Whether you’re just a little health-conscious, a complete fitness fanatic, or simply looking for something to aid you in getting back in shape, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite health-related gadgets to help you get there and feel your best for the year ahead. Here are the best health tech gadgets for 2019, in no particular order. And just as a side note, this does not include smartwatches and fitness trackers, but everything in between the devices that help improve health and fitness as opposed to tracking it.
The BewellConnect MyTens is a wireless electrostimulation device that you can wear to avoid muscle fatigue and find temporary relief from pain and discomfort whenever you need it. The unit has two electrodes with pads that stick to your skin, holding the device in place while it delivers a TENS program via a connected MyTens smartphone app. The dedicated app helps you choose between 19 settings and recommends electrode placements specific to your problem areas. Please turn it on, and the stimulation runs between the electrodes, targeting muscle or nerve tissue based on your chosen setting.
As the name suggests, MyTens uses TENS technology for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, which means low-voltage current overpowers pain receptors, which is quite different from EMS. The pain nerves are slower to respond than touch, so when you hurt yourself, you know that split second between seeing the cut and feeling the pain. What BeWellConnect does is electrically stimulate your sense of touch so you don’t feel the pain as you would without the stimulation.
The Halo Sport is a pair of headphones designed to improve your brain’s natural plasticity. Halo’s Neuropriming technology induces a state of “hyperplasticity” by applying a mild electric field to the motor cortex. This is apparently because when you train in a hyperplastic form, the brain’s normal fine-tuning process occurs more rapidly — meaning better results when preparing. Essentially, the headphones speed up a learning process or skill acquisition, improve movement efficiency (which decreases the ‘cost’ of exercise energetically and load-wise), and therefore mean more efficient, less physically taxing training for better results. They are also a lot less painful to wear than they look…
Devices such as “abs toning belts” have had quite a bad rap in the last few decades, probably thanks to the cheesy infomercials on QVC, where they promised to give you visible six-pad abs in a set amount of time. However, SixPad offers something different with its abs EMS device as it’s not targeting giving you a six-pack. Yes, the brand uses Cristiano Ronaldo as its poster boy, but we all know he didn’t just get his abs from using this device. What SixPad should be used as is a supplementary tool. Surprisingly, you’ll be disappointed if you’re looking at an easy way to get ripped without putting in any effort. The technology it uses is scientifically proven to increase strength and conditioning. It can also be used as sports physical therapy for injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Nokia Health Thermo
When you thought they couldn’t make anything else connected, Nokia Health (formerly Withings) makes a connected thermometer, allowing you to keep track of that fever. And like the Body Cardio scales, the digital thermometer links to your Nokia Health account via the app and keeps tabs on your temperature over time. And with 16 infrared sensors taking 4,000 measurements, its accuracy is a game changer for anyone who often falls ill.
PainPod
If you have anyone in your life with chronic pain, you’re probably no stranger to hearing them moan about it. The good news is that you could shut them right up with PainPod, a new wearable gadget drug-free alternative to painkillers. PainPod is FDA-listed and claims to be able to “change the face of medicine as we know it”. The gadget is powered by a combination of microcurrents and biomedical technology that its makers state is not available on any other device available to the public right now. This bioelectrical tech can help our peripheral nervous and body systems and how they actually manage pain, improve performance,e and speed recovery. Just slap it on an area in pain, and it will work magic to get you back in tip-top shape.