supplement<\/a> capsules, for the past month I\u2019ve been trying the small \u201cperiod relief\u201d and \u201cenergy\u201d stickers from Kind (\u00a312 a pack from the chemist), which claim to \u201coffer hormonal balance and menstrual support\u201d and \u201cenhance daily vitality\u201d.<\/p>\nThe health patch market was estimated to be worth $9.95bn (\u00a37.45bn) in 2024 and is predicted to explode further in the next five years, according to the Financial Times. Kind is just one of many brands attempting to get a slice of the sticker pie, with other similar products also available from The What Supp Co, Ross J Barr and What\u2019s That Patch. Many companies are also offering a sticker claiming to curb appetite and cravings \u2013 being referred to online as a natural Ozempic.<\/p>\n
According to the packet, the patches work by delivering various vitamins and herbal compounds to the bloodstream through your skin, triggering various health benefits. Although the Kind brand\u2019s website is littered with four- and five-star reviews of their products, I don\u2019t notice any real difference other than a sticky residue left on the inside of my wrist each day. I definitely don\u2019t feel worse, but I\u2019m not sure I feel better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not entirely convinced by the claims made by these patches,\u201d GP Dr Nisa Aslam tells me. \u201cIn the EU and in the UK, these are not considered to be medical products, so they\u2019re not subject to the same rigorous testing as medicines, which means they don\u2019t necessarily have to have the clinical research or peer-reviewed trials to back them, which makes me slightly sceptical about their claims.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors looking sideways at holistic remedies is, certainly, nothing new. But Dr Aslam\u2019s doubts go beyond the lack of trials. \u201cThe skin is a very effective barrier,\u201d she says with conviction. \u201cIf you look at certain molecules in these patches, they\u2019re quite big in size. So, the question we have to ask is: how likely is it that these molecules will effectively pass through the skin and enter the bloodstream?<\/p>\n
\u201cCertain smaller molecules might pass through and give a small benefit. Of course, we know there\u2019ll be an aspect of placebo effect too, so people may feel energised or more relaxed. That\u2019s fine, because the risks are quite low.\u201d Low risk, low reward. Sort of like some herbal teas.<\/p>\n
Potential side effects, like skin irritation, are extremely minimal. It\u2019s when mixing substances that things could go wrong. \u201cVitamins and minerals can interact with each other, so they can impact how they are absorbed or used in the body,\u201d Aslam warns. \u201cSo there is the potential, if you\u2019re applying multiple patches, that molecules are entering your bloodstream and then interacting with each other \u2013 some compounds can actually cancel out the beneficial effects of each other as well. So, you could be risking adverse effects but also no benefit at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the market for patch-based treatment is building, it\u2019s unlikely and unrecommended that the invention will ever supersede pills. \u201cWe know that there\u2019s research behind the pill versions now,\u201d says Aslam. \u201cThey are regulated. So, they\u2019re more likely to get the ingredients to enter your blood than transdermal delivery. So, vitamins delivered orally, whether a spray or a pill, are just more likely to be efficacious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, of course, there\u2019s an element of the performative quick fix to these stickers, simply by way of the fact that you wear them on your body like a badge of honour. It reminds me of when a kid would break their leg at school and have everyone sign their cast. These are a wellness status symbol, a beaming self-care badge that not everybody can afford.<\/p>\n
At the end of my month patched up, I went to the countryside and slept for 14 hours straight. So, it\u2019s fair to say I was still fatigued. Whether it feels like these stickers work for you or not, it\u2019s clear that the need to use them in the first place could be simply plastering over a bigger problem. \u201cYou need to address the underlying root cause of the problem,\u201d says Aslam. \u201cNot just hope to manage the symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Health stickers are becoming increasingly popular (Getty\/iStock) Usually, if you\u2019re covered in stickers, you\u2019ve been hanging out with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[31734,139743,163,85,46,543,139742],"class_list":{"0":"post-267484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-bloodstream","9":"tag-dr-aslam","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-nutrition","14":"tag-stickers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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