This post is a follow up to something one of our researchers wrote two years ago about a device called the “Valkee” that shines light into your ears using a device that looks a lot like an iPod. The device supposedly cures seasonal affective disorder and is now being marketed in the USA. I felt the need to post an update to alert consumers to this device that uses slick marketing, but which does not appear to have produced any direct evidence to show that is more than a placebo in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. Here’s what we said about it two years ago:
It’s not available in the U.S. yet, but a Finnish company is marketing a new device called “Valkee.” It looks like an iPod, except instead of digital music, the headphones shine light into your ear. Yes, that’s right, the Valkee has small ear buds that shine light into your ear.
Why would shining bright light in your ear help with seasonal depression? Here’s where things turn a little fuzzy.
In the two years since we originally posted about this device and in the seven years since it was first created, the company has yet to generate any data showing that the device works better than a placebo for seasonal affective disorder. Placebo controlled trials are not that hard to do and the lack of such research is very concerning. Placebo effects can be quite strong and because of this effect, it can sometimes be hard to know whether a device works because it actually works, or just because people think it will work. In the case of the Valkee, the existing evidence points to the idea that the device works only because people expect it to work.
Thus, my recommendation is, if you are suffering from seasonal affective disorder, save the money you would have spent on the Valkee and use it instead to buy a more affordable and much more proven light therapy device. We review some of them here. If you want to read more about the controversy around this device, you can read more here, here, and here.
BTW, whenever I see a device or treatment that I’ve never heard of before, I always Google the name of that treatment and the word “scam” in Google. This applies whenever I see something new, in the service of being an informed consumer. If you google the item plus the word scam, you may find a range of relevant articles that can help you better evaluate whatever it is. Don’t believe us about the Valkee, do your own research before you make a purchase. Google “Valkee scam” and read what comes up.
Update 11/4/14: A Valkee-related team appears to have published their first trial designed to compare the Valkee to a placebo for seasonal affective disorder. The results showed that the Valkee was no better than what was identified as the placebo condition during trial registration. See the published study here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4207317/ and here: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01293409)?
I also found a new page where different people are discussing the Valkee device, in case you want to read more: http://tech.eu/features/215/valkee-conundrum-ive-shining-bright-light-brain-weeks-now-dont-know/
Author: Jason Luoma, Ph.D.
Jason is a psychologist and scientist who studies ways to help people with shame, stigma, and social anxiety, including using psychedelic and MDMA-assisted therapy
