The Pain Attraction - Magnetic Therapy

For thousands of years, Chinese, Egyptian, Roman, Greek and Hindu practitioners have used magnets to successfully treat medical ailments such as arthritis, chronic pain, inflammation, muscle tension, migraines, tumors, asthma allergies, diabetes and more. Scientists have been unable to come up with conclusive evidence to disprove the effectiveness of magnetic therapy, while more and more people swear by its healing power.

As an ever-increasing therapy for alternative treatment of not only common ailments but also many other afflictions, Magnetic Therapy has finally hit the mainstream. Numerous people, who have had exceptional success with magnets as a form of pain control, have offered testimonials swearing by the healing power of magnets. Skeptics respond by stating that the healing power of magnetic treatment for pain control is no more than mind over matter. Chronic pain sufferers, who have had success with magnetic therapy for the constant pain of fibromyalgia or arthritis, are quick to disagree.

Today, many professional athletes, workout gurus and an ever-increasing number of ordinary people are turning to magnetic therapy to treat a wide range of medical conditions. Their belief in the healing powers of magnets as a pain control aid is substantial.

Magnetic jewelry has become the most popular method of application for magnets. Found in assorted sizes, shapes and styles, magnetic jewelry is sold through many venues such as infomercials and Internet sites with prices ranging from $5.00 to $800.00. All contain internal iron within the magnet, and this is what many believe arouses the production of oxygen in the blood stream, which in turn controls the pain. Most believe that a form of stabilization develops in the nervous system, which aids in easing pain or discomfort.

Recently, many alternative practitioners have attested that magnets really do have healing power. They refer to the latest research, which indicates strongly that magnetic therapy really does work.

Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston, Texas performed a controlled study, using real and fake magnets on patients who suffered leg pain from post-polio syndrome. 76% of the patients in this study who were treated with the real magnets felt relief from the pain. Only 18% of the patients treated with the fake magnets felt pain relief. In another study, researchers demonstrated that magnets helped to relieve the pain of patients suffering from Fibromyalgia. This study had had a group of patients sleep on magnetic mattresses and another group of patients sleep on ordinary mattresses. The patients who slept on the magnetic mattresses experienced considerably more pain relief than those who slept on the ordinary mattresses.

In Diabetic neuropathy, research into the effectiveness of using magnetic footpads to treat diabetes and its related complaints such as tingling, pain and numbness in the foot, resulted in an astounding success. Nearly 80% of patients suffering from these diabetes related complaints claimed the use of magnets greatly relieved the pain, tingling and numbness.

When magnets are held against the skin, the capillary walls relax thus increasing the flow of blood to the afflicted area. Magnets are also used to prevent muscle spasms at the base of pain by intervening with muscle contractions and by interfering with electrochemical reactions within the nerve cells impeding the ability of these nerves to transmit messages of pain to the brain.

Although there are many prescriptions and over the counter pain relieving drugs available to treat the chronic pain of fibromyalgia, arthritis and other pain-causing diseases, all have potential detrimental side effects. The attraction of magnetic therapy is that it has a proven effectiveness and there are virtually no risky side effects.