Magnet Therapy...Fact or Fiction

Recently, I have received numerous requests for information about magnet therapy. Magnet therapy, which involves placing small magnets close to the skin in order to relieve muscle or joint pain, has interested many patients who want to avoid pain medications or who seek alternative treatments. The magnets, usually sold through catalogs and Web sites, are contained in elastic bands and pads, and even in jewelry, mattresses, shoe implants, and articles of clothing. Magnet therapy is based on the idea that the body's cells each possess tiny electromagnetic fields which are brought out of alignment when disease is present.The application of magnets to a particular area of the body is believed to realign the body's electromagnetic field. The medical establishment, by and large, remains skeptical. The Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health issues only the following statement: "The office cannot comment on magnetic therapy treatment because it has not conducted research on the subject."

In a new study involving 12 adults with depression, researchers led by Dr. Mark S. George, an associate professor of psychiatry, neurology and radiology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, found that when the patients were given magnet therapy for two weeks, their depression improved significantly more than when they were given phony treatment for a separate two-week period. Nearly 80 touring golf pros now use some form of electromagnetic therapy for help in relieving back pain, arthritis, muscle soreness and other ailments. Some, wear cloth wraps around the waist that hold high-powered magnetic disks. Others also tape smaller magnets on top of arthritic fingers and joints. A few, go for the full-metal jacket and sleep on magnetic mattress pads.

Researchers at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine have reported negative results in a study of patients with heel pain. Over a 4-week period, 19 patients wore a molded insole containing a magnetic foil, while 15 patients wore the same type of insole with no magnetic foil. In both groups, 60% reported improvement, which suggests that the magnetic foil conveyed no benefit. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston have conducted a double-blind test comparing the effects of magnets and sham magnets on the knee pain of 50 patients who had had poliomyelitis. The 29 who received an active magnet reported a significantly greater reduction in pain than the 21 treated with a sham magnet. Whether this finding can be repeated and whether magnets can relieve pain in other types of patients remains to be seen.

There still remains a legitimate question as to whether small static magnets can influence the course of any disease.
You make the call...Dr Bones