The premise of magnetic therapy is that human tissues emit electromagnetic impulses that become disordered when you are sick or injured. The goal of the treatment is to restore health by correcting the disturbances. Magnetic therapy is a type of holistic medicine, also known as complementary or alternative medicine. Such therapies promote healing without conventional drugs or surgery.
History
During the Middle Ages, which lasted from the 5th century to the 15th century, magnets played a role in treatment for several common maladies, including arthritis, poisoning and gout. Healers in the United States used magnets to treat a wide range of illnesses, from upset stomach to paralysis, following the Civil War, especially in areas with few physicians. But magnets did not come to prominence in the modern era until the 1970s, according to the American Cancer Society. A medical researcher named Albert Roy Davis reported that magnetic charges could influence systems in the human body and began making claims as to their health effects. He said they could cure glaucoma, arthritis pain, infertility and other issues.
Methods
Practitioners and patients administer magnet therapy in several ways. Small magnets, of similar size to the ones you would use to stick notes on your refrigerator, can go directly on your body. Necklaces, bracelets or adhesive strips can hold them in place, or they can go into bands to be places around the ankle, foot, knee, waist, lower back or wrist, according to the American Cancer Society, which notes that treatment can last "minutes to weeks." Other ways to apply them include braces, blankets, sleeping pads, mattresses and insoles.
Benefits
Magnetic therapy practitioners use magnets to treat pain, stress, infections, multiple sclerosis, cancer and a host of other conditions. They also promote it as a way to achieve general health benefits such as increased energy and a stronger immune system. But Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center calls it "questionable therapy," noting that evidence of its effectiveness for most conditions is "limited" and stating specifically that it has "no role in the diagnosis or treatment of cancer."
Warnings
Although magnets pose no risk for most people, they can negatively affect certain implantable devices, according to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center. These include infusion pumps, defibrillators and pacemakers. They are also a bad idea if you are having radiology or magnetic resonance imaging procedures and should be removed prior to any such procedure. Additionally, depending solely on magnet therapy for serious conditions, such as cancer, could lead to serious negative results.
Directions
Magnet therapy is used not only on people. As of 2010, at least one company sells it for use in horses. Equine Magnetic Therapy Inc. offers to sew magnets into equine products such as wraps, braces and blankets. The firm promotes the therapy for conditions such as strains, sprains, bucked shins and tendonitis.
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