Does Magnotherapy Work? Myths About Magnetic Therapy

Ever tried one of those magnetic bangles? Or a strap for your arm, or shoe insoles, or even a whole mattress cover loaded with little magnets? Did they do anything for you? It’s amazing how easily gullible people can be taken in by a slick-talking salesman, or a marketing campaign, isn’t it?

Or – on the other hand – DO they work?

No, They Don’t

Just ask the average Joe or Jill on the street about these things, and you’ll be amazed by the variety of answers they give. The cynics simply say: “Can’t work. Doesn’t work. No evidence will convince me – it’s impossible!” A genuine sceptic will want evidence, which is fair enough. But a lot of sceptics are very picky about how good the evidence has to be – even full medical trials can be laughed away as “flawed!” And a lot of people will just wait and see; maybe if the government says it’s OK…

Yeah, Man!

On the other side, there are some who’ll believe anything that looks mystical or spiritual; wrap it up in pseudo-religious words and they’ll buy whatever you’ve got. And, following the Placebo Effect (if you think it works, it often does), there will be some results. You’ll also meet a lot of users who are sure that their magnetic bangle or whatever is giving them genuine results, and can give you proof. Yet I once met a man whose arm strap had, unknown to him, lost its six tiny magnets years before; he swore that it was still working well. I guess it was – as well as it ever did, anyway!

How Can We Tell?

So how can we work out whether magnetic therapy is a real help, rather than pseudo-scientific or semi-mystical junk? I go for a mixture of two things: practical scientific research, based on statistical studies on many people, and anecdotal evidence: what doctors and users have seen personally – also collected together from many people. Using these two kinds of evidence, you can get a good idea of the truth, which is this: magnetic therapy sometimes DOES work – and frequently does not.

What does work?

First, it’s the electromagnotherapy machines you’ll find in hospitals and clinics. There are many designs, some combining other kinds of therapy with magnotherapy, but they’ve all been well-trialled and the results are measurable. Almost all of them have a VERY strong magnetic field, which switches rapidly between north and south pole, using the alternating current that produces the magnetic field. So, second, anything which follows the same principles has a chance of being effective. Do note, though, that the magnetic fields here are at least 30 times as strong as typical ‘powerful’ magnets used in bangles and mattresses.

What Doesn’t?

There have also been hundreds of trials on wrist magnets, straps, etc. Very few of these have been able to show positive results in over three decades of testing. So we can deduce that either non-electrical magnets for therapy don’t work, or that there was something wrong with the magnet sets tested in nearly all of these trials. I go for the second idea – most of what you can buy is ineffective, but there are exceptions. The problem is, how to tell the golden sheep from the waste-of-money goats.

The Best Evidence

The few medical appliance trials that worked had one of two things in common: either they were testing magnetic therapy for skin problems such as bedsores or wounds; or they used the same pole switching as the hospital equipment. And the best trial results for pole switching systems used very powerful magnets, ten to fifty times as strong as almost everything you’ll find in the shops. So if you can find personal magnotherapy which is super-powerful and does pole-switching, you have a likely aid to pain relief and healing.