Bracelets that claim to heal or provide you with energy have been around for several years. Scientific research has even confirmed some wristbands who make use of acupressure to provide a basis for their claim. The producers of SeaBand brand wristband, as an example, have a web page for medical professionals that points out over a dozen reputable studies. Other bracelets, particularly of the power band family, have had significant attacks on their credibility, and one has to wonder what type of assertions ionic wristbands could make now and if the assertions have any rationale.
The bracelet makers suffered a huge challenge with the recent intervention with Power Balance by the Austrailian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). The ACCC has gone so far as to have the company’s slogan “performance technology” removed from the product itself. This comes after the 2008 affirmation of a federal district court decision that promotional claims by Q-ray amounted to fraud. The Wellness-Lifestyle bracelets by Q Ray currently promotes starting at $99.99 and up.
After Power Balances recent admission about the lack of supporting evidence for Power Balance wrist bands, Power Balance Australia was forced to refund buyers. Power Balance had made statements that the bracelets increased strength, flexibility and balance. They later had to post a disclaimer and offer a full refund to all customers until June 30, 2011. The journalists at ABC’s 20/20 conducted an investigation into most of the bracelet manufacturers. iRenew bracelets, an additional leader in the business, was the target of scrutiny however, iRenew bracelets did not seem to be misleading consumers based on the 20/20 segment.
iRenews official website calls their application process, which may promote strength, balance and endurance, Selective Frequency Resonance, and their approach has been examined at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Subjects from the study did notice strength and balance gains while wearing iRenew bands compared to participants who wore a placebo as reported by the study.Several websites, none of which are officially related to iRenew, claim to describe exactly how the iRenew works employing terms like biofield technology. Retailers who industry iRenew make statements that appear to be from iRenew but for the official iRenew claims about their bracelets we go to the iRenew site. iRenew only identifies a Southwestern Oklahoma State University study involving the performance of iRenew bracelets and according to the study subjects had been 80% less likely to create balance errors and performed additional than 15% better in strength tests. The bulk of the page states iRenews “commitment to research,” but the actual data and claims are certainly few. Energy Balances claims led to close examination and reprimand in Australia, iRenew has been careful to avoid this by only stating that the iRenew bracelets may possibly promote strength, balance, and endurance.
The question remains: do items created by Power Balance , Q-Ray, and iRenew perform as promised? It would appear that some of the claims are not backed by evidence. With the three companies leading this field, iRenew could be the only business supporting claims it makes with research.