Whether you’re just a little health-conscious, a complete fitness fanatic or simply looking for something to aid you getting back in shape, I’ve put together 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 is not including 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. Turn it on and the stimulation runs between the electrodes, targeting muscle or nerve tissue based on the setting you’ve chosen.
As the name suggests, the MyTens uses TENS technology stands 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 nerves, 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. By applying a mild electric field to the motor cortex, Halo’s Neuropriming technology induces a state of “hyperplasticity”. This is apparently because when you train in a hyperplastic state, the brain’s normal fine-tuning process occurs more rapidly — meaning better results when you’re training.
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 is offerign something different with its abs EMS device as it’s not targeting at 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. If you’re looking at an easy way to get ripped without putting any effort it, not surprisingly, you’ll be disappointed. The technology it uses is scientifically proven to increase strength and conditioning. It can also be used as a physical therapy in sport for injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Nokia Health Thermo
Just when you thought they couldn’t make anything else connected, Nokia Health (formerly Withings) goes and 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, it’s accuracy is a game changer for anyone who often falls ill.
PainPod
If you have anyone in your life that has any kind of chronic pain, you’re probably no stranger to hearing them moan about it. The good news is, you could shut them right up with PainPod, a totally new wearable gadget that is a 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 is able to understand our peripheral nervous and body systems and how they actually work to manage pain, improve performance and speed recovery. Just slap it on an area that’s in pain and it will work its magic to get you back in tip-top shape.
