Massager creates real helmet head
Posted: Thursday, October 11, 2007 4:33 PM
By Linda Dahlstrom, health editor
What it is: Strong Idea’s Head Spa massager, $49.95
What it claims to do: Relieve tension in your neck and head, increase blood circulation, stimulate millions of nerve endings and ease sinus and head pain with 15 points of vibration. The packaging says “It’s like a spa for your brain and soul.”
Our experience: The tagline of the Head Spa is “Enter a state of euphoria.” But it’s hard to let go and enter that level of bliss when you look like a fool. The biggest flaw of the Head Spa is its design, which seems to be inspired by gladiators and spacemen.
The manufacturer suggests you use it on your morning commute and at your desk. But during my drive in, I barely cleared the car ceiling. And, unless the setting was turned to very low vibrations, it was impossible to use at my desk because the shaking caused me to see double on my computer screen.
It also struck a blow to my self-esteem when I realized I must have a pinhead since the helmet was too big and a total of eight of the 15 contact points didn’t reach my scalp. But a quick survey of co-workers, both male and female, revealed the same problem in five out of six of them.
The vibrating points that actually made contact – particular the ones at my neck – did feel good when set at medium speed (any higher than that made my teeth chatter). One night when I had a stiff neck, I wore the head spa and after about 10 minutes, my muscles did feel more relaxed.
What the expert says: As far as the manufacturer’s claim of increased blood flow, Dr. Paul Rosch, president of The American Institute of Stress says, “if it did, it would be in the scalp, not the brain – so they might be better off promoting it for hair loss.”
He’s also dubious about the benefit of the product’s claims to stimulate millions of nerve endings. “It is not clear why [that] would promote relaxation, since this seems counterintuitive.”
Bottom line: As silly as it looks, based on my experience, maybe it did help ease some tense muscles. But you’d probably feel more relaxed if you put the cost of this item toward getting a massage from a real, live expert.
