant nausea, and extra.
You is perhaps questioning what an anti-nausea gadget has to do with Apple, however many VR headsets trigger movement illness in people who find themselves vulnerable to feeling unwell from movement, and Apple’s personal VR headset is ready to launch within the not too distant future. The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional will not be coming till 2024, so it is not but clear if it should trigger the identical movement illness in susceptible those who different headsets trigger, but when it does, the Reliefband is perhaps an answer for some.
I’m vulnerable to movement illness, so I believed I would give the Reliefband a attempt. I get unwell from automobile rides, 3D rides (and typically films), VR headsets, boats, and first-person shooter video video games – mainly something the place my mind will get indicators that I am shifting whereas my physique is stationary. I’ve all the time had this downside, so I am conversant in varied therapies.
The Reliefband makes use of electrical pulses focused on the underside of the wrist. It targets the median nerve within the wrist, and the pulses stimulate the nerve to interrupt nausea indicators touring to the mind. There are a number of comparable merchandise available on the market, and there have been research that recommend this sort of acustimulation is efficient for nausea, however there have additionally been research that recommend it isn’t, so hold that in thoughts right here.
The Reliefband Flex that I examined seems like a medical gadget. It is under no circumstances smooth, and in reality, it is cumbersome on my small wrist. It is constituted of a plastic materials with a button and pulse stage indicators on the entrance and two steel plates on the again. It has watch straps and might be worn alone with a nylon band, however it is usually designed to connect to an Apple Watch.
Reliefband supplies a particular band that attaches to each the Apple Watch and the Reliefband {hardware}, so the Apple Watch goes on the highest of the wrist and the Reliefband goes on the underside of the wrist. With this setup, you do not have to put on a tool on each wrists in the event you want the advantages of the Reliefband.
I’ve small wrists so there’s not a whole lot of area between the Apple Watch and the Reliefband, and it is not probably the most snug setup, however it may be higher than having two separate units. The band that Reliefband supplies within reason snug, and it jogs my memory of Apple’s woven bands, however once more, there’s a whole lot of bulk on a small wrist with the dual-band setup. The band is product of a comfortable velcro-like materials with velcro fasteners to dimension it. The Flex model makes use of replaceable batteries, so it doesn’t have to be charged. Batteries have to be swapped at across the 12 months mark, although that varies primarily based on utilization.
To get the Reliefband to work correctly, it must be exactly positioned. It has to go a half inch or so above the crease of the wrist, and it must be in the course of the wrist. When it is turned on and within the correct spot, the pulses are felt within the palm and the center finger. To make use of the Reliefband, conductivity gel is required, and a small tube comes with the gadget. The gel must be utilized earlier than use and in addition refreshed if it wears off as a result of it makes the pulsing much less uncomfortable and more practical.
There are 5 ranges of energy with the Reliefband Flex, and the thought is to set it on the bottom stage that you might want to handle nausea. To me, it feels slightly bit like getting a small shock. I didn’t discover ranges 1-3 to be too painful, however ranges 4 and 5 actually get my consideration. With the decrease ranges, the pulsing can sort of fade into the background, and I believe on somebody with a bigger wrist, the upper ranges would too.
So does it work? For me, sure and no. I experimented with the Reliefband a number of occasions, within the automobile, once I had nausea from a migraine, enjoying a first-person online game, and utilizing an Oculus, which all the time makes me unwell. If I put the Reliefband on earlier than I anticipated getting movement sick, it saved it at bay. Placing it on once I was already feeling nauseous didn’t work as properly.
I believe a part of the rationale for that was as a result of I did not like setting the facility above a stage three, and I wanted the next energy to distract from the nausea. I did meet with the Reliefband staff, and so they stated that it is common for folks to want some customization and assist with optimum settings. They suggested me to make use of further conductivity gel to make extra of a barrier between the band and my pores and skin, which did assist, and so they additionally helped me work out that I may kick it as much as a 4 or 5 for a brief time period after which drop it again down. Their customer support staff is accustomed to serving to folks troubleshoot.
In the event you lookup the Reliefband, you may see a whole lot of feedback about the way it works, plus a whole lot of feedback about the way it’s snake oil or a placebo. In my expertise it wasn’t excellent, but it surely did assist with my movement illness on a number of events, and it is one thing I plan to attempt once more if Apple’s upcoming Imaginative and prescient Professional headset causes me to develop into movement sick once I use it.
After I’m in a state of affairs the place I do know I’m going to have intensive movement illness over a number of days, I get a prescription patch with scopolamine. Everyday, I’ve used the acupressure bands with the plastic nubs that dig into the wrist, taken high-dose ginger tablets (my most well-liked anti-nausea choice), used benadryl, taken dramamine, and extra, so I’m used to making an attempt every kind of surprising issues. I do not take care of dramamine and benadryl so it’s good to have a extra useful various when the ginger tablets are unavailable or aren’t working.
Backside Line
I do not know that the Reliefband Flex goes to work for everybody, however if in case you have the sort of intense movement illness that I do, you are in all probability keen to experiment.
The $180 value on the Reliefband appears excessive for the all-plastic construct and the clunky design, and it is positively costly sufficient that it’ll delay some patrons. There’s a 14-day return coverage, so there may be an choice to check it out only for the price of transport, and it may also be purchased on Amazon for an easier return course of.
How one can Purchase
The Reliefband Flex might be bought from the Reliefband web site for $180.
