Product Review: MigraineX

Hello, everyone! I know it has been a while since I have posted, but things have been a little crazy! Halloween season is upon us, so I am working like crazy, and I spent nearly a week in Arizona (with a side trip to California for DISNEYLAND!!) right after Labor Day.

What happened here in Florida where I live that same weekend? Hurricane-freaking-Irma. It hit my area Sunday night, when I was supposed to return home. So everything went squirrelly and we (my mom and I) came home Tuesday night. Luckily, I live far enough inland to not have been hit with the worst of it. We came home to power and minimal property damage (other buildings in my apartment complex more than my own). We got lucky! I count my blessings.

I did get to test a few things during the trip, though. Firstly: how will my body react to the weather conditions in the Southwest US (that will be it’s own post!), and secondly: I got to try out my MigraineX earplugs on the plane!

I bought these back when I got my Aculief clip, Psi-Bands, and gel eye-mask. The earplugs come with an app that I will review first.

Click here for the MigraineX website.

These earplugs are sold with a QR code for easy access to the accompanying app, but you can find it just as easy by searching in your phone’s app store or on Google. I also made it easy for you, if you were curious.

MigraineX on Google Play
MigraineX on iTunes

The concept behind the app is that it will alert you to changes in barometric pressure so you know when to put the earplugs in and do whatever you do to prevent a possible attack. I say concept because I never got an alert from the app, and I had it set to the most sensitive option. I made sure it was tracking my location all of the time, I did it all correct (I checked, double-checked, and triple-checked), and never got an alert. This is frustrating because it is hurricane season and I know that the barometric pressure around here is riding a roller coaster. By the time I was feeling the effects of a change, it was too late for the earplugs to do anything.

So, for the MigraineX app, I give it a 🐍/🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰. Yup, that is a snake. It scared away my rating bunnies. However, I am nothing if not a generous soul, and I just downloaded the app again to give it a second chance on my new phone. I had the iPhone 5S that was riding the struggle bus hardcore, and my wonderful father surprised me with an iPhone SE as a work-anniversary gift (I have been with Disney 10 years, ya’ll!). The SE is essentially the iPhone 6/6S in an iPhone 5/5S body, so let’s see if that makes a difference. If it does, I will update my rating. Otherwise, it won’t change. Sound fair? I think so. 😘

All right, moving on to the earplugs themselves. They are produced by Cirrus Healthcare Products, who are more well-known for their EarPlanes product (including a kid’s variety) that I have used in the past. Namely, one trip to Massachusetts and back again when I was a kid. The EarPlanes are great! I remember loving them, and never finding them again. Clearly, I did not look very hard, as they are available at CVS. 🙄

When I got the MigraineX earplugs, the listing on Amazon specifically mentioned travel, but I have to admit that I was worried about that, since the website never makes any mention to travel (seeing as they have a whole separate product for it). The rational part of my brain said, “Silly rabbit, of course they will work for air travel! Barometric pressure and pressure while flying affect the body in the same way!” but there was still a whisper of doubt and concern.

In the end, I bit the proverbial bullet and clicked “Add to Cart.”

Here are some first impressions I had where these are concerned. For one, they are purple. That’s a plus right off the get-go. They also have a little case (I think the EarPlanes have a case…?), which is a HUGE bonus. You only get one pair, unlike the EarPlanes multipack, so you have to make sure to keep them clean per the instructions (Don’t submerge them in water, wipe with a soft cloth).

As soon as I boarded the plane for the first leg of my trip (Orlando to Atlanta), I put them in. I sat down, put my bag and my Lotso-Huggin’ Bear pillow pet (don’t judge me) under the seat in front of me, pulled the case from my pocket and screwed them in. I didn’t even wait for the plane to start taxiing. No headache for that leg. Sure, there was some popping going on in my ears, but nothing to write hope about. I wasn’t completely convinced at that point, as this leg was only about 65 minutes or so. Woohoo.

I took them out once we had landed in Atlanta. The packaging boasts that they were comfortable, but they aren’t if you have them in for a while. They don’t really hurt all that much, but I was very much aware of their presence. Besides, we had a layover that was over an hour and they do drown out some sound. Mom could never hear me talking when I had them in because they made me sound too loud to myself. I ended up talking really quiet without realizing it!

The next leg took us to Phoenix. I repeated the same process. I even napped on this trip, and woke up with no headache! At this point, I was both impressed and convinced. I also discover another downside…Since they are pretty long, you cannot wear earbuds while wearing them. I hate earbuds in general as a rule, but when it is a long flight and all you want to do is watch a movie to pass the time, it would be nice to be able to hear it, too! Oh, well. Thinking back, I could have just used subtitles, but c’est la vie. I got regular headphones before coming back, which leads me to my next note:

If you are going to wear these on an airplane, don’t make the same mistake I did by not waiting a bit before putting on headphones! I put them on just before takeoff in Phoenix for our flight to Detroit for the transfer to Orlando. I had a migraine by the time we got home. I can acknowledge that was my fault, and had nothing to do with the earplugs.

Next time, I will just use the subtitles.

My rating for the MigraineX earplugs is a strong 🐰🐰🐰🐰/🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰. The lost bunny was due to how much sound they blocked and how they got less comfortable the longer they were in. Being earplugs, I expected some sound blocking, but even when not dealing with ambient flight noise, I could hear very little. Not entirely a bad thing, mind you, once I had the migraine, but it was frustrating to not be able to hear my mom talk and for her not to hear me. I felt so bad that I couldn’t hear her and vice versa! That aside, I would still recommend these for travel.

Now, if only I could get the app to work to know how they do with barometric pressure…

💖Hearts and Sparkles!💖