Magnet Therapy: A Skeptical View

Stephen Barrett, M.D.

Magnetic devices are claimed to relieve pain and to have therapeutic value against a large number of diseases and conditions. The way to evaluate such claims is to ask whether scientific studies have been published. Pulsed electromagnetic fields—which induce measurable electric fields —have been demonstrated effective for treating slow-healing fractures and have shown promise for a few other conditions. Relatively few studies have been published on the effect on pain of small, static magnets marketed to consumers [1]. Explanations that magnetic fields “increase circulation,” “reduce inflammation,” or “speed recovery from injuries″ are simplistic and are not supported by the weight of experimental evidence [2].

Alternative Treatments for Chronic Pain

Granting to biomagnetic research worker William H. Philpott, M.D., From Choctaw, Oklahoma, magnetic field therapy has numerous practical applications for the easement from pain. “The negative magnetic field (conventional south seeking pole) allowed for by magnetic therapy is perfect for freeing afflict symptoms due to its power to promptly normalize the metabolous functions that create the conditions to begin with,” Dr. Philpott states. He comments that the negative magnetic field doesn’t act as a analgesic, or painkiller. Alternatively, it’s a “normalizer of disarrayed metabolic functions.”