Q-Collar effects on vision, hearing and heart rate

Concussions are detrimental to athlete performance, health and cognitive function. The Q-Collar is a popular commercially available device that claims to reduce concussion risk by mildly compressing the jugular vein to increase intracranial blood volume and better protect the brain against impacts. Whether Q-collar use during exercise alters sensory function is important, but unclear. Subjects with a previously diagnosed concussion in last 6 months to 3 years (5 male, 5 female, age 20.6 +/- 0.6) completed two bouts of continuous steady-state cycle-ergometry synchronized to a metronome for 30 minutes with a Q-collar and without in randomized order. During bike exercise bouts, vision and hearing tests, as well as finger pulse oximetry and heart rate, were measured at three times (pre-exercise, exercise onset and at exercise completion). Vision scores (58.0±3.2 vs 58.1±3.2) and heart rate (137.3±30.8 vs 134.1±30.8) did not significantly decrease at exercise completion in the Q-Collar group when compared to the control. No significant differences were observed for the median values of hearing and pulse oximetry. Heart rate significantly increased (p< 0.001) in both groups over the three testing periods as expected. Wearing a Q-Collar during steady-state cycling does not significantly alter vision, hearing, oxygen saturation, or heart rate. While Q-Collar claims to reduce concussion risk by altering cerebral vascular blood flow, it does not presumably affect sensory athletic performance. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2026 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.