Magnetic necklaces---along with magnetic bracelets, clothing and shoe insoles---are widely available items that allow you to wear magnets close to your skin. Some alternative health practitioners posit that wearing magnets can speed healing and ease chronic pain conditions like arthritis. While some research supports the use of certain types of electromagnetic fields to promote healing, as of 2010, conclusive evidence supporting the health benefits of static magnets is not available.
Theory
Living things generate their own electromagnetic fields. They also depend on the electromagnetism of the earth for optimal health, according to Dr. Laurance Johnston, consulting scientist for the Paralyzed Veterans of America's Spinal Cord Research and Education Foundations, and author of "Alternative Medicine and Spinal Cord Injury." Johnston writes on website Healing Therapies that as of 2010, conventional medicine is only beginning to understand the impact of electromagnetic fields on health and healing.
History
Throughout the ancient world, healers prized magnets for their therapeutic properties, according to Linda Page, naturopath and holistic nutritionist. In "Linda Page's Healthy Healing," she notes that Greek, Persian, Egyptian and Indian practitioners all used magnets to treat physical and psychological disorders. In the 16th century, Paracelsus, Swiss physician and pioneer of pharmaceutical medicine, promoted the use of magnets. Since the 1950s, doctors have used electromagnetic fields to speed healing, particularly in patients with bone fractures. Some alternative health pracitioners promote the use of static magnets to alter the body's electromagnetic field and create the conditions for healing.
Claims
Proponents of wearing magnetic jewelry and clothing claim that it has numerous healing effects on the body. Page lists increased circulation, improved enzyme activity, greater endorphin production and decreased inflammation among the many positive effects of magnets. She references clinical studies that have proven the positive effects of magnetic therapy on tendonitis, arthritis and hormone disorders, among other conditions. A magnetic necklace would allow the wearer to place magnets near the head, neck, shoulders and thyroid, for potential healing in these areas.
Research
Many of the claims practitioners attach to magnetic jewelry are based on research involving electrical devices used in hospitals to generate pulsed electromagnetic fields, not the static magnets you find in magnetic necklaces. Researchers continue to investigate the possible medical applications of pulsed electromagnetic fields. A 2010 study by Christine Rohde and colleagues of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, published in the journal "Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery," found that breast reduction patients who were treated with pulsed electromagnetic therapy reported a 300 percent decrease in pain levels five hours after surgery, when compared to patients who did not receive treatment.
Static Magnet Research
Research into the healing effects of static magnets, like those found in magnetic necklaces, does not fully support claims that they are as effective as pulsed electromagnetic fields. A 2007 study, published in the "Canadian Medical Association Journal," reviewed 29 clinical trials that investigated the effectiveness of static magnets for reducing pain. Study authors Max Pittler, Elizabeth Brown and Edzard Ernst found that magnets are not effective for pain relief. Evidence for using static magnets to treat osteoarthritis were not sufficient to draw conclusions. The authors called for further investigation.
