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How Magnets Relieve Pain However, this therapy is controversial and not without critics. According to Stephen Barrett, M.D., the founder of quackwatch.org, during the past several years, magnetic devices have been claimed to relieve pain and to have therapeutic value against a large number of diseases and conditions. "There is no scientific basis to conclude that small, static magnets can relieve pain or influence the course of any disease. In fact, many of today's products produce no significant magnetic field at or beneath the skin's surface." Magnets have also been claimed to increase circulation. This claim is false. If it were true, placing a magnet on the skin would make the area under the magnet become red, which it does not. Moreover, a well-designed study that actually measured blood flow has found no increase. The study involved 12 healthy volunteers who were exposed to either a 1000-gauss magnetic disk or an identically appearing disk that was not magnetic. No change in the amount or speed of blood flow was observed when either disk was applied to their arm. The magnets were manufactured by Magnetherapy, Inc, of Riviera Beach, Florida, a company that has been subjected to two regulatory actions. According to The Mayo Clinic, a well respected healthcare organization... "...Many theories have been proposed as to why magnet therapy may relieve pain. But none of these theories has been scientifically proved. Clinical trials involving magnet therapy have produced conflicting results. Some suggest effective pain relief from magnets, and others report no effect. The vast majority of magnets marketed to consumers to treat pain are of a type called static magnets, because the resulting magnetic fields are unchanging. The other magnets used for health purposes are called electromagnets, because they generate magnetic fields only when electrical current flows through them. Currently, electromagnets are used primarily under the supervision of a doctor or in clinical trials. Static magnets come in various strengths. Examples of products containing magnets include shoe insoles, heel inserts, mattress pads, belts and bracelets. Some of these products can be quite expensive. Additional, larger and higher quality studies are needed to determine what role, if any, magnet therapy may play in pain relief. In the meantime, it is reasonable to say that some people appear to get some benefit from magnet therapy — although this may be in part to a placebo effect. Also, no significant adverse effects have been reported with magnet therapy." Medical magnets come in a dizzying range of shapes, sizes and strengths. They range in price from about $5 all the way to $900. A 2003 study by Marketdata, of pain management programs, found that for ALL pain practitioners as a group, just 2.2% used magnetic therapy as a treatment method.
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