I suppose they would work temporarily on mild pain. If the shock is enough to disturb your nerves more than the pain you're experiencing, you'll concentrate on it instead. Kind of like hitting your finger with a hammer after getting a sliver - you'll quickly forget about the pain from the sliver. ;-)

@Artnchicken: Yeah, it definitely started out as an infomercial product. That's the thing about "As Seen On TV" -- if the product has even the least little bit of value, it'll end up on store shelves eventually. Not everything sold on infomercials is a scam, but the stuff that stays TV-only for years probably is.

Ahh...what's the point of making them give the money back at that point? The dumbasses are just going to get scammed by someone else.

"By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself."

--Bill Hicks

Wasn't the money making infomercial also the one where they kept saying that e-mail magically appears in your computer by magic?

I have such fond memories of the informercials of my youth. Juice-man Juicy Jay Korning, QRB, the 90 degree screwdriver, the magic rubber mop/broom, the ovens that used the power of a cyclone to cook faster(I liked when they put the popcorn in it), any vacuum cleaner that would lift a armored car, the wrenches that grabbed the body of the nut and worked on even stripped nuts, that stackable grill that worked on just 3 sheets of newspaper and cooked a frozen steak faster than a microwave, etc...

Anyone remember better ones?

Another product that I think is better than advertized is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Pretty much all it is is a plastic sponge that buffs the dirty surface, but I've been amazed by it. It took kid-made markings of our walls that I just knew would require repainting.

Other than that, many of the other "amazing product" claims are essentially bunk.

But outside of that...I don't think I would buy anything from an infomerical!`

@GitEmSteveDave:

That woman was odd. There was a few episodes of "The Soup" where they kept making fun of that infomerical and would constantly zoom in on that lady. They also RIPPED into that damn "money making" infomerical where the two young women sit and talk about this "strange" internet whilst leaning over and showing copious amounts of cleavage.

@GitEmSteveDave: It was called "The Stimulator". I remember because they used Evil Knievel as their pitch man.

[www.chirobase.org]

There's a sucker born every minute! It's the basis of the American economy.

@savvy999: Just goes to show how desperate some people are for relief from pain. When you get treated like a junkie looking for a fix by going through normal channels for help, thanks to the war on drugs, it's no shock people turn to crackpot solutions.

He figured he'd make a million. He should do it.

@joeblevins:

So, you now have 11 toes? Do you have to wear special shoes?

It would only be real if it was Magnet based. Those thing are real. I grew a new toe cause of magnets.

But yes, outside of that and a small handful of cleaning products, most infomercial gizmos are a scam!

I think the first clue was showing a golfer nobody has heard of, from 3 years ago!

It "works" for some people due to the placebo effect.

Oxi Clean actually works pretty well. It's the only thing I've ever used that I saw on an infomercial, though you can buy it in some stores now, which is where I got mine.

Considering the existence of the Chi is highly debatable, how could it NOT be a scam?

Buying one of these is like paying for a manicure for a flying pig who can quote Shakespeare and make pancakes.

Tivo used to be an infomercial, but it has changed my life!

I actually bought one of those infomercial items that had this food storage set that all used the same lids, and its been wonderful. But then I knew what I was buying.