LAS VEGAS—I was shocked by a new device here at CES. Unfortunately, I mean that literally. The ReliefBand is a watch-style wearable designed (and FDA-approved) to help alleviate nausea. As someone who suffers from the occasional bout of motion sickness, I'm all for this, so I strapped one on to try it out. And then I felt like I was being gently electrocuted.

Before I describe exactly how the ReliefBand feels, let me explain how it works. According to the company, the band functions via neuromodulation. It uses a proprietary technology that uses your body's neural pathways to help regulate the triggers that cause nausea. What this basically means is that, when turned on, the device pulses against the underside of your wrist, and these signals travel to your central nervous system and to the part of your brain that sends out signals of nausea. It then modulates the pathways between your brain and stomach, which is supposed to provide a sense of relief.

Now, that already sounds mildly terrifying to me, and if I had known that from the get-go, I probably wouldn't have tried the band on in the first place. The interesting thing is, the ReliefBand is actually being pitched as a drug-free alternative to nausea relief, particularly for expecting mothers with morning sickness, as well as those who suffer from motion sickness. But compared with neural stimulation, drugs sound kind of tame.

The company says this technology has already been used for a number of years to treat the nausea and vomiting that can come with chemotherapy or surgery. In addition, the ReliefBand has been subject to many clinical trials and the proper regulatory authorities.

And yet, it still really freaked me out. The demo was administered by someone at the ReliefBand booth, who slathered some of what appeared to be Extra Connectivity Gel on my wrist and powered the device on to the least intense setting. I immediately felt a pulsing tingle go from the bottom of my wrist the tips of my fingers and slightly up my arm. It was uncomfortable. The best comparison I can think of is a game called Shock Roulette I bought in college and only played once because the shocks actually hurt.

Now, maybe I'm just particularly sensitive to this sort of sensation. But even the spokesperson seemed surprised that I was able to feel it so intensely on the low setting, and informed me that the band was just a new prototype unit (which, again, is information that would probably have led me to avoid trying the band on had known it beforehand).

I'm not going to tell you not to buy the $84.99 ReliefBand, since in the demo, I wasn't able to gauge its ability to curb vomiting, and plenty of people seem to like it on Amazon. I can tell you, however, that the next time I go on a whale watch, I'm going to reach for the Dramamine instead.