Can Magnetic Therapy Improve Your Health - Does It Really Work?

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By Jamila Shaikh

Magnetic Therapy: Does It Work?

With alternative healing being promoted more and more, magnetic therapy has been growing in popularity, but the question is, does it really work? In this article, we'll look at what exactly magnetic therapy is, how it functions and whether you can actually benefit from it.

What Is Magnetic Therapy?

This is simply the use of magnets to heal assorted problems. The method is used on animals and humans with similar results. The most frequent use is to calm inflammation and to ease chronic pain, through the application of magnets directly on to the skin, exactly where on the skin being dependent on the practitioner. Some people apply magnets to specific points in the body regardless of where the pain is, this is based on a theory of realigning the magnetic fields of the body enhances a person's general well-being. As of yet, there is no scientific study to show that this method actually works and is beneficial. However, the method of applying magnets directly to affected area's, may have some scientific proof to back it up.

The History of Magnetic Therapy

The Chinese originally used lodestone, a natural magnetic rock, in their treatments, thousands of years ago. While much of Chinese medicine is still considered to be alternative, many people swear by it and magnets are no exception.

Cleopatra also used a magnet, according to legends, placed on her forehead while she slept, to help prevent aging. There are countless stories of how magnets have been used throughout history as healing agents and as we study them more in the modern day, the more likely it seems that there is some truth to these stories.

Does Magnetic Therapy Actually Work?

We already know that magnets can be very powerful and that they've been used for many years to help us diagnose medical problems (MRIs) and in many industrial applications. There are many claims that the magnets work on the endorphins in the body, helping prevent pain, in that they work on certain glands aiding the release of certain hormones that help healing, etc.

Our bodies are full of cells containing iron (particularly blood). This is the theory most believers of magnetic theory cling to, in the fact that the magnets through the attraction of iron, increase blood flow to an area and therefore healing is faster and pain relief is significantly reduced. Scientific studies conducted on rats have shown this to be the case. This is the same principle behind applying heat to an injured joint. The problem is that if you twist an ankle, you need to first apply cold to reduce the swelling, but this also slows the circulation to the area. You then apply heat to increase the circulation, which can cause the swelling to return. This can be bad for the tissues in the area. In theory with magnetic therapy however, you can achieve both at the same time, increased circulation while reducing the swelling. For those who suffer from arthritis, this type of therapy can therefore be extremely beneficial.

Nevertheless many arthritis sufferers will tell you, magnetic therapy hasn't helped their symptoms at all. This is understandable considering it is arguable whether or not the magnetic fields contained within these magnetic therapy products, are able to penetrate through the skin and therefore have any effect on the individual. This in contrast though to the thousands of people who swear by magnetic therapy, with many wearing titanium magnetic bracelets and a host of other magnetic products to ease pain in their wrists and other joints.

Conclusion

With insufficient scientific information or evidence on the benefits of magnetic therapy, the jury is still out. Whether magnetic therapy works for you or not, therefore remains hit or miss. Fortunately testing of whether it does or not, can be done with relatively little expense, as so many "magnetic therapy" containing products exist in today's market.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5775137

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