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Healthy & Natural Journal, Volume 5, Issue 5
Magnets Prove Attractive
for Pain Relief–By Brenda Adderly
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Not
long ago, magnets were primarily used to hang kids' artwork and shopping
lists on refrigerator doors. Then the alternative health movement took off,
reviving interest in the centuries-old practice of using therapeutic permanent
magnets for pain relief. Within a few years, thousands of magnet enthusiasts
went public with stories of their own healing experiences. Top athletes,
including New York Yankees' pitcher Hideki Irabu, Miami Dolphins quarterback
Dan Marino, championship golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez; Hollywood celebrities,
like Anthony Hopkins, and average citizens all told of the remarkable healing
power of magnets. "An hour and a half after I put a magnet on my neck,
my chronic migraine headaches stopped, and I was hooked," recalls Paulette
Rautio, a Washington state horse breeder, who later used magnets to alleviate
the pain of rheumatoid arthritis that often put her in a wheelchair. "Magnets
don't cure the condition," she explains, "but they can eliminate
the pain."
In spite of the testimonials—and the $5OO million in U.S. sales of
therapeutic magnets last year—the American medical profession remained
skeptical. Anecdotal evidence was not enough. For physicians, seeing was
believing, and what they wanted to see were results of scientifically controlled
studies using therapeutic magnets. And now they have.
A Definitive Study
In a double-blind study at Houston's Baylor
College of Medicine, 50 patients suffering from post-polio pain had
either half-inch sized magnets or identical-looking placebo devices strapped
to their most sensitive sore spots. "The majority of patients in the
study who received treatment with a magnet reported a significant decrease
in pain, and most of the patients who were given a placebo, or inactive
magnet, reported very little or no improvement," says principal investigator
Dr. Carlos Vallbona, professor of family and community medicine at Baylor.
When the study began, Vallbona considered himself a skeptic. But his curiosity
had been piqued by a colleague who'd found relief for a painful knee after
wearing a magnet for only a few minutes. No one was more surprised than
Vallbona when the results of his study supported the colleague's experience.
Of the 29 patients who wore active magnets, 76 percent reported a decrease
in pain after only 45 minutes. Less than 20 percent of those with the placebos
felt an improvement. None of the patients reported any side effects.
The Baylor study bears out research from other countries. Scientists in
Korea, for example, selected 23 student nurses who suffered from painful
menstrual periods. Eleven nurses had therapeutic magnets placed on their
lower abdomens. The other 12 wore placebos. "Significant" pain
relief was reported by the students wearing the real magnets.
These studies support what healers have known for thousands of years. Practitioners
in Egypt, China and India relied on such things as naturally magnetic rocks
known as "lodestones" and even electric eels to relieve a variety
of conditions. Fifteenth-century physician Paracelsus refined many of the
early practices. Three hundred years later, Franz Anton Mesmer became famous
for his outlandish claims that he could cure everything from chest pains
to blindness and mental illness with magnets, thus "mesmerizing"
his audiences while doing it. But Mesmer's arrogance angered many powerful
people. They declared him and his methods fraudulent. With Mesmer's fall
from grace, magnets unfortunately became synonymous with quack cures, a
belief still held in conservative medical circles.
That may change soon. After the Baylor study, the president of the National
Council Against Health Fraud, Dr. William Jarvis of California's Loma Linda
University, once a critical opponent of magnet therapy, said he had changed
his mind about its efficacy, although he said he won't be completely convinced
until the study is replicated by other researchers.
At the
Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Mark S. George, who recently had
impressive results using electromagnetics to treat depression, voiced similar
feelings. "I'm going to be skeptical until I see more studies,"
he said. "But this Baylor research was refreshing, a legitimate look
at an area that's very' promising."
Dr. Vallbona is currently conducting a larger study. Additional research,
funded by the federal government, is under way at the University of Virginia
with fibromyalgia patients. Right now, scientists are primarily interested
in determining whether or not magnets alleviate pain, rather than how. In
fact, although there are several theories about the ways in which magnets
work, the truth remains a mystery. "We do not have a clear explanation
for the significant and quick pain relief observed by the patients in our
study," says Vallbona "It's possible that the magnetic energy
affects the pareceptors in the joints or muscles or lowers the sensation
of pain in the brain."
The Hall Effect
Many theories of how magnets work are a variation on what
scientists call the Hall Effect. Since our bloodstream is filled with positively
and negatively charged ions, stimulating these ions by exposure to a magnetic
field creates heat. The heat increases the blood supply to the area where
the magnet is located, and with the blood comes extra oxygen and nutrients,
as well as a reduced amount of toxins.
As magnet experts like to point out, magnets don't actually heal the body—they
create an environment in which the body can heal itself. And magnet power
isn't limited to situations involving pain. Last year, Scott Fischbach,
of Frederick, MD., suffered an injury to his forearm that required four
stitches. As the wound healed, a large hard lump of scar tissue formed and
began pressing on the nerves an tendons in his arm, causing numbness in
his fingers and hand. A relative suggested he try magnets. "I was amazed
at the almost instantaneous results," he says. After only 4 hours of
wearing a magnet band directly over the wound, Fischbach says his scar tissue
decreased by 75 percent. By the end of that week, it was completely gone
and his arm had returned to normal.
Regardless of how magnets work, they've been approved for use in approximately
50 countries, including Germany, Israel, Russia and Japan, where they have
been routinely used for decades. And in the United States, horse owners
have been using magnets for more than 10 years, creating a burgeoning market
in therapeutic magnet products designed specifically for horses. In fact,
many supporters point to the success of magnets with horses as strong proof
of their effectiveness, since the placebo effect doesn't exist with animals.
Magnets vs. Pills
For many pain sufferers, the best news of all is that magnets
can eliminate the need for pain medication. Dr. Ronald Lawrence, clinical
professor of medicine at UCLA, for example, estimates that the effectiveness
rate of therapeutic magnets for pain relief is 85 percent, considerably
higher than for any drug. And magnets are free of side effects, a claim
that cannot be made for many pain-relievers. Some of these medications create
serious stomach problems and other ailments, and others cause additional
cartilage deterioration when used to treat arthritis, resulting in even
more pain. Although magnets are very safe and side-effect free, if you are
pregnant, have a pacemaker, use an insulin pump or drug patch, or have a
fresh wound, magnets are not recommended, since their effect on these situations
isn't yet known.
Shopping for Magnets
When purchasing magnets, invest in a real therapeutic magnet,
not the kind that goes on the refrigerator door. Magnet strength is measured
in a unit called a gauss. As a general rule, look for magnets with a gauss
strength greater than 400. The negative field magnets are those most commonly
used to alleviate the pain of arthritis and other inflammatory conditions,
as well as rashes, burns and general aches. For best results, expect to
spend about $20 or more.
Magnets are available in a wide variety of sizes, styles and products, including
everything from little squares or circles to bracelets, necklaces and even
mattress pads. One of the most popular are the modular kits whereby one
product can be adapted to any part of the body.
Magnets are extremely simple to use. Just put the magnet on the painful
area, hold it in place with a Velcro strap (magnets often come with these)
or elastic wrap, and you're done. "Once I put it on," says Carl
Sheola, a local guide in Peterborough, N.H., "I forget about it completely."
In products with multiple magnets, such as mattress pads, both north and
south (positive) magnets may be used. Generally, they're arranged in one
of three different ways–unidirectional, parallel or in concentric circles.
In unidirectional pads, only negative poles come in contact with the body.
Positive and negative poles alternate in the parallel and concentric styles.
There are various theories as to which is best and why. Buy from a source
who offers a money-back guarantee. Then, if one version doesn't do the trick,
you can try another. But always keep magnets away from credit cards, floppy
disks and computer hard drives. They can easily erase all information stored
on them, and create the kind of headache that even a magnet would be hard-pressed
to remedy. |
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