I Just Heard the New Ad for "Head On", "Millions of Americans Use Head On", is Buying Something the Same-

Question

- as Using it?

Ms. Behaven, the Ad Says "Use".

Ms. Behaven, Buying is Not "Using", it Will Fail On Real Headaches.

Thanks sue.

spreed, the Placebo Effect?:

Ingredients:
Active Ingredients: Potassium Dichromate (6X H.P.U.S. 0.05% - Pain Reliever**), Sublimed Sulphur (12X H.P.U.S. 0.2% - Sleep Aid**), White Bryony (12X H.P.U.S. 0.04% - Pain Reliever**)

Inactive Ingredients: Diazolidinyl Urea, Ethyl Alcohol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Menthol, Menthyl Lactate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Stearate, Steareth 21, Tetrasodium EDTA, Triethanolamine, Water

Thanks K, I've Long had Severe Questions About Walgreen's, and Other Pharmacies, as Well as Media Outlets Choosing to Advertise this and Other Products.

K, Yep, Pharmacies and Media Outlets Endorse this and Many Highly Questionable Products.

Answer 1

Dr. Greg,
I wonder if the purported benefit is attributed to the well known placebo effect. I recall a med school lecture where the data was in the 25% (+ or - 5%) for reported improvement following placebo therapy. I suspect it produces a burning sensation to make one think it is 'strong medicine' - - but I have not purchased any myself. I refuse to spend the money and contribute to this. Perhaps I should borrow some from my ex wife who says "It really works!" I am skeptical myself.
I'd like to see a randomized controlled trial, but it probably could not be blinded if the stuff does actually give a tingle to the skin.
You know as well as I do that many people look for panaceas or miracle drugs. Perhaps they only need to sell one unit to millions of people. When they realize it does not work, the company will already have made a profit - - and they can market the next foolish cure all.
The commercials are obnoxious and strike me as a brainwash - - just like many political commercials.

Answer 2

I think you’ve received an amazing, comprehensive answer from Spreedog. I can add a few things, but he pretty much laid it out....

Fairly obvious that the active ingredients listed do not impact headaches. Any impact on headache relief one gleans after using this product is all in one's mind and can not be attributed to the product itself. A placebo response. The mind-body connection can be pretty strong though. But, one may consider saving their money and tapping their heads with a wishful magic wand instead. From my own reading, on average, positive effects from placebo are seen in 30% of subjects.

I found it funny that potassium dichromate, which is one of the active ingredients is actually a bright orange compound; yet, the HeadOn stick appears white. That got me curious.

The two listed active ingredients: White Bryony (a type of vine) and potassium dichromate are diluted to .000001 PPM and 1 PPM respectively. At these levels, there can be NO effect on headache. Seemingly, the whole thing is basically wax.

Take, the White Bryony, for example. Each .2-ounce (<6 grams) stick contains a “12X” concentration (I assume) it. That means that the whole darn stick contains 1 part of ingredient in 1,000,000,000,000 parts of wax, or a stick contains .000,000,000,005,67 grams of "ingredient, no? Since there are apparently 100 applications in a stick, divide that quantity by 100.

The info above, however, was obtained from a source that, from what I can determine, was an independent evaluation of the product. There are no published empirical studies to show that HeadOn or any of its ingredients alleviate headache pain. In addition to what Spreedog has already mentioned about this: why would scientists waste their time? One glance at the ingredients list should spell it out for people. But, just in case: The absence of empirical works on this product indicates that there is NO, ZERO, ZILCHO REAL evidence that HeadOn offers anything but a bottled placebo effect.

Funny how it hasn’t been empirically shown to do anything, yet these scam artists are still cashing in....and, in my mind, illustrating to many other deceitful, greedy purveyors that there is a lot of money to be made by scamming the public.

So, what the heck is HeadOn good for? Well, I don’t know, I guess the best that wax, *cough*, I mean, HeadOn, can actually do for one’s forehead is clog your pores. So, perhaps it may give you a few pimples on your forehead? ;-).

EDIT: Pharmacies back this crap in your country? Huh. Well, I very much doubt that their decision as well as those of the media outlets are rooted in thinking, per se, at all. I suspect they may have 'money blinds' on. Lots of decisions are made without real thought, with distorted thought other times, so that any negative feelings can be easily skirted....even when the consequences can be fairly dire and pervasive. Thinking (as well as prevention regarding many things) often lies at the side of road, particularly where there is money to be made.

What is a real pi$$er is that this company is probably rich because so many of us have been sucked in by their parody, their reputation by repeated (albeit, negative) association, or through belief in "magic"--many people choose to believe in, what I can only label as, magic of all kinds. And, yet, the company goes along their way, ramification-free, continuing to rake in a few more bucks still even subsequent to "exposure" as a scam.

EDIT 2: I do not think I have never seen one commercial to do with HeadOn here. I looked all this stuff up. But, I suspect you mean that there is advertising on the tv guide aspect of your cable provider. So, media outlets support specific scams and particular pharmacies promote certain products through this medium. We don't have that here. There are zero ads on our tv guide viewer...

Answer 3

The gullible are the only ones using the junk. I find the ads totally irritating and have since the first one appeared.

The millions using it are probably getting free samples! Not purchasing!

Answer 4

Most of the time you have to buy something to try it...

*Edit* Fine then smartypants--
Most of the time you have to buy something to USE it.

Answer 5

Most annoying commercial EVER!!

I dunno, If McDonalds has sold over a million hamburgers, does that mean everyone ate theirs?