Naturally, identifying stress is difficult. For some, stressful situations are thrilling or hardly raise eyebrows; for example, public speaking may be invigorating for one individual while causing paralyzing anxiety for another.
Wearable devices have promised lots of new health benefits in recent years, including stress management. Here is a product you should know about.
The product
Once strapped to your wrist or ankle, Apollo Neuro sends vibrations to the skin. The vibrations' strength and frequency change according on the mode selected by the user. "Energy and reawakening," "social and open," "clear and concentrated," and four more are among these styles. You are not required to wear this gadget at all times. Intervals of 15 minutes (for meditation and awareness) to two hours are suggested in the guidelines (for sleep and renew).
Claims
Delivers a unique form of touch therapy, seen as mild vibrational waves that help the body rebalance.
Retrains your nervous system to cope more successfully with stress on its own. Over time, you'll experience improved sleep, increased attention, and a more balanced state of mind.
Your body develops the ability to recover more rapidly from stress, allowing you to unwind, sleep better, and focus deeply and meaningfully – anytime and everywhere.
Additionally, Apollo Neuro claims to restore and strengthen your autonomic nerve system, as well as enhance heart rate variability. According to the firm, this increases your resilience to stressful conditions "by allowing you to spend less time in fight-or-flight mode and more time resting and digesting." The pitch is filled with the words renew, rebalance, and reconstruct.
Why would vibrations applied to the skin aid with stress management? The reasoning provided is convoluted and, in judgment, unpersuasive. Certain frequencies of vibration are intended to suppress the sympathetic nervous system's stimulating fight-or-flight reaction to stress and activate the parasympathetic nervous system's "rest and digest" instructions. HRV — the natural slowing and speeding up of the heart — provides an indirect indicator of which component of the nervous system is functioning. HRV is often lower among those who suffer from anxiety disorders or insomnia, as well as those who are stressed. It is often greater among calm and focused individuals. It's worth mentioning, however, that medicines and abnormal cardiac rhythms can potentially impair HRV.
Apollo Neuro's vibrations are designed to counteract the negative effects of prolonged stress by stimulating the relaxing parasympathetic nervous system. And, based on HRV data obtained by Apollo Neuro, their gadget assists in maintaining a healthy neural system, therefore reducing the negative consequences of chronic stress. As I have stated, the explanation is tangled.
To its credit, the Apollo Neuro website includes links to over 50 published studies on chronic stress, heart rate variability, and the effect of vibration on the human body, among other things. Notably, none of these studies, however, are about the Apollo Neuro. Indeed, no serious, large-scale investigations of this technology appear to have been published.
Three brief tests presented on the website indicate that virtually every research subject experienced good benefits within minutes of wearing the Apollo Neuro:
In a study of 38 healthy participants (age not specified), those who had the vibration therapy reported feeling calmer, having improved cognitive task accuracy, and having greater heart rate variability.
In a pediatric study, the gadget was utilized by 15 children ages 7 to 17 with mental health and impulse control issues, autism, and ADHD. Only physicians, parents, and patients observed increases in "mood, behavior, engagement, and stress reduction in all subjects within minutes."
Within two weeks, the average stress score for 11 nurses who used the Apollo Neuro decreased by more than 40%, and sleep, energy, mood, attention, and stress all improved.
Other preliminary studies allegedly suggest that participants experienced deeper levels of meditation, reductions in PTSD symptoms, and reduced usage of opioids and sleeping medications.
None of the data given would be sufficient for FDA clearance if the Apollo Neuro were a medication rather than a device. These studies do not appear to have been conducted by independent researchers; no information about the subjects or procedures of the investigations is supplied; and the findings are not published in peer-reviewed medical publications.
Numerous methods for reducing stress in your life do not involve the purchase of a high-tech equipment. And, while it would be ideal if such a device could safely alleviate the symptoms and complications of chronic stress, it is difficult to tell whether any of the promises made by the creators of Apollo Neuro are accurate without solid proof. This device is similar to many other commercially accessible healthcare products.
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