The Study
Fifteen years in the field. Now the data agrees.
Long before a clinical study existed, combat units, VA clinics, and 911 dispatch centers were reaching for the same small device between shifts. In 2026, a formal study measured what they'd been telling us for years.
Where it's actually been used
A general wellness device doesn't usually end up in a combat engineer company's after-action file, or a police department's wellness unit. Here's the documented trail — donation letters, unit memos, and clinician correspondence — that led up to the study below.
- 2008Walter Reed Army Medical CenterFirst documented use in recovery care, delivered through an American Red Cross donation to wounded troops.
- 2009Stanford University School of MedicineA TMJ and craniofacial pain specialist reviews the device's approach to temporal-muscle tension.
- 2010235th Engineer Company, CA Army National GuardUsed by soldiers as a stress-relief tool during pre-mobilization training and deployment to Afghanistan.
- 2011National Naval Medical Center, BethesdaThe Department of the Navy formally accepts 20 units for wounded warriors and their families.
- 2017Walter Reed National Military Medical CenterAdditional units donated to support patient care and recovery.
- 2017Veteran support group, Fort Bragg, CAA clinical psychologist introduces the device to combat veterans managing PTSD, headaches, and anxiety.
- 2021Dental and craniofacial specialistsClinicians begin recommending the device to patients for jaw clenching and facial-nerve conditions.
- 2022North Bay Vet CenterA VA-affiliated clinical social worker documents its use in ongoing veteran mental health care.
- 2023Santa Rosa Police DepartmentSeventy-five units donated department-wide, including to dispatchers working high-stress shifts.
- 2025Reno and Denver 911 dispatch centersAdopted for on-shift use in quiet rooms, alongside San Diego PD's wellness and detective units.
- 2026The clinical study beginsThe first IRB-approved, ClinicalTrials.gov-registered study of the device, described below.
What we actually measured
This wasn't a lab test of what the device does to nerves or muscles. It was a real-world study of what happened to the people using it — tracked with the same standardized surveys clinicians use to measure anxiety, sleep, and quality of life.
Temple Massager System — observational wellness study
In plain terms: because everyone in the study used the device — there was no group who didn't — this design can tell us what changed while people used it. It can't, on its own, prove the device was the only reason. That distinction matters, and we've kept it front and center below rather than in the fine print.
Within that limit, the results were consistent: they held up across three different ways the researchers sliced the data, including a conservative check that assumed no improvement at all for anyone who dropped out. A second analyst, working independently from the raw data, reproduced the main anxiety result and quality-of-life scores.
What changed over four weeks
Average anxiety score (GAD-7) — a drop past the threshold clinicians consider a meaningful change. 30 of 35 participants improved.
Adverse events reported, across 286 completed check-ins over the study.
Share of participants reporting meaningful improvement, by area
Secondary outcomes, evaluable population (n = 35)
Physical function wasn't expected to change from a temple-and-jaw device, and it didn't — researchers included it deliberately as an internal check. That participants' answers moved differently across categories, rather than uniformly, is a sign people were reporting real experience rather than just rating everything better.
What this study shows — and what it doesn't
What it shows
- A real, statistically significant improvement in self-reported anxiety and quality of life over four weeks.
- That improvement held up across every way the researchers checked it, including a conservative analysis that assumed no benefit at all for anyone who dropped out.
- No adverse events, across 286 completed check-ins.
- High follow-through for a fully remote, unsupervised study.
What it doesn't show
- That the device alone caused the change. There was no comparison group, so some of the improvement may reflect other factors.
- How the results generalize beyond women aged 35–65 with recurring headaches or jaw tension.
- The exact size of the headache reduction — the daily diary format changed partway through the study.
- A mechanism of action. No claim is made about nerves, muscles, or how the effect happens.
What the field record says
"After just a few minutes with the Temple Massager, my team was hooked. It's a drug-free way to get relief and reduce anxiety and intrusive thoughts."
"Within 24 hours of drop-off, a dispatcher reported significant relief from a severe migraine within 10 minutes — a scenario that would normally have resulted in sick time and the department being short-staffed."
"The second I handed them out, everyone immediately started to use them. The mood in the office instantly lifted."
"It has allowed some to get through periods of stress or anxiety without having to use a PRN medication — a useful addition to their toolbox."
"An experience of pain relief results in an improved mood, which generates enough space for positive change. We call this the 'virtuous cycle.'"
"My wife has seen measurable improvement with her Bell's Palsy, and I've seen a definite decrease in my own clenching and grinding."