How To Relieve Anxiety and Trauma Symptoms Using Bilateral Stimulation + TouchPoint Review
If you struggle with anxiety, depression, or trauma symptoms, and you're curious about bilateral stimulation or EMDR, this video is for you. I recently purchased, with my own money, these TouchPoint wearables, and today I'm going to give you a complete review.
Watch the video below or read on for the full transcript.
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I have complex PTSD, depression, and anxiety. And I'm always looking for tools to help me manage my symptoms. Particularly emotional flashbacks. And these TouchPoints have been on my wishlist for a while. I finally got them a little over a month ago, and have been using them pretty consistently since then.
I'm going to cover three things today.
What are TouchPoints, and what is the science behind them?
How do they work?
What my personal experience has been with them.
And by the way, this video is not at all sponsored. TouchPoints has no idea I'm making this video. Now let's get to the good stuff.
So what are they?
TouchPoints are a simple wearable that take advantage of bilateral stimulation to help reduce stress. If you've heard of or have ever had EMDR, AKA eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy before, TouchPoints work via a similar mechanism. That being said, EMDR therapy is bilateral stimulation plus guidance from an expert therapist, so TouchPoints alone are not the same as EMDR. But because I've had such great success with EMDR therapy on my trauma healing journey, I've been really curious to try TouchPoints.
According to their website, “TouchPoints work by altering the body's stress response with scientifically proven BLAST, AKA bilateral alternating stimulation tactile technology. BLAST uses gentle, alternating vibrations on each side of the body to shift your brain from your default fight or flight response to your calm and in control response. Over time, TouchPoints retrains your body, creating new behavior patterns that lessen the negative impacts of stress. TouchPoints are noninvasive and safe for use by adults and kids to relieve stress without drugs or side effects.”
Have you tried EMDR or other forms of bilateral stimulation before? If so, let me know down in the comments.
And by the way, if you're a returning muse, hi, you've probably noticed that my backdrop is different. That's because it's really, really toasty outside and there's no way I'm filming this in my office, I would overheat and that would be very, very bad. So, I'm out here in my living room today, filming the next batch of videos. If the change is upsetting for you, like I know change in routine and stuff can be upsetting for me. I'm sorry, and I'll get back to the office eventually, but for this and for the next few videos, this is gonna be the backdrop. Just fair warning.
How do they work?
Hello everyone, so here are the TouchPoints. I have done a minor modification to mine that has really improved how comfortable they are for me, but first, before I get to that, I'm gonna give you a super quick tour. Here is the box they come in. Really small. With a small piece of paper with instructions. But it comes with the two TouchPoints themselves. Plus two silicone wristbands. Depending on which kit you get, you don't necessarily have to get them with the wristbands, that's the one I chose to get. And you get the charging cord. I really appreciate that the charging cord is one USB A to two micro USB. As you can see, the micro USB on the sides of the TouchPoint are thus. And this just makes it one cord that you have to worry about, so it's not two separate cords, and I really appreciate that.
These silicone bands, unlike my smart watch silicone bands, they're kinda clunky and uncomfortable. They don't conform to my wrists very well, and while I am a plus-sized person, my wrists are rather bony, and as you can see, I've been wearing the scrunchies while filming today. I get indents really easy because of my connective tissue disorder and dysautonomia and stuff like that. And I'm very sensitive, I have sensory issues and stuff. And these were just really not comfortable. And a couple years ago, I had bought a couple of scrunchy watch bands for my smart watch. And I had this brilliant idea, I'm like, huh, I wonder if those would fit on my TouchPoints. 'Cause the pack I got was a pack of three and one is on my smart watch, and the other two were just sittin' in a drawer. And lo and behold, they fit.
So let me show you, the TouchPoints actually have these little things that slide on and off of the TouchPoints itself. So this black part is also a part of the TouchPoint. And the little pin. Hopefully you can see it right there, is also a part of the TouchPoint. And it fits into (vocalizes) that little hole, right there. And so I was able to just remove the pin from the silicone bands, and put it inside the scrunchy bands, and install the scrunchy bands on the TouchPoints. And lo and behold, I now have scrunchy TouchPoints. And not only are these significantly more comfortable to wear, but they're actually also quieter, which was a really pleasant surprise to discover.
Okay, so now I'm gonna show you how to use them. So the first thing that's really important in using TouchPoints is to decide on a lead device. AKA, the one that's going to be deciding what's going on. And I usually make my left one the lead device. So basically what you do is you pick a lead device, you take it to the speed you want them to be set as. And then you take the second device, you click it once, and then you quickly cross your hands, so that way the lights are facing each other, but it's easier to do that by crossing your wrists. And then they sync up so that they're alternating. And so if you want it to go on the lowest speed. I'm going to now take these out from the camera and hold them up to the microphone, so hopefully you could hear the alternating buzzing. (buzzing) So this is the lowest setting. And then if I wanted these to speed up. So this is the next highest setting. And then that's the fastest setting, the purple.
It takes a little getting used to. Basically, you have to get your lead device to the setting you want. And then you have to click your follow device once to get it to the green colored light. And then you cross hands to sync them up. If you were to just independently put each device to the speed you want, they would not be at the correct alternating rhythm. They actually have to get synchronized so that way they're alternating one and two and three and four and five.
So like, for example, if I just put this to blue. And put this to blue. And I hold them up to the microphone. (buzzing) You can tell they're barely offset from each other. So these aren't on correctly. So let me turn them off by getting them to the green. But now, if I get this to the blue, and I get this to the green, and I make them talk to each other. Now they're actually alternating, and that is the bilateral stimulation that is so important.
And then to turn them off, you just get it all the way to the green. And really it's, with the lead device, you have to click it through all of the settings to green at the end. But with the follow device you only have to click it once to get it to the green setting, because that's the sync up setting. It's a little futzy, not great. I kind of hope that someday in the future these will have an app to be synced up to, and you can actually create like plans with them, or schedules or that kinda stuff, that would be great, but, these are still wonderful for the time being.
Quality Review
Alright. Now for part three, my review. So first of all, I wanna talk about build quality. They're okay for what they are, but they're by no means Apple brand level quality, or Samsung, they're not fancy, they're not nice looking by any means, but they get the job done, and that's more important to me than luxury.
As for ease of use, it took me a little while to get the hang of using them. I had to watch a couple of videos on the TouchPoints website, because the little manual that they came with in the box didn't quite get the point across to me, but that might be my autism taking things a little too literally. But as soon as I watched a video, and I understood how they're supposed to work, I was like, oh, I get it now, that's fine. And that's why in my little demo, I also showed how they work in case that's helpful for anybody.
C-PTSD Emotional Flashbacks Review
And then, do they work? I've been using them for two primary purposes. So I'm gonna talk about each of them distinctly, right now, for this review. The first of which is emotional flashbacks. Which is, (sighs) really, the primary reason why I got these TouchPoints, 'cause with my complex PTSD, I struggle with emotional flashbacks not infrequently, which is frustrating. And it's almost like it was meant to be, 'cause within a week of receiving my TouchPoints in the mail I had a pretty gnarly one. And it's interesting, 'cause my previous experience with bilateral stimulation was in the context of EMDR therapy. Which is a very structured form of bilateral stimulation with a therapist, where you're guided through thinking particular things and through specific memories. So that way you're experiencing triggers and memories in a specific structure. So that way the bilateral stimulation can do its job.
But out in the wild, when you're experiencing a trigger and emotional flashback, and you're not trained in the EMDR therapy, and you're just strapping these things to your wrist, or if you have the clips, and you're putting them on your clothes or something like that, there are different ways to wear these. It's really interesting. I appreciate that it's passive.
So one of the things that I have tried in the past for myself and I often suggest to my clients is something called butterfly tapping or butterfly hugs. Which is where you cross your forearms across each other. And then you tap your shoulders or your collarbones. You alternate these taps, and the more activated you are, the faster you go. And then over time, as you become less activated, you can slow down. And that can be a really, really helpful tool.
But sometimes, moving at all is just too much. And so what I really like about the TouchPoints is that it's passive. So if you're in a really intense freeze state, for example, the TouchPoints are really wonderful, and as someone whose primary sympathetic activation state is freeze-fawn and not fight-flight, I really appreciate having a passive tool that I can use.
So, long story short. I'm really glad I have these now, for my emotional flashbacks. They by no means make the emotional flashbacks disappear. They by no means work quickly. What they do is allow me to tolerate the often intense, intolerable experience of being in an emotional flashback. I am able to be present and grounded, in the now, for longer.
It's really hard to describe, I don't run away from the experience that I'm having. If you're familiar with Pete Walker's book Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving, he has a 13-step process for how to manage emotional flashbacks. And the first one is to acknowledge that you are in an emotional flashback. And that step can be so profound, with or without a tool like TouchPoints. It's a form of awareness. It in itself is a form of grounding, because it's bringing you back to the present moment. And these are an amazing grounding tool, because they help you stay in your body, and in the present moment, even when it's hard.
I guess what I would say, is if you were looking for a cure for the discomfort of emotional flashbacks, TouchPoints aren't gonna help you. But if you are looking for a tool to empower you to care for yourself better while you are experiencing emotional flashbacks, TouchPoints are great. It's a tool to help you care for yourself better, it is a tool to help you tolerate such extreme discomfort. It doesn't solve the problem.
I would almost equate it to a mobility aid. If you're someone who needs a cane to walk with stability or less pain, if you are someone who needs to wear glasses to see. If you are someone who needs to use a wheelchair for any reason, either all the time, or if you're an ambulatory wheelchair user, who sometimes needs to use a wheelchair. Emotionally, your nervous system wise, TouchPoints can be a great aid to help you regulate your nervous system, under circumstances that are outside of your control. That was a really long rant. Long story short, I really love these as a tool to help me navigate the incredible pain and discomfort of emotional flashbacks and being triggered. So absolutely love them for that.
Sleep Review
Now, as for sleep. This is a different situation for me in particular because, I have insomnia in large part due to my postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, POTS for short, which is a form of dysautonomia. Which, in layman's terms is a malfunctioning autonomic nervous system. My body likes to be in fight flight fall and freeze more often than rest and digest (chuckles). Which is really contraindicated for wanting to sleep. It's very hard to shut my brain off.
So, I am hoping that over time, these might help me, on purpose, get into rest and digest, to be able to sleep.
My main issue, which has not been resolved at present, is I bought these under the impression that they had an automatic shutoff at around 30 minutes. My pair does not automatically shut off at 30 minutes.
So what my experience has been, is I have been having them on the slowest setting, the blue light setting, and having the scrunchy bands to sleep has been so helpful, they were too uncomfortable with the original silicone bands for sleeping. And I would get into this state of like, oh yeah, I'm about to pass out. But they were just stimulating enough that I couldn't actually fall asleep. And so I was in this horrible limbo where I'm like, if they could just turn themselves off, I could fall asleep.
And I don't know about anybody else, if anyone else has dysautonomia like myself, the simple act of moving, just the little bit of movement to turn them off, wakes me back up again. And it's all for naught.
30 Min Automatic Shut-Off
I am coming to you from the future, where I have learned an annoying and unfortunate piece of information, that is beyond ambiguous and unclear, from the TouchPoint website. I am really frustrated about this, and I'm really glad I now know this information so I can share it with you. So this is what I had bought, the “TouchPoints with wristbands.” I did not buy the “TouchPoints for sleep,” because I didn't only want to use them for sleep, I wanted to use the TouchPoints also for when I was dealing with emotional flashbacks, and I wanted to wear them like normal watches, and I thought the silicone wristbands, which, these have the picture with like the metal wristbands, but they also come in the silicone version, I thought that would be most versatile for me, because I didn't think there was a meaningful difference between the TouchPoint device themselves, between these and these.
But that is incorrect!
If you want a device that has a 30-minute shutoff timer, you have to buy the TouchPoints for sleep. If you buy the TouchPoints with wristbands, or anything that is not the TouchPoints for sleep, there is no automatic shutoff, none, whatsoever.
So personally, I'm now in the process of trading in my TouchPoints for the TouchPoints for sleep, and it's not 100% free, I have to pay $4.95 for shipping. Which, it's annoying, but it's not too bad. I'm more just annoyed 'cause their website isn't clear that this is a difference, I feel like all TouchPoints should have an automatic shutoff to save battery anyways.
Frustrated, but happy that I am now here to share this information for you. 'cause this is an important piece of information that is not clear from their website. So, now you know, I have suffered on your behalf, I am looking forward to getting my TouchPoints for sleep, so I can have that 30-minute automatic shutoff timer online, so I can try actually using these to help me sleep.
Back to your regularly scheduled YouTube video, Cassie.
Summary
There you have it, my full review of TouchPoints. Because I've come to like this product so much, even though there are some few things that aren't quite perfect yet, I did sign up for their affiliate program. If you want to buy a pair of TouchPoints and support me at the same time, use this link and use the code MUSE at checkout. Thanks again in advance.
TouchPoints also have a robust scholarship program, if you would like to apply for a free pair.
By the way, if you don't have access to EMDR therapy or a wearable like TouchPoints, you can always try butterfly hugs, like I talked about earlier.
Hope this video helped!
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