Head pain tends to make light — any light — uncomfortable for us at best, excruciatingly painful at worst. Window shades and draperies, even darkening shades, can only do so much, usually not nearly enough.

Although noise is also a problem sometimes, soft sound therapy can actually be helpful to many people.

Brookstone now has a solution to both the light and sound problems, their Sound Therapy Eye shades.  They began with a contoured mask made of high-density foam and covered with soft velour. The mask has an adjustable strap to adjust the mask for a comfortable fit. This mask comfortably and completely blocks out all light.

It also features built-in sounds as well as an audio input jack and cable to allow you to listen to your own music. It is operated by two AAA batteries or with the included power adapter, and automatically shuts off the sound after 30 minutes. The built in sounds are:

• a countryside evening
• babbling brook
• songbirds
• ocean surf
• and soothing white noise.

The quality of the sounds is good, but each looping selection is very short, and the repetition of such short snippets of sound is sometimes annoying.

Overall, this is an excellent product. It's ability to block out sound is matched by no other mask I've seen, and if you find the looping sounds annoying, you can use the mask with the sound turned off or connected to your own music or sound CD's/tapes. The Sound Therapy Eye Shades mask is especially helpful if traveling, when you have less control over your surroundings than at home.