Product Review: LifeWave (Aculife) Patches

Questioning of the LifeWave Patches

Recently, for some reason I am getting a new wave of questions about the LifeWave Patches and the newer equine version Aculife patches.

Back around 2002, I looked at these products because at the time they were being heavily promoted in England. Right from the start they appeared gimmicky with unclear and vague language describing how the patches worked. When I received samples to test the product, it was a package of four tiny disks with minimal information. Upon opening the package, the disks appeared to have nothing in them. After some research I learned that the LifeWave patch was said to contain amino acid and sugar water. The implication was that a tiny molecule of amino acid and a bit of sugar water in an acupoint-sized, sealed container was in fact a pain relief device. However, the patent applications on the product still have not been approved.

When I looked into who was behind the product, internet searches all seemed to point to a dubious character and connections to other multilevel endeavors that felt more like pyramid schemes. I was immediately turned off by it and had no further interest in the LifeWave patches. If the product had been more impressive I might have ignored this but put together it raised red warning flags.

One thing I did notice was that there were a significant number of reviews from people who felt the patches were working. But with my knowledge of the product specifications as well as other types of therapies, I questioned how much of their benefits were from a placebo effect. When testing prescription drugs, the number one problem is the placebo effect because when someone believes a product is working it often does provide benefits. This is one reason why I’ve always liked working with animals with different therapy tools. If you treat a horse, it will not think it is improving just because of a treatment. Instead, if an animal clearly feels better you know that benefits were occurring.

And yet, some people who are using the LifeWave patches on horses are claiming they work. While this may seem to imply there are some pain relief benefits to the patches, it can also be explained by the recommend usage on acupuncture points. Whenever you place something on an acupuncture point you can create a stimulating effect on the body. Back in the 1980s, I worked with a veterinarian who would often glue tiny magnets on horses over acupoints and sore spots. The vet would then have us leave the magnets in place until they fell off. I had completely forgotten about this method, however it actually does seem to help. An added bonus is that it is cheap, easy, and magnets have a long history of providing healing benefits. From my research and experience, I think that magnets would likely do the same job as the LifeWave patches (Aculife).

In this review I am not going into product detail, because in my opinion there is not a lot of true science and technology behind the product. Also, the only big change I can see since the LifeWave patches were first released is the presentation. The marketing has been ramped up with Suzanne Summers promoting the product, new packaging, and fancier websites.

I like many products that do not have peer review studies and are not recognized by mainstream medical professionals, however the LifeWave patches don’t pass the bar. It is often hard to determine the quality and legitimacy of a product, making it easy to be scammed. So remember, it is always ‘buyer beware’ and in my opinion people should be skeptical of the Auclife or LifeWave products.

If you’re looking for more information, one blogger went much further into the details about the LifeWave products. They included a recap from the patents filed for LifeWave (open PDF, view website) and an informational flow chart to connect some of these companies (open PDF, view website), which I found interesting. The blogger also included the explanations for why he created his website (open PDF, view website), which shares information about possible scams.

PDFs source: www.patchdiscbandscam.com