Relaxometers have many uses, mainly to do with managing stress and your reactions to stress. They are used to help deal with high blood pressure, anxiety about nothing in particular, panic attacks, fear of flying, or of dogs, or just of going out, and many other situations like stammering and giving birth. They have been used in hospitals and clinics as well as by the public since we introduced them in 1971 and are one of the tools those working in Stress Management expect to use to help them help sufferers. They are simple and easy to understand and use, so many sufferers like to have one at home. Like pills in the medicine cabinet, it is reassuring to know it is there in case you need to go back to it.
The job of a Relaxometer is to tell you about what is going on in your body, not to change you. You can use what they tell you to take charge of your condition and change yourself.
They work like this: If you panic you may break out in a sweat all over, and this changes the electrical properties of your skin. Changes like this in fact occur all the time, in a milder way, and we do not notice them; they are slight and quite normal. These instruments translate the changes, large or small, into something you can understand. You may well feel I know I am tense - I don‘t need a machine to tell me that, but these sensitive instruments will tell you when you relax just a little bit, so you know you are doing it right. The Model Q Relaxometer includes a METER so that you can see the changes too.
Relaxometer specifications
- Sensors: Silvered Velcro attached with Velcro, wired into case.
- Conductance range: 0.1 micromho to 20 micromho.
- Sensitivity: typically 10% change in pitch for 1% change in conductance.
- Output: pulse train whose spacing varies with conductance between sensors and with Frequency control setting. Output socket (20mV to 2V) and Meter on Model Q only, Output otherwise to loudspeaker or headphone socket.
- Power supply: Four 1.5V size AA cells.
- Current drain: 10 to 15 mA.
- Case: impact-resistant ABS plastic.
- Dimensions: 149 x 99 x 78mm.
- Weight: Model S 453g with batteries.
- Includes: Sensors, batteries installed, instruction book.
References
- V Meyer & B Reich. Anxiety Management: the marriage of physiological and cognitive variables. Behav Res & Therapy 1978 16 177-182.
- C Patel et al. Trial of relaxation in reducing coronary risk: four year follow-up. British Medical Journal 1985 290 1103-1106
- C Patel & M Marmot. Can general practitioners use training in relaxation to reduce mild hypertension? British Medical Journal 1988 296 21-24.
Model Q and Model S Relaxometers