Can Using the Modius Headset Honestly Benefit Your Health? This Is My 8-Week Diary

At CES, I served as a judge for Last Gadget Standing. One of the finalists was the Modius Headset. It particularly caught my interest because the presenters claimed that wearing this headset for 45 – 60 minutes a day over an 8-week period could significantly reduce your weight and body fat — without necessarily changing diet or exercise. Wait, what?! 

Watch this …

The idea is that you put this oddly shaped headband on for an hour every day, and you’ll lose weight and body fat.

What is this witchcraft? Well, it’s not exactly witchcraft — it’s science.

Modius is a non-invasive headset which helps people achieve leaner, healthier bodies through vestibular nerve stimulation. Developed by neuroscientist Dr. Jason McKeown, the device was designed to activate the epicenter in the brain that causes people to struggle with their weight – the hypothalamus. – source

I have to admit that after a lifetime of infomercials saying that electrodes placed on muscles could make them grow stronger without lifting weights, or that one pill or another could magically make the pounds fall off, I was highly skeptical — yet interested.

To dig in a little deeper:

Modius represents a coming together of the most modern technology and neuroscience research which has actually existed for almost 50 years.

In 1972 a NASA research paper on fat reduction in animals showed a significant decrease in body fat. However, the researchers had mistakenly attributed their observations to non-specific effects, and failed to appreciate that it was vestibular stimulation causing the animals to become leaner.

Fast forward 30 years and a study in 2002 noted that vestibular stimulation causes a significant reduction in the body fat of animals.

The authors of this study commented that ‘after 8 weeks, percent body fat was significantly lower’, and that ‘it thus seems that the neurovestibular system can influence changes in body composition, particularly the mobilization and utilization of fat.’

Moreover, they also observed what they termed “a shift” to a leaner state’, which they interpreted as supporting a role for the neurovestibular system in helping the body become leaner.

Fast forward again to 2016 and new technology allows the use a small electrical pulse to non-invasively activate the same part of the vestibular system that had been found to be important in previous research – i.e. the otolith organs that are involved in detecting horizontal movement.

This is the technology that is used in Modius headsets.

So let’s take a look at what’s in the box, and then I can tell you about how it worked for me. I’ll warn you now — this post is long because it will cover all 8 weeks of my experience using the headset. But if you can get to the end, you’ll see how I did with it.

The headset is composed of off-white and grey plastic with pads at the right temple and above each ear. There are flexible gray cables that go from the headset, each ending with a snap to hold one of the included disposable gel pad electrodes.

While charging the Modius headset, the LED will glow amber until it eventually turns off once the headset is fully charged.

To put the headset on, you use one of the skin cleansing wipes to clean the hard bony area behind your ears (AKA the mastoids). You click a gel pad electrode onto each Modius headset cable end, then you put the headset on with the power button above your right ear. At that point, you remove the protective plastic cover from each of the gel pads, then you apply them to your mastoids.

Fashion statement, am I right? 😉

Here’s a video about pad placement. If you are feeling an electric pulse ticking, then you’ve likely got the correct spot.

Setting Up the Modius Headset

To use the Modius headset, once you’ve got it placed properly on your head, you turn the headset on by pressing the power button for two seconds; a high-pitched beep will sound, and the LED will flash. Now you need to turn on the Modius app, which is available in the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Once you’re in the app, you’ll need to create an account and give it some basic information.

Next, the app will walk you through putting the device on for the first time …

Now the app is going to find your Modius headset and get connected.

Now, you’ll use the Modius app to adjust the power up or down; when you feel a gentle rocking sensation, you should stop increasing the power.

Popups will let you know what you can do with the app …

And you’ll be on your way to starting your first session.

 

It’s recommended that you use the Modius headset for 45 minutes per day, but for no longer than one hour. I plan to use it until the timer runs out each time.

When you are done using your Modius headset, you’ll switch it off by pressing the power button again for two seconds (you’ll hear a low-pitched beep). Throw the gel pads away, and then charge the Modius so it will be ready for your next session.

The Science Behind the Modius Headset

How can wearing a headset with electrodes trick your body into losing weight? I mean, this is crazy, right? Again, science.

Modius says:

In summary, it appears that the central melanocortin system interprets activation of the medial vestibular nucleus (by horizontal movements stimulating the utricle) to indicate a state of increased physical activity. In such a state of apparent increased activity, it is optimal, from an energy conservation point of view, for the body to have a leaner composition, in order to reduce unnecessary energy expenditure from carrying around excess fat.

Given its described connections to both sides of the autonomic nervous system, the medial vestibular nucleus is well placed to reduce total body fat.

Thus, vestibular stimulation (such as that delivered by Modius), when repeatedly administered over time, causes recurrent activation of the medial vestibular nucleus, which we believe is taken by the central melanocortin system to indicate a state of chronically increased physical activity.

When this happens, the body naturally shifts towards a physically leaner state.

That’s the device, how you put it on, and how you work it … but, will it work?

That’s what I set out to learn …

Week One with the Modius Headset

Just for clarification sake: since I am starting on a Thursday, my weeks will end on Thursdays, not Sundays.

•••••

January 25th: I received the Modius headset today. I took pictures of it, checked it out, and wore it for the first time. I have a BMI of 21, so I am well within the normal weight range for my height. While it might be nice to lose another 5 to 10 pounds, I don’t necessarily need to, but I would like to lose fat and further firm up my muscles.

My fat mass (according to my Nokia scale, since I don’t have access to another method) is about 5 points higher than I’d like. I’ll want to see that number go down — or see inches lost to consider this a success; if that happens — I’m buying one of these!

For exercise. I ride my bicycle sporadically (it depends upon the weather). For this review, I’m not going to do anything to change my eating or exercise habits; I’ll continue to eat like I usually do, and I’ll ride my bike when I feel like it — like I usually do.

So tonight, I put the Modius headset on for the first time, following the directions. I adjusted the power up to four (where I really felt the “rocking motion”). With the headset on, I was able to work, walk around, and do whatever I needed to do.

I tried it on intensity 7, just to see what it felt like, and it was a bit disorienting — I felt better sitting down with it on this high — so I backed it down to 5. I felt something like a slight prickling on my skin under the pads, and on 7 I felt like I was, perhaps, rocking in a boat. Not enough to make me nauseous, but there was a definitely odd sensation. I’m not a fan of nausea, so it was good that there was an option to change the intensity.

The band seems to be a bit large on my head — it wants to fall forward, but I’ll likely get better placement figured out over time.

One thing that I find obnoxious is that I have to manually enter my weight and fat percentage into the Weight section of the app. It would make so much more sense for Modius to tie in with Apple Health and allow you to automatically pull those measurements in from other sources — like a WiFi-enabled scale that is taking them and reporting to Apple Health.

•••••

January 28th: I have used the Modius headset twice so far; yesterday, on what would have been my third day, I didn’t make the time to use it. This broke my two-day streak, and I’m annoyed at myself for that.

I thought I would get back on track today, but I was greeted with this error.

Modius has an extremely helpful private Facebook community. Neev Nolan, one of the moderators who had reached out to me through FB messenger when I joined the group, had alerted me to this known bug and said a fix was coming, but in the meantime to refer to this video.

I followed the instructions, and sure enough — my headset was fine and I didn’t lose any info in the app — I was able to complete my day’s session without further ado.

I had forgotten to measure my waist and hips before I got started with this review, so for posterity’s sake, I did them today. My waist is 29 and my hips are 40; that’s a US size 8.

Since using the Modius headset isn’t just about losing weight but is also about losing body fat, I figured those measurements (especially from my hips — where my fat usually stores) would be most helpful for noticing changes in the upcoming weeks.

And here’s a check-in on my weight and fat percentage.

While I’m writing today, I should take a moment to say that I wish it was possible to edit previous entries in the “Log Weight” section. Right now, you can enter the date, your weight, your body fat %, and your waist measurement. If you don’t happen to add your fat percentage or your waist measurement when you enter your weight, you can’t go back and add them.

Again, it would be really helpful if this app could tie into Apple Health to pull in the info other apps are providing such as weight and fat percentage from a WiFi scale.

I’d also like to see the option to add other body measurements such as hips or calves. Not everyone carries their extra fat in their waist; I’m a classic pear, so my waist usually stays about the same while fat settles in my hips and thighs — I’d like to be able to keep track of their measurements to see my progress.

Week Two with the Modius Headset

February 7th: I’ve only missed one day since I started using the Modius headset.

I generally use it on 10, the highest setting, now, and I enjoy the tingling and slight “woo” feeling I get when using the Modius headset. I’ve noticed that I’m sleeping better — I’m not sure if that is an intended side effect or not, but it’s been happening regularly. I hit the pillow, and I am out. This has never been the case for me — I generally deal with regular insomnia — so if the Modius headset is responsible for that side benefit, I’ll take it.

I seem to have hit a bit of a setback, however. Weight and my fat mass have crept up. BAH!

In the Modius Life FB page, there are a lot of others going through ups and plenty of downs. I’m impressed by the support that the community and the moderators provide. It doesn’t look like this upward trend is anything weird in the early days, so I’ll just keep plugging along and doing my daily hourly session.

Week Three with the Modius Headset

February 14: My mom was in the hospital for the past 6 days battling flu and pneumonia; I was the one who stayed with her, and I didn’t remember to bring the Modius headset with me when I packed. Even though I felt like I was eating more than normal, it turns out that I didn’t really gain anything. I’m back on the headset now, though.

Week Four with the Modius Headset

February 18: I’m back on track, wearing the headset every day. I seem to be yo-yo-ing between 148 and 151 pounds, which is annoying. Honestly, it’s probably water weight; I’m one of those people who can go up or down a few pounds due to water weight without even blinking. Annoying.

My fat percentage is still in the 33% range, and it doesn’t seem to be budging.

I haven’t been able to ride my bike because it’s been too windy; hopefully, I’ll get an opportunity this week.

I don’t want to come across as bummed out, but I do wish I was seeing some positive change, and I do wish I hadn’t missed those 6 days. Ah well. Hopefully, this week will be better. I am still falling asleep easily and sleeping really soundly, and since that was happening well before our new mattress arrived, I’m going to say that it’s because of the Modius headset. I’m now using the Sleep Number SleepIQ app to track my sleep rather than the Withings (Nokia) Aura.

Week Five with the Modius Headset

February 28: I just got back from Mobile World Congress early this morning; I didn’t use the headset while I was gone — call me cautious, but since I have to return it, I didn’t want to take a chance of losing it or having it stolen overseas. I’m back on track, though.

Oddly enough, I didn’t feel the need to snack every five minutes while I was traveling, I’m still enjoying the benefits of falling asleep quickly (no insomnia!), and I didn’t feel like I ate overly large meals when I was hungry. I don’t have any more overseas trips planned until April, so I should be able to finish out the next three weeks without interruptions. I didn’t gain or lose any weight while in Madrid and Barcelona, and that’s saying a lot because the food and wine were really good. 😉

Week Six with the Modius Headset

March 5: Modius released a major app update in the last week or so — the new UI looks fresh, and it is still easy to navigate. One thing I have noticed is that the Modius headset never shows as fully charged in the app (it didn’t in the previous app version, either), although the light has turned off — which on the device indicates it is fully charged. Evidently, this is a known issue; maybe the next app update will fix it.

Here’s some good news — I have dropped a couple of pounds (maybe it’s just water weight?), but oddly enough my fat percentage has jumped. I’m on the tail-end of a cold (or possibly a touch of the flu), so it’s also possible that I’m a touch dehydrated, although I’m trying to stay hydrated. We’ll see. Realizing that I am getting that number from a scale (albeit a fab one), and I have no idea how accurate it really is, I don’t know how much stock to put in the number — it goes up and down every day. We’ll see what it says tomorrow, in other words.

I haven’t yet lost any inches on my waist (29″) or my hips (40″), but we’ll see what happens in the next couple weeks. Again, I wish that my weight and fat percentage could auto-propagate from Apple Health — I don’t always remember to fill them out, and that’s why there aren’t more regular entries. I still also wish that I could enter my hip measurements in the app.

Look at my time to fall asleep stats, though — totally impressive. Insomnia is not an issue for me anymore. For that reason alone, I’d recommend the Modius headset.

Here’s another weird thing I’m noticing on top of the sleep benefits: my stress levels are way down.

Let me explain. As I said, I’ve been dealing with a cold or mild case of the flu. Today, after being in bed for much of the day, I got a call that Kev’s car had broken down in Abilene (about 2 hours away), and he needed me to come get him. No problem. I was feeling well enough to go, so I did. I got there, we had dinner, and on our way back, I found out that my mother had been re-admitted in the hospital. Kev and I drove to San Angelo to see her, and I was able to take care of my mom’s needs. But rather than having a slight freak-out about any of it (including the fact that I probably should have still been in bed or that I feel like I am behind on everything), I took it all in stride.

You all need to know that this is not like me.

I’m Type-A, I need to be in control, and when curve-balls get thrown, I freak out — even if only for a moment. There was none of that. I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that things that I would usually stress over aren’t getting to me like they usually would, but this was the first concrete example I could cite.

Is it the Modius headset? I have no idea. But nothing else has changed.

•••••

March 8: I refuse to read too much into it or get too excited yet, but my weight seems to still be on a downward trend. Recall that I was 149.7 when I started, so I’m down exactly 2 pounds. Hmm, I just realized that I messed up and got off my scale too quickly — my fat percentage wasn’t recorded. We’ll catch it in the next post … and we’ll see if my weight is holding steady or if it creeps back up again. I’ll believe something is seriously kicking in if the scale hits 146, but again — this could be my usual water fluctuations.

 

Week Seven with the Modius Headset

March 17: I was telling my mother about the phenomenal sleep I get with the Modius headset and how I seem to be managing stress better, and now she wants one (she also suffers from terrible insomnia). I’m not sure that she would be a good candidate, though. I mean, You have to make sure that you get the pads placed just right, and she is not the best with technology. However, I know she would really love the better sleep. Hopefully, if she does decide to buy one, I can get her set up so that she feels confident using it.

In other news, my weight bounced back up a bit,  BUT my fat percentage went down. And get this! My waist is now 28 (down from 29), and my hips are 39 (down from 40)! Bear in mind that I have purposefully not changed the way I eat or exercise. If I had started a new diet or workout program, I would have likely seen much better changes to my weight and fat percentage.

Week Eight with the Modius Headset

March 24: Modius updated their app again, and now the battery shows as properly filled when the headset is fully charged.

Even though my weight continues to fluctuate by a pound or two, my fat percentage has continued to drop. Bear in mind that my weight never needed to go down much; I’m 5’11”, and I currently have a BMI of 21.1. My waist is now 27.5″, and my hips are 38.5″, so they’ve both dropped another half-inch — without me even trying.

Concluding My Modius Headset Experience

So what have I learned in the past 8 weeks while using the Modius headset? Well, for one — I’ve learned to look forward to the hour that I spend with the headset on. Sometimes I’ll lie down and read while I’m wearing it, or I’ll sit at my computer and work; it’s a nice feeling while it’s doing its thing. Since I didn’t change my eating or exercising habits, I didn’t honestly expect to see a huge change in my weight, and I think my results have borne that out. My weight has gone up a tiny bit from when I started, and so has my fat percentage.

Remember — this is where I was when I started …

And this is where I am today …

However! I have lost 1.5″ on both my waist and my hips. According to the things I have read in the Modius Life FB group, some people don’t see real changes until the 12th week or so, but I only had 8 weeks to make it happen. I’ve love to be able to do a longer test period just to see if there were further changes. I feel like I’m right at the sweet spot where things really start happening — I mean, I am losing inches!

I am a little bit worried about what will happen when I am not using the Modius headset every day again; will my insomnia come back? Will my stress levels rise again? For that reason alone, I am going to buy one. I can 100% vouch for the fact that better sleep and less stress are possible with this headset, and they should include this in their marketing. Even if you don’t need to lose any weight, it’s a fabulous benefit.

•••••

I had the opportunity to interview Jason McKeown, CEO, and co-founder of Modius, and he was able to answer my questions about Modius and my experience while using it:

Judie: I’ve noticed that some days I feel the distinct tapping as I do my Modius session, while on others I feel more of a swishing feeling. Is one sensation more correct than the other? How important is proper placement of the pads?

Jason: If you can feel the gentle swaying feeling at the start of your Modius session then the device is certainly causing activation of the deeper parts of the brain, which is exactly what we want it to do. The tapping you refer to sounds like the feeling of the electrical stimulation that alternates from one side of your head to the other. Often, we only feel the pricks or tapping on one side of the head – that is completely normal. Pad placement is important. As long as the pads are located on your mastoid bone (behind the ear) then you will be stimulating the vestibular nerve which sits underneath that bone, but it sounds like you are in the right spot given the sway sensation.

Judie: Are there any plans to tie Modius in with Apple or Google Health? The reason I’m interested in this feature is that those apps aggregate information from a variety of sources to give a bigger picture of the user’s health; doing so might give the user a better idea of how Modius is helping them. For instance, if the Modius app could factor in calories taken in (through apps like MyFitnessPal), activity and/or steps taken (from fitness trackers), sleep (from sleep trackers), heart rate (from fitness trackers) and weight and fat percentage (from scales that measure it), it seems like Modius would be able to collect better information for and on the users to see what outside facts might be influencing their looses or — in some cases — gains.

Jason: Medium term, we are planning to integrate into other health and fitness apps but this is likely to be later in the year.

Judie: Right now, waist measurements are the only ones taken by the Modius app. Because I am a classic pear — one of those people who is tiny all the way to my waist, carrying most of my body fat in my butt and thighs — I think that adding the option to enter those measurements might be more helpful for people like me. Are there any plans to add hips or thighs to the measurement options?

Jason: We are actually working with a company at the moment that can determine body composition from a number of photo images and plan to launch this mid to late 2018.

Judie: I’ve noticed after the first couple of weeks using Modius that my time to fall asleep has *drastically* dropped. I used to suffer from terrible insomnia, but now I’m OUT within a couple of minutes of my head hitting the pillow. I’m also noticing (at about 6 weeks in) that my stress levels have lowered; I’m able to roll with things that would have set me off in the past. Is this normal? Is Modius actually having a positive effect on sleep and lessening my stress levels? How is that even possible? Or is this some weird placebo effect?

Jason: We have received a great deal of feedback along these lines, and this is something we actually expected. Vestibular stimulation is known to generate the soporific effect, which basically means it will help people sleep. This all happens due to the neural pathways that are activated by vestibular stimulation – and it’s also responsible for the relaxed or de-stressed feeling.

Judie: I’ve enjoyed lurking in the Modius Life community on Facebook. While reading through other users’ posts, I’ve noticed that a few don’t notice a lot of benefits until after week 12 or so when it seems like “something” kicks in, and they see their scales move. For some, it takes even longer. Q. What words of advice would you offer for someone who is using Modius, who is eating and exercising in a reasonable manner, but not really seeing any changes on their scale or fat percentage — beyond “keep using Modius every day”?

Jason: We encourage users to keep measurements and take photographs, think about the other benefits you may be noticing such as deeper sleep, de-stressed, amongst others, as well as encouraging users to really listen to their body with things such as a curbing of the appetite and drinking more water if that’s what your body craves.

Judie: Is there any chance, even offhand, that using Modius might have negative effects?

Jason: Vestibular stimulation has been studied for almost 50 years now and it has always been deemed to be safe. A good way to think about the potential side effects would be to ask the question… ‘What side effects would I get from doing more physical activity?’ as this is the part of the brain that gets stimulated. So, the ‘side effects’ tend to be positive (as with physical activity) like better sleep, improved mood etc. Specifically, with the device, a small percentage of people might get a little itch or dry skin if they were sensitive to the pads. This is probably less than 1% of people, however.

•••••

The Modius Headset retails for $499, and it is available directly from the manufacturer.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample on loan

What I Like: Easy to set up; Comfortable to wear; No wires, so you can get up and move while wearing the headset; I don’t know how or why, but it has cured my insomnia — when I want to go to bed, I can and do; It has been helping with my stress levels; I lost 1.5″ from my waist and hips while using the Modius headset — without changing my diet or exercise; 90-day return window — you can use it and see if it works for you, and this should be enough time to notice a change, even if only in your sleep and stress levels: Excellent Facebook support community which includes well-informed moderators and plenty of actual, real-time users

What Needs Improvement: It would be nice if the Modius app synced with Apple Health or other weight-tracking apps so that you didn’t have to manually enter your weight each day; You can’t go back in and add measurements or fat percentage on previous weight entries, I would like there to be an edit option; I’d like there to be an option to add other measurements, such as hips, in the weight tracker; Some people may have a sensitivity to the sticky electrode pads; It can take up to 12 weeks before you really notice any changes — My inch loss “magically” appeared at week 7, although my weight and fat percentage haven’t really changed