I Tried Dozens of Viral Amazon Wellness Products — Here Are the Ones That Are Worth the Hype

It’s hard to open up your For You Page these days without getting smacked in the face by what feels like a million “viral” wellness gadget product reviews and recommendations — all from that one-stop shop we all love and hate: Amazon.

With thousands of products that boast tens of thousands of five-star reviews, it’s hard to sift through the noise and figure out which ones actually work and are worth adding to your cart. To help save you money, and perhaps even more importantly, hours of your life, I tested out dozens of popular wellness gadgets you can buy on Amazon to see which ones are really worth the buy.

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Amazon Wellness Products

And with holiday sales right around the corner, it’s a great time to snag some of these on discount for future holiday gifting, or for yourself. After all, health is wealth.

40% Off – TheraIce Migraine Cap

You’ve most likely seen this product pop up on social media for years, and like me, wondered if this silly-looking cap actually worked. My migraines have gotten more frequent with age, in addition to the regular headaches I get each month, so I was super excited to test this out — and thrilled to find it actually did help. Studies have shown that cold therapies have helped people with short-term migraine relief — the cold can help to both reduce inflammation and constrict blood vessels — and I was eager to put that to the test.

You simply freeze the gel-filled “cap” and pop it on when you start feeling your headache. The first time I tried it, I emulated the picture on the package and had it cover my forehead and eyes, and got an immediate brain freeze — which doesn’t happen to everyone — and had to raise it to only go over my forehead. To my surprise, after a few minutes, I noticed my head pain had dissipated. 

Since then, I’ve been using it whenever I feel a migraine coming on (but not over my eyes).  I won’t say it makes the headaches disappear completely every time, but it definitely lessens the pressure I feel in my head and makes them feel more manageable.

My tween daughter also used it when she was getting headaches from the flu and raved that it helped immensely (you’ll have to take her word for it), and appreciated not having to take medicine to alleviate her discomfort. 

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20% Off – Esarora Ice Roller 

This may be the one product I was most skeptical of — how could this be that different from tossing my jade roller in the freezer? It turned out, quite a lot. Not only did rolling it on my face feel amazing, it really jumpstarted that morning wake-up slump, and made my skin feel less puffy after a night of poor sleep — which makes sense since it would utilize the same science behind the migraine cap with the icy coldness can providing an anti-inflammatory effect.  I even used it on my kid when they were home with a fever to help cool them down and to hopefully help relieve pressure on their sinuses. Whether it actually did that is debatable, but they did rave about how nice it felt. 

The ice roller has a pleasantly smooth jelly-like feel when rolling on your face and unlike my jade roller, the ice cold lasts for well over an hour thanks to the gel inside the roller part. I accidentally left it out to run an errand and came back to find it nearly just as cold as when I left. And in case you were wondering like I was, the roller actually detaches from the handle so you can give it a thorough cleaning.

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Loop Quiet 2 Earplugs

As a family travel writer, I travel frequently — and often share a hotel room with kids who, fellow parents will know, make so many odd and loud noises throughout the night, so I was desperate to try anything that would help me not feel like a zombie the next day. After countless targeted ads for these way-cuter-than-average earplugs, I bit the bullet and checked out in hopes of some better sleep at home and on the road. 

The thought of sleeping with something in my ears bothered me at first, but these were so comfy that I hardly even noticed them once they were in. As someone with small ears, I also appreciated that it came with various ear tip sizes (I used the XS) to ensure a good fit. Once the earplugs are in, I can hardly hear a thing. 

To be clear, they’re not noise-canceling — I can still hear my alarm go off in the morning — but they significantly reduce ambient noise, including a child coughing a few feet from your head. I also love that they come with a case, making them easy to toss in my backpack when I head off somewhere. They’ve become one of my travel must-haves. I imagine these would also be beneficial if you happen to sleep next to a snorer. 

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Restcloud Neck and Shoulder Relaxer

As someone who sits at a computer all day for work, not to mention looking down at a smartphone the rest of the time, my neck is constantly stiff, so anything that claims to help with that immediately piques my interest. 

This odd-looking neck relaxer arrived at my doorstep overnight (thanks, Amazon!) and I immediately gave it a spin. The directions say to lay on it with your knees bent and arms by your ears and use it for about 10 minutes to help stretch out your cervical spine. 

The material wasn’t cushy like I’d imagined — it’s actually pretty firm — and was slightly uncomfortable the first few times I used it. But, as with most things, consistency is key, and after using it every night after work for a week, I started to notice a loosening in my tight neck muscles. If you’re on the fence, I’d also like to point out that it takes up very little space, so I just slip it under one corner of the bed when it’s not in use.

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Afina Filtered Showerhead

I live in an area known for having hard water, which leaves my hair and skin feeling dry post-shower or, conversely, my kid’s hair not fully clean. I initially tried using a generic filtered showerhead from Amazon, but honestly, didn’t notice much of a difference. Then, I swapped to the Afina Filtered Shower Head and got to experience firsthand what we’d been missing out on. 

While studies around whether hard water actually causes dry hair produces mixed results, what we do know is that the calcium and magnesium in hard water can interact with ingredients in your shampoo and conditioner making them less effective or harder to wash out thoroughly.

Afina claims to have “advanced filtration” compared to others, but for me, the proof is in how our skin and hair now feel. My child no longer has what I had called “sticky” hair, and my own hair is noticeably softer, and falling out less frequently when I wash it. My skin no longer feels dry and like it requires gallons of lotion afterward. 

The showerhead also has multiple spray options like a gentle mist, but I’ve never swapped from the default setting which is pretty solid pressure. There’s also a filter subscription option which, as someone who often forgets these things, I really appreciate. 

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17% Off – Nektek Shiatsu Neck & Back Massager 

I’ve tested a lot of massagers in my day, and this one surprised me by easily becoming one of my top picks — especially since it came from one of those Amazon brands I never heard of until it kept circulating all over the internet. I was particularly intrigued by a massager that simulated an in-person shiatsu massage, which traditionally uses thumbs, hands, and elbows (among other parts) to apply direct pressure to certain points of the body to restore the natural energy flow. 

With other massagers, I find I have to lean all the back against the back of the chair to get enough pressure to effectively massage out any knots, or manually hold it up to my neck with one hand, but the clever design of the Nektek with the arm loops, means I can be sitting watching TV and adjusting the pressure — which is extremely firm, as if a person were pressing their thumbs into my neck — simply by pulling my arms forward a little. 

There are eight different modes, three different speed levels, and built-in heat, which really helps to relax my tight neck after a laptop-filled day. Mine even came with a car adaptor, although, honestly, I can’t see myself using this while driving. And while it’s not necessary for a great massager, I love that this came in a cream color option to set it apart from the sea of basic black massagers out there.

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