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The 21 most common myths and mysteries about
magnetic therapy
Essential must read information for anyone
who is considering using magnets for pain relief
1) Wearing a magnetic bracelet will NOT help with pain all over your body.
Magnets work most efficiently when they are placed directly on or over the area of pain. A bracelet will help with pain in the hand, wrist, fingers and arm. The magnetic field has a localized effect and cannot penetrate all the body at the same time so cannot help to alleviate pain in other areas.
A recent trial has shown that wearing a bracelet may help slightly, but that is because when magnets are worn on the wrist, close to the radial artery, they help to stimulate and increase blood flow around the body which would result in a minimal reduction to pain in other areas of the body away from the arm.
If you then compare this to the benefits of wearing magnets directly over the area, a large percentage of people felt an 82% reduction in their pain.
2) Magnets aren't very strong if they don't stick to metal objects.
For a magnet to be attracted and attach itself to a separate piece of metallic material it would need to have a large enough surface area. A magnet that has a surface strength of 3000 gauss and is only 0.5 cm in diameter may not stick to the scissors; the surface area of the magnet is very small in comparison to its strength so that the magnetic field is concentrated to one area to allow for a deeper penetration into the tissues.
A magnet of 800 gauss and a diameter of 2 cm will stick to the scissors, but the effects of the magnet are not as concentrated so the magnetic field would penetrate a larger area in comparison to the smaller magnet but it wouldn't be as deep within the tissues.
3) The bigger the magnet the stronger the magnet.
A very small 0.5 cm diameter magnet can measure 3000 gauss or more and similarly a 2 cm diameter magnet can measure 800 gauss so in the case of magnet strength size doesn't matter. Magnets are available in almost every conceivable shape, size and strength.
What is more important is to be aware that a magnet with a larger surface area will produce a larger magnetic field but if it is not as high in strength then will not penetrate very deep into the tissues; whereas a smaller magnet would produce a smaller magnetic field but if it is very high in strength would be able to penetrate into the deepest parts of your tissues right to the point of pain.
Size is not the most important factor, strength is.
4) Wearing multiple magnets at the same time could be harmful.
There have been no known or reported side effects of any number of magnets worn continuously. Magnets are natural and safe and the more magnets you wear the more benefits that you will receive from them. There is no problem using or wearing several magnetic devices at the same time. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner at a hospital works by using very high gauss (the unit of measurement) magnetic fields which penetrate the entire body. In an average scanner they use a magnetic strength of 15,000 gauss, when you compare this with a standard healing magnet of 800 - 3000 gauss you will realise that they are completely safe. There have been no reported problems with the use of this equipment and doctors use them everyday.5) Magnets will relieve pain within a few minutes of wearing them.
Magnets do not work in the same way as painkillers. Painkillers block the pain from reaching the brain, when there is damage caused to the body chemicals are made that are then picked up by all the nerve endings in that area, the nerves would then normally send a message to the brain that would then interpret it as pain. Different types of painkillers work on different areas within the region of the damage to block the pain, some affect the chemicals that are released so that the nerves do not pick them up and some react with the nerves themselves to disable them from sensing the chemicals and passing the message to the brain. This is a fairly simple chemical process and so with in 20 to 30 minutes of taking painkillers you should feel pain relief. The damage is still there, you just can't feel it.
Magnets don't block pain signals they actually treat the cause of the pain. Placing a magnet onto an area that has been damaged (either an ailment like arthritis or an injury to the area) increases circulation and blood flow to this area. The increased blood supply will then bring with it a fresh supply of nutrients and the body's own, natural painkillers, endorphins. While the increased endorphins help to alleviate the pain the nutrients and oxygen rich blood begin to heal the damaged area resulting in pain reduction, less inflammation and the beginnings of new cell growth to repair damage done to the area. This is obviously a complex chain of events and takes time. It is not like taking a painkiller that will have a quick effect, this process can take days or even weeks depending on the person, but the effects are much more long-lasting. Approximately 4 - 6 hours after taking painkillers you will need to take them again as the effects start to wear off. But once you have felt the relief with the magnets you can remove them and be pain free for weeks or you can prevent your pain coming back altogether by wearing your magnets continuously.
A recent trial has shown that wearing a magnetic bracelet may help slightly, but that is because when magnets are worn on the wrist, close to the radial artery, they help to stimulate and increase blood flow around the body which would result in a minimal reduction to pain in other areas of the body away from the arm. If you then compare this to the benefits of wearing magnets directly over tarea, a large percentage of people felt an 82% reduction in their pain.
6) You don't have to wear magnets all the time.
You need to wear north pole//negative magnets 24 hours a day 7 days a week to allow the amount of magnetism to build up and give the body ample time to repair. Every time you remove the magnets you are slowing down and stopping this process from happening making it very difficult for the magnets to have their desired effects on your pain and discomfort. Whilst you are in pain you should wear your magnets 24 hours a day 7 days a week to allow them to do their job. When you are not wearing your magnets the effects of the magnetism won't be able to work on your problem. Your circulation will go back to normal and the rich supply of oxygenated blood will no longer be apparent. As a result of this your body wouldn't have had enough time to begin healing itself and the effects that it did have on you would wear off pretty quickly.
7) Magnets are all the same so a fridge magnet would work just as well.
Magnets are not all the same. Magnets come in all different shapes and sizes and as of yet we there isn't one particular type of magnets that has proven to be the best so we tend to use magnets according to their properties. You can get them made from different materials and at different strengths. Fridge magnets measure approximately 200 gauss in strength and are usually made from ceramic ferrite. Ceramic ferrite magnets are much heavier and larger than neodymium magnets, they don't retain their magnetic strength for very long so if you were using these for healing purposes you would need to replace them frequently.
Neodymium magnets are rare earth healing magnets. They are light weight and have a high resistance to becoming de-magnetised, keeping their strength for 10 years, they can hold very high strengths of magnetism which means we can use smaller magnets and still have a high strength. It is because of these properties that neodymium magnets are used widely for healing. The minimum strength of magnets that are to be used on the body is 800 gauss which will be sufficient for mild to moderate pain. Moderate pain that is longstanding would need a magnetic strength of 2,000 gauss and severe pain would require a magnetic strength of between 2,500 and 3000 gauss and these strengths are easily obtainable using neodymium magnets.8) You can't magnetize water because there is no metal in it.
Magnets do not only affect metal they also affect the negative and positive ions that are found in every molecule. Water cannot become traditionally magnetized in that it will stick to other magnetic objects but it can hold a magnetic charge, as can all particles if they contain positive and negative ions. When water comes into contact with a magnetic field it affects the positive and negative ions in the water changing the characteristics of the water molecule, these changes are;
* An increased size of the water molecule – this results in increased absorption of nutrients and toxins along the digestive tract.
* A reduction in the amount of free radicals (toxins) that is present in the water – which means that the water is cleansed of a large number of toxins that are known to be harmful to the body.
* An increase in the ability to absorb nutrients – this supplies the body with all the things needed to heal itself more effectively
* Increased effectiveness at being absorbed into the blood stream through the linings of the digestive organs – Which means that the increased amount of nutrients can be used more quickly and the collected toxins can be flushed safely out of your system just as effectively.
All of these factors working together will increase your circulation and bring about the benefits of pain relief and reduced inflammation.
9) Magnetic therapy is a recent discovery and hasn't been around very long.
Magnets have actually been used for thousands of years. They were first discovered around 3000 years ago. They were first discovered in Asia where lodestone, the first magnetic substance was identified. A boy call Magnus, a Sheppard boy, was walking on Mount Ida with iron in his sandals and found that his feet were sticking to the rocky mountain that he was walking on, the rock was in fact lodestone which is a natural magnetic material and was the first documented magnetic material. It was named after the boy who discovered it, Magnus.
The first magnets to be used for healing purposes was documented in Chinese medicine and were used in conjunction with alternative medicines such as acupuncture and reflexology. The Chinese call magnets Chu Sui. Aristotle and Plato were also known to be talking about magnetic properties in their works. In the 1500's a Swiss physician Paracelsus recognized the therapeutic powers of magnets and wrote papers to document this. In the 1600's Dr William Gilbert, an English physician wrote a scientific study on electricity and magnetism and wrote a leading book called De Magnet.
In England in the 1700's a scientist Dr Michael Faraday made discoveries into Bio magnetism and he became the father of Biomagnetics. He wrote that all matter was either attracted or repelled by magnetic forces. His work still holds the foundations of modern magnetic therapy today. Dr Messmer who is known as the father of hypnotism or "mesmerism" was also one of the main pioneers of magnetic therapy as we know it today.
10) Magnetic therapy can cure your condition.
Magnet therapy is not a cure. Magnets will treat the symptoms of the ailments that you suffer with. When your pain and discomfort has been resolved you will still have the ailment. They may slow down the effects of progressive conditions e.g. arthritis but they cannot cure it. There is no cure for arthritis. Pain, inflammation, stiffness, discomfort and swelling are the result and symptoms of many conditions and it is in fact these symptoms that stop us from doing the things we used to do e.g. gardening, rambling, or even just climbing the stairs.
The magnets will relieve these symptoms and even though they will not cure the underlying problem the fact that they have resolved your symptoms equates to you being able to do the things you love to do. The magnets act as an aid to the body's own repair system but it isn't a miracle cure.11) Magnet therapy didn't help your friend so it won't help you either.
It is true that magnets don't work for everyone, but they do work for 82 % of people, so just because your friend didn't benefit doesn't mean that you won't. People react to magnets at very different rates, some absorb the magnetism really quickly and get relief from their pain within a few days and then some people are very slow to absorb the magnetism and it can take up to 8 - 12 weeks for these people to receive any benefit. Most people find relief after 2 weeks. Your friend may not have been using the magnets correctly;
* They may have taken them off to go to sleep
* They may have had the wrong type of magnets
* They may have worn them in the wrong place
* They may have used magnets that were not strong enough
* They may have stopped using them too soon.
You won't actually know if magnets don't work for you unless you use them correctly. Your friend should have spoken to a trained magnetic therapist about using the magnets to ensure that they are used correctly.
12) Magnetic therapy can make you loose weight.
I wish this were true, in fact there has been no research done into the matter and if we look at the way that magnets affect the body there is very little chance of them aiding weight loss, they can help to detoxify the body and help with fluid retention but they won't help to get rid of fat.
13) You can't use magnet therapy whilst taking medication.
Magnets are natural and safe and are fine to use in-conjunction with any types of oral medication. No chemicals or drugs are involved in the use of magnetic therapy. Also prescribed medication does not affect the magnets. Magnetic therapy SHOULD NOT be used if you are undergoing chemotherapy or if you use analgesic transdermal drug patches or GTN transdermal drug patches.
14) You're too old to use magnets.
You are never too old to use magnet therapy. It will work on people of all ages and it won't harm you if you are older. Pain and inflammation is exactly the same in both young and old, it is created in the same way, felt in the same way and relieved in the same way. Magnets will work to relieve the condition in exactly the same way whether you are 82 or 16. The opposite is in fact true, you can be too young. Children under the age of 7 should not use magnets.
15) You're in too much pain for the magnets to work.
Magnets will work for 82% of people no matter how severe your pain is. You will obviously need stronger magnets for higher levels of pain to actually gain a benefit but even the standard magnets will reduce high levels of pain a little bit. It will also take longer to relieve severe pain. The process of healing with magnets will be extended because severe pain is often caused by large amounts of inflammation and damage to the affected area, this will obviously take longer to heal. Take into consideration how it can take 8 weeks for a broken bone to heal whereas a sprain or strain is healed within a few days.16) Magnets will stay magnetized forever.
To magnetize metal it needs to be repeatedly passed over a magnet. This process imprints the magnets strength onto the metal that is being magnetized. In turn this metal then becomes magnetic. Magnets do not stay magnetized forever. Magnets will retain their magnetism for a certain amount of time and it is different for every single type of magnet. Neodymium magnets retain their strength for approximately 10 years, a lot longer than ceramic ferrite magnets.
17) Magnetic therapy will do strange things to my body.
The only strange thing it will do to your body is relieve your pain without the use of drugs. Magnets will increase circulation, relieve pain and reduce inflammation. Apart from a slight warming around the area where your magnets are placed, there are no reported side effects and even the warm sensation only lasts for a few days while the body gets used to the increased circulation.
18) Your doctor doesn't know anything about magnets. So it can't be true.
Your doctor is probably a GP. This means general practitioner. They are trained in general mainstream medicine and most of them haven't even heard of magnets let alone undergone specialist training. They are not qualified to give out advice on magnet therapy so you should always speak to a qualified magnetic therapist. You don't need your GP's permission and you can use magnets in conjunction with all conventional treatments.
19) When you start using magnets the pain has to get worse before it gets better.
Magnets will begin to work as soon as you start wearing them, there is no delay. The magnets may cause a warm sensation to occur in the area where the magnets are placed but this is due to the increased circulation and the body soon gets used to it, with the warm feeling only lasting a couple of days. They do not cause pain and they don't increase pain. To get the most benefits you should wear them all the time, day and night until your pain is resolved.
20) You can't wear magnets if you have metal implants.
Metal implants are not affected at all by the magnets and the magnets aren't affected by the metal implants either so they are perfectly safe to use together. The implants, are commonly metal pins that are holding bones together, or rods of metal that have been used to support an injury during healing or a joint replacement. All metal prosthesis are made from surgical grade stainless steel (316L). The same type of stainless steel is used in our stainless steel jewelry range so it is perfectly safe to use with magnets. There are some exceptions;
* You should not use magnets if you have an internal defibrillator/pump
* You should not use magnets if you have a pacemaker.* You should not use magnets if you have are pregnant
Using magnet therapy with a pacemaker or internal defibrillator/pump could cause the device to malfunction which in turn could result in an interruption of your heart rhythm, so for this reason you should never use magnets with either a pace maker or an internal defibrillator/pump.
21) You can't wear magnets when working with electrical equipment.
Most equipment would not be affected if the user wore magnets. It is a safe enough distance from the appliance so that it is not affected. You should not place magnets directly on to the equipment such as a computer monitor or hard drive, as this close proximity may cause damage. Anything that uses a magnetic strip or part that contains information (e.g. a credit/debit card) should be kept away from magnets as they may cause damage to the strip and erase the information contained on the strip rendering it useless. It is fine to use a debit/credit card whilst wearing a magnetic bracelet.
Now click here for a list of therapy tools that will relieve your pain
January, 2010
Until Next Time, Let the electromagnetic force be with you !
