The $180 ReliefBand Flex is an anti-nausea accessory designed to attach to the Apple Watch, allowing for a single wrist-worn device capable of reducing or eliminating motion sickness, migraine nausea, pregnancy nausea and more.
You might be wondering what an anti-nogia device has to do with Apple, but many VR headsets cause motion sickness in people who tend to feel motion sickness, and Apple’s own VR headset is set to launch in the not-too-distant future. The Apple Vision Pro won’t arrive until 2024, so it’s not yet clear if it will cause the same motion sickness in vulnerable people that other headsets cause, but if it does, the ReliefBand could be a solution for some.
I’m prone to motion sickness, so I thought I’d give the ReliefBand a try. I get sick from car rides, 3D rides (and sometimes movies), VR headsets, boats, and first-person shooter video games — basically anything where my brain gets the signal that I’m moving while my body is still. I have always had this problem, so I am familiar with different treatments.
The ReliefBand uses electrical pulses aimed at the underside of the wrist. It targets the median nerve in the wrist, and the pulses stimulate the nerve to block nausea signals traveling to the brain. There are several similar products on the market, and studies have shown that this type of stimulation is effective for nausea, but there is also research that suggests it is not, so keep that in mind.
The ReliefBand Flex I tested looked like a medical device. It’s not smooth at all, and in fact, it’s heavy on my small wrist. It is made from a plastic material with a button and pulse level indicator on the front and two metal plates on the back It has a watch strap and can be worn alone with a nylon band, but is also designed to be attached to an Apple Watch.
The ReliefBand provides a special band that attaches to both the Apple Watch and the ReliefBand hardware, so the Apple Watch goes on the top of the wrist and the ReliefBand goes on the bottom of the wrist. With this setup, you don’t have to wear a device on both wrists when you need the benefits of the ReliefBand.
I have small wrists so there isn’t much room between the Apple Watch and the ReliefBand, and it’s not the most comfortable setup, but it might be better than having two separate devices. The band that the ReliefBand provides is reasonably comfortable, and it reminds me of Apple’s woven band, but again, there’s a lot of bulk on a small wrist with a dual-band setup. The band is made of a soft Velcro-like material with Velcro fasteners in the form. The Flex version uses a replaceable battery, so it doesn’t need to be charged. Batteries should be changed around the year mark, although this varies based on usage.
In order for the ReliefBand to work properly, it needs to be positioned correctly. It should go half an inch or so above the crease of the wrist and it needs to be in the middle of the wrist. When it is turned on and in the right place, pulses are felt on the palm and middle finger. To use the ReliefBand, conductivity gel is required, and a small tube comes with the device. The gel should be applied before use and refreshed afterwards as it makes the pulse less uncomfortable and more effective.
There are five power levels with the ReliefBand Flex, and the idea is to set it to the lowest level you need to relieve nausea. To me, it feels a bit like getting a small shock. I didn’t find levels 1-3 to be too painful, but levels four and five really caught my attention. With lower levels, the pulse can fade into the background, and I think on someone with a larger wrist, higher levels would too.
So does it work? For me, yes and no. I’ve experimented with the ReliefBand several times in the car, when I was nauseous from a migraine, playing a first-person video game, and using an Oculus, which always makes me sick. If I put the reliefband on before I get motion sickness, it keeps it at bay. Doing it when I was already feeling nauseous didn’t work either.
I think part of the reason for this was because I don’t like setting power above a level three and I need a high power to distract from nausea. I met with the ReliefBand team, and they said it’s common for people to help with some customization and optimal settings. They suggested I use extra conductivity gel to create a barrier between the band and my skin, which helped, and they helped me realize that I could kick it up to 4 or 5 for a short period of time and then drop it back down. Their customer service team is used to helping people resolve issues.
If you look at ReliefBand, you will see many comments about how it works, along with many comments about how it is snake oil or a placebo. It hasn’t been perfect in my experience, but it has helped with my motion sickness on several occasions, and it’s something I plan to try again if Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset lets me get motion sickness while using it.
When I’m in a situation where I know I have severe motion sickness for multiple days, I get a prescription patch with scopolamine. Every day, I used acupressure bands with plastic knobs dug into my wrists, high-dose ginger pills (my preferred anti-nausea option), Benadryl, took Dramamine, and more, so I’m used to trying all sorts of unusual things. I don’t care for Dramamine and Benadryl so it’s good to have a more effective alternative if ginger pills are unavailable or don’t work.
bottom line
I don’t know if the ReliefBand Flex is going to work for everyone, but if you have severe motion sickness like I do, you might want to give it a try.
The $180 price tag on the ReliefBand seems high for the all-plastic build and clunky design, and it’s certainly expensive enough that it’ll turn off some buyers. There is a 14-day return policy, so there is an option to check for shipping costs, and it can be purchased on Amazon for an easy return process.
How to buy
The ReliefBand Flex can be purchased from the ReliefBand website for $180.
