Magnetic Therapy

Early manufacturers produced the familiar magnet with north and south poles, but growing numbers of investigators have realized the importance of using only one pole (usually north or negative). This allows for a much stronger magnetic field to be placed against the area of pain, which research seems to indicate the need for, especially in chronic pain or overuse symptoms.

Find the best magnetic therapy product for your needs

Go to top

Magnets attracting health-care attention

The long-sleeve shirt that the former Yankees pitcher wore concealed the newest craze among health and body-conscious Westerners: dozens of small magnets taped to his wrists, arms, chest and back at pressure points. the idea behind the magnets is simple, if unproven: They stimulate magnetic fields in the body, improving circulation, and promoting faster healing and general good health. Magnets have been popular in Japan, Egypt and China.

If you are a health professionals interested in finding out more about magnetic therapy, here is the information you need to get started.

Go to top

Doctors, Psychiatrists Turning to Magnets

Magnets have a long history as medical devices. Cleopatra is reported to have worn a magnetic lodestone on her forehead in an attempt to forestall the aging process. For decades, magnets have occupied a place among alternative treatments, alongside herbs and acupuncture. Along the way, they also have become big business. Billions of dollars worth of medical magnets are sold each year, over the Web and in Tupperware-style home parties.

Yet as they've gained adherents, medical magnets also have fallen into disrepute among many medical professionals.

Several controlled clinical studies conducted in the past few years suggest that magnets may effectively treat some disorders. And a few health-care providers are routinely using magnets for a host of conditions.

A small number of studies have found magnets, either "permanent" magnets or electromagnets, to be effective in relieving certain kinds of pain and hastening wound-healing. Perhaps most significantly, electromagnets are being used experimentally at several university medical schools to treat depression. The procedure is known as transcranial magnetic stimulation.

In transcranial magnetic stimulation, a coil is held next to the patient's forehead and a pulsating electrical current passes through the coil, generating a magnetic field. That, in turn, creates a small electrical current in the region of the brain called the left prefrontal cortex. That is the area of brain thought to be underactive in depressed people.

Three studies have compared transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a procedure in which electricity is applied directly to the entire brain. ECT is effective against depression, although it often causes short-term memory loss and other temporary cognitive problems. It gained notoriety after it was featured in the film based on Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

In the three studies comparing the two procedures, TMS has been as effective as ECT in treating severe depression among people who are not troubled by hallucinations or delusions, according to David Avery, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle. And ECT, he said, is more effective than anti-depressant drugs.

The studies so far have involved only a couple of dozen subjects. Avery soon will begin a study with about 85 subjects.

Researchers theorize that the magnetic therapy may work by activating sluggish nerve cells in the left prefrontal cortex.

Four years ago, researchers at Baylor University in Houston used magnets to treat muscular or arthritic-type pain in post-polio patients. They laid magnets on the painful areas for 45 minutes.

Seventy-six percent of people treated with real magnets reported feeling significantly better. Nineteen percent of those given sham magnets reported significant pain relief.

In another study, a large group of people with intense nerve pain in their feet -- a condition known as peripheral neuropathy and common among diabetics -- were given magnetic insoles to wear. A substantial number reported less tingling and burning and numbness in their feet.

Health professionals interested in finding out more about magnetic therapy click here

Click here to find a magnetic therapy product

Go to top

Drug Addiction and the Brain

Paul Tyler brings us up to-date on findings related to electromagnetism. He reports that the National Institute of Mental Health studied rats addicted to morphine and found that current stimulation to the lower part of the concha (posterior to the external auditory meatus) precipitated signs of morphine abstinence. Researchers (Sjolund, Clement-Jones, Salar and others) have reported an increase in B-endorphins in cerebrospinal fluid following electro-acupuncture and other forms of electrotherapy. Increased rat brain levels of serotonin, tryptophan and hydroxyindole acetic acid have been reported. Numerous studies show changes of calcium ion levels in the brain following the use of magnetic fields.

It is believed that the body's own production of B-endorphins is turned off by drug addiction and that electro or magnetic stimulation enhances the natural production and release of encephalms and £3-endorphins by the body, preventing the onset of withdrawal symptoms. Tyler speculates that calcium is the critical factor and not the endorphin system. He further states that modern medicine has studied and treated the chemical side of the equation but has almost completely ignored the electrical/magnetic side. The body's natural chemicals are released by an electrical signal so it seems plausible that an external signal can do the same at a specific site without drugging the rest of the body.

Go to top

Magnetic Field Therapy: Professional and Personal Observations

I use magnetic products and I recommend magnetic products to my patients. I sponsored an introductory lecture on Magnetic Field Therapy to other family physicians. Is this professional heresy, or open mindedness with the interest of my patients coming first.

My formal training in Family Practice required exposure to all the traditional medical and surgical specialties. A family physician must have a wide array of management options for his or her patients. In spite of years of training and clinical experience, it is unfortunately not unusual for my "bay of tricks " to be unsatisfactory or empty! Because it is anathema for me to tell patients "There is nothing more I can do for you," I have referred some to chiropractors and not discouraged others seeking help through other "alternative" providers. And now, I am one too!

I use magnetic products for a variety of ailments. Because I see people in the setting of a medical office, there is an expectation that any treatment is recommended after a working diagnosis is made. In other words, I listen to and examine my patients and get appropriate lab information and x-rays first. Once the data is collected and considered and a working diagnosis made, I then organized a discussion on treatment options. For the person complaining of fatigue, I treat anemia with iron and vitamins, not a magnet. For a person with achy legs and low potassium, I treat with potassium, not a magnet. Yet there are times when iron, potassium, aspirin, or a narcotic pain pill are not the appropriate remedies, or are not enough. In these cases, I encourage my patients to try a magnet. Let me share some success stories.

Cancer: Dr. F was diagnosed with cancer at age 41. After three months of chemotherapy, he decided that because the track record for chemotherapy was poor, it would be crazy to not add other modalities to his own treatment. Since his oncologist was concerned with chemotherapy dosing, and didn't know about other treatments, Dr. F on his own added Magnetic Field Therapy, via a magnetic mattress pad, seat pads in the office and home, and a large magnet worn against the lower spine. (Dr. F added other "modalities" over the next few months.) He experienced fewer negative side effects of chemotherapy, to the surprise of his oncologist. He lived, and still lives to tell about it, I am happy to say, because Dr. F is me!

Arthritis: I remember Mrs. R whose knee joint had no cartilage. No medicine prescribed by me or other doctors had helped her. I taped a small magnet to her knee after a physical exam, and left the room while she got dressed. When I came back to minutes later, she was bending her knee in disbelief; it didn't hurt. The arthritis wasn't gone, but the severe pain was.

Fractured rib: Mr. E had fallen and broken a rib; his oncologist had given him Percocet for pain. He came in to see me, saying the rib still hurt and the drug made him feel bad. I advised him to place a magnet where the pain was causing him discomfort. He later told me the diminishment pain was "instantaneous." The rib still broken, but he was able to discontinue the Percocet. When he broke another rib two months later, he used a magnet first.

Brown recluse spider bite: Mr. W was bitten by a brown recluse spider. He had a one inch ulcer on his lower leg that was not healing. It hurt, too. We taped a magnet over the ulcer. The pain was less and it began to heal up quickly. The magnet, while he used it decreased the pain.

Swollen eye: A boy had been hit in the face by a baseball. His eyelids were swollen. He had already used ice. I gave him a mini magnet and told him to use it where the sting occured. The swelling was gone the next day. I was surprised.

Shoulder pain: Dr. Q was experiencing a nagging pain in her shoulder for more than three months. She attended the lecture on Magnetic Field Therapy. During this event she held a magnet to her shoulder. The next morning, her shoulder was normal and the pain was gone. My own theory is she used the magnet on her own. (At that same meeting, another doctor used a magnet on a painful knee, which had been through many drugs and physical therapy. The next day, she came to my office for a second magnet, because it was helping her so much.)

Tiredness: When all the tests are normal, doctors often diagnose depression for tired people. Some respond to antidepressant treatment. For Ms. E, magnetic shoe insoles worked. She even returned to her karate class.

As a physician I prefer to understand as fully as possible the workings and applications of Magnetic Field Therapy. I study this in my own practice. I tell my patients about magnets, and I show them the Magnetic Field Therapy Handbook as a guide to usage. I have not had anyone say, "No thanks, I would rather suffer." I am grateful to have Magnetic Field Therapy as a positive intervention for helping the patients in my medical practice.

Health professionals interested in finding out more about magnetic therapy click here

Go to top