Hayfever Band - The Acupressure Arm Band

Bought for my suffering hubby. After years of ever stronger antihistamines I bought him one of these this year. He didn't need any tablets until the July heatwave, which is a first, and has only had a couple of weeks of weak hayfever symptoms this year. Would definitely recommend, it's good value for money compared to the cost of tablets over the course of the hayfever season, but more so well worth the money as my hubby had no excuse to leave the lawn mowing to me ;-). The elastic is starting to go now so I will get hubby another one (Xmas pressie sorted) so I don't have to put up with him moaning about hayfever next year.Note: not suitable during pregnancy as may induce labour.Added in 2015: Hubby has got his second band and wears it almost every day. No hayfever symptoms, no antihistamines, no moaning. And so it goes back on his Christmas wish list ready for next year ;-)I have borrowed it a few times when my chronic urticaria has been at its worst and even antihistamines and creams have been useless. It stopped the itching almost immediately but as the band is quite loose on my arms it moved over night and I woke up very itchy. So, apart from being great for hayfever it does work for my urticaria too.

Wow!! I am quite taken aback as when the Qu Chi arrived, only yesterday afternoon less than 24 hours ago, I was sceptical as I was when buying it though I thought for the price there's nothing to lose as I've been suffering from hayfever for weeks now, constantly taking antihistamines and Luffa Drops with Hay Max for my nose and really fed up of the runny itchy eyes, sneezes, bloody and runny nose throughout the day.When I put it on, I immediately thought oh it's no good because it doesn't fit as my arm is too small and it's way too big for me and I had no idea really where the exact spot was to put the pressure button on; but I googled it and ok, found it so went with it. I thought I'd give it a go thou in my mind I had already given up on it as another useless gadget that wouldn't work.The afternoon went into the evening and no sneezes or runny itchy eyes as usually happens and no need for any Luffa Drops or antihistamine tablet and I was quite taken aback as nothing had happened ie all I did was just put the band on. It was hard to comprehend that it was working; but it seemed to be as usually by the mid evening I'm sneezing like crazy and my eyes would hurt so much from the itchiness and my constant rubbing of them trying to obtain relief. None of that happened last night for the first time in a very long time!Wow, I thought, let's see what happens overnight. So went to bed with the armband on; and in the morning usually on waking within seconds I'm sneezing for England and my nose gets all blocked; but nothing. I did feel my nose tingle like it was going to sneeze but then nothing came of it. Wow I thought. Impressive. For the next say 30-40 mins while getting ready ie washed and make up on, usually I'm sneezing like crazy and struggling to breathe; but again nothing but a little false alarm like a tickle in the nose like a sneeze may come on and then calm. I am very impressed. it hasn't even been 24 hours since I started wearing the arm band; more like only 19 hours.I really seriously thought because it was loose and didn't fit properly that it wouldn't work and beside the travel acupuncture arm bands never really seemed to work for me as far as I remember so for the this Qu Chi to work for something as powerful as hayfever, nah, surely it couldn't. How wrong was I, so much so that I've been inspired to share what's been happening for the past 19 hours as I'm in awe! The freedom of being hayfever free with no sneezing, runny itchy eyes and runny nose is liberating!I'll try and make an effort to post some updates as the next few days unfold ie to see it it carries on working and/or if it was just a phase of me having a good day and was nothing to do with the band etc! Though for months I've never had a day when I didn't wake up sneezing like crazy with hayfever within seconds; apart from today; even with antihistamines I've never not sneezed. Wow, wow, wow .... :)UPDATE: Mon 7th July 2014----------------------------Another 24 hrs has passed since my review above. Yesterday afternoon I had a couple of sneezes and that was it. A hint of an itchy eye in the evening which passed. No antihistamines or Vogel Luffa Drops for the 2nd day in a row. I used the band in bed at night and while sleeping, in the middle of the night or ealy morning, dawnish, I felt my nose tickle (like a sneeze is coming on) but nothing happened and it passed. Then later that morning around 8amish, the tickle came back (I can only assume pollen count must be high) and I tried to readjust the band in case it had slipped out of where it should be though the sneezing won and I had about 8 sneezes and a bit of a runny nose but nothing major like I normally used to which would be 20 sneezes, lots of blowing of nose including blood and a blocked nose. My nose was slightly blocked for a bit but it slowly passed. All in all I'm still impressed albeit a little disappointed to have a little set back this morning (I'm not sure if that's normal, I gather it is).Yesterday afternoon when I was grooming the dogs (Shih Tzus) and went into the room where I groom them, the smell of dog hit me including all their fluff; and I felt a sneezing session about to come on ... I pressed the acupressure point and it passed. Hmmm, interesting. I hadn't even realised I may be allergic to the dogs' fluff.I'm now about a couple of hours away from the sneezing fit I had this morning and I'm feeling good; no blocked nose and I'm feeling normal. As a safety precaution (ha ha) I've just rubbed some Hay Max onto my nose to help a little. I almost had itchy eyes earlier ie there was a hint of it but it passed. Very surreal feeling... like it's too good to be true.UPDATE: Tues 8th July 2014---------------------------I'm getting used to wearing the armband now. Sometimes it gets a bit itchy and I want to take it off for a while but I keep it on as I would rather not suffer hayfever. I'll buy another band so that I can swap when I wash this one as it's looking weary already after just 2-3 days.A couple of odd sneezes yesterday in the afternoon; threats of itchy eyes towards the evening; but nothing came of it; like it was a false alarm which is so relieving as usually when the itchy eyes start, it is constant rubbing and itching for ages until my eyes are just so sore and red and painful. I slept with the armband on and this time no pjama top with arms and the band stayed on properly throughout the night resulting in a fairly decent night's sleep. No threats of waking me up earlier with tickles under the nose and when I eventually woke up, this time as the band was in the right place and hadn't moved as nothing was covering my arm, my nose started twitching with tickles and threats of sneezes and I had about 2-3 sneezes which were fairly tame and a small blow of the nose and thankfully nothing else. No major episode of lots of sneezes, blocked up nose, lots of blowing of the nose and itchy eyes. Very different from yesterday morning.It was such a relief to be able to wash my face and brush my teeth and then go do my make up without sneezing in between and especially to have no itchy sore red eyes or nose from all that sneezing and blowing! Complete bliss!! And I've been completely medication free, no Vogel Luffa Complex Drops or antihistamines.I feel better and happier as I'm no longer stressed out by my hayfever, no more runny noses, sneezes, itchy eyes, and it's such a huge relief daily. The only "discomfort" is wearing the band and ensuring throughout the day that it stays in place. There are times when I feel a sneeze coming on, and I'll look at the band and realise it's moved out of place. I'll immediately put it back into place and press it on the pressure point and sometimes that works immediately ie no sneeze!! Sometimes the sneeze will happen but that's it, no more sneezes follow.I am glad I held out and followed through with testing it out as because my arm is too small for the band, I really thought it would not work and wasn't even going to even try it out.Weds 9th July 2014----------------------Not quite sure what happened last night but I think I was so busy doing other things that I didn't pay attention to where the band was sitting on my arm and my eyes got really itchy at night, really badly. I was tempted to take something but I was too tired to go downstairs. In the morning, no sneezing when I woke but my eyes were still sore and itchy and painful. Not nice. I caved in and took some Vogel Luffa Complex Drops and I've been ok, though a little smarting. I repositioned the band and things are more settled. My band is getting looser and needs a wash. Time to buy another one as I don't want to be without it and start suffering sneezing, blocked noses, painful itchy eyes etc. I did sneeze a couple of times or so this morning and last night but nothing major at all which was a relief. Only when hubbie put on the fan and blew the dust around the house!!!!

I was a bit sceptical, but since my hayfever is extremely bad, I am willing to try out things.PLUS points:* It arrived promptly - which I find in this case very important, because if like me your hayfeveris very bad, you don't want to wait for ages for stuff which could help.* Fits well for me - regarding comments from others about how tight it is, I can echo it to some extend:I have average size arms I guess, though stronger than most women, and for me it fits fine, snug, with no dangerof it moving about, which obviously is important.I don't know, if for strong armed men, this might feel too tight despite it stretching well,maybe some men can comment on this.* the material is non itchy and feels relatively soft, and I was able to sleep with it, without it bothering me at all* can be worn non-stop without side-effects: I have worn it not for about 36 hours non-stop, though I change from time to time on which armI wear it.* the package shows a good picture as to where to place it, with description.* it works, if you find the right spot: My first attempt of a couple of hours resulted however in now impact whatsoever. As I was taking it off however it slit over a spot on my arm, which was tender. I remembered some insights gained from some Shiatsu massage workshops I attended years back: where its tender that is where the energy is blocked. I moved the button of the Qu-Chi Acupressure Band to sit directly on top of that tender spot, and noticed that previously I had missed that point by about 1-1.5cm. Though previously it had looked right, but now it FELT right and still looked right too. I have last night worn it for the first time all night. Today I have so far only used one tissue, where I previously needed 4 packets of tissues, and my eyes are not itchy and not running. I don't know of course, for how long this may last, but it certainly works today!, and I shall keep wearing it.ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT and hence only 4 stars:* I think it would help to have a bigger picture included in the packaging and the hint that if you feel along your arm, where the photo shows and find a spot which is more tender, you probably hit the right spot!* I am not impressed that it uses a plastic button, I understand that that is useful for putting in into the washing machine (at the recommended 40 degrees), but generally speaking I try to use as little plastic in my life as possible, as its not healthy for humans and the environment. For acupressure I would have expected a nice gem, which could maybe provide some additional benefit for some people.* similar to the point just made, I wonder if it could be made from even more natural fibres (currently: 75% Cotton, 23% Polyamide, 2% Elastane)