About Magnetic Therapy

Magnetism has always intrigued scholars and ordinary folk alike with its mysterious, magical seeming powers, In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in alternative medicines or treatments.

People seeking better relief than drugs can give them, or looking to treat their illness/pain without medication, are flocking to the natural alternatives being offered, including magnetic therapy. But is it a genuinely effective treatment, or simply a manipulation of the consumer's mind by slick marketing and promises that don't hold up?

Many experiments investigating the effects of external field polarization on the human body have been conducted in the last few years, trying to determine the possible benefits of the use of magnets. The pros and cons discovered by the research are being used frequently by both sides of the argument.

The fact is that pulse magnetism has used in hospitals for many years to increase the healing of fractured bones, and many people claim that magnetic therapy has helped them.

Experiments with magnetite nanopartiles were conducted in Japan with noticable reasults. Many of those who do not believe that magnetic therapy can help tend to ignore one question: Can you really afford not to try magnetic jewellery? Now that you can find magnetic bracelets and other magnetic jewellery and magnetic therapy in the UK for such low prices, can you really afford not to try? 

With cancer on the increase, and the increase of our dependency on pain killers, surely you should consider purchasing a magnetic bracelet or other magnetic product.

Magnetic therapy and magnetic jewelry may help in the following conditions: Arthritic pain. Joint pain. Knee pain. Neck pain. Ankle pain. Wrist pain. Rheumatism. Carpel tunnel syndrome. Tennis elbow. Golfers elbow & injuries. Football injuries. Tennis injuries Period pain. Repetitive strain injury. Poor circulation. Low back pain. Sciatica; migraine headache. Muscle soreness.

History of magnets and magnetic therapy

Magnets have been used to help the healing process for thousands of years in China, India, Greece and the Arabian Peninsula", and the ancient Egyptians used 'loadstones' to prolong life and improve health. Legend has it that Cleopatra wore a polished lodestone on her third eye (perhaps trying to cause the pineal gland in the brain to release melatonin), in the belief that it helped maintain her youth and beauty. The ancient Hindus in India believed that a dying person should rest with their body aligned north and south (their head pointed north) to relieve their pain and ease their departure from this life.

The earliest written medical text, The Yellow Emperor's Book of Internal Medicine, published in China around 2,000 B.C., mentions the application of magnetic stones to correct health imbalances.

The word magnet comes from the ancient Greeks. It is thought to derive from “Magnes lithos,” meaning "stone from Magnesia," an area of Greece that was known for its volcanic rocks with magnetic attributes.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle spoke about using magnets for healing therapy. Paracelsus (1493-1541), who is considered to be the father of modern medicine, believed that the life force of the body was most influenced by the force found in magnets. He advocated using magnets to energize and influence the body's life force so as to start the healing process, treating everything from inflammation to diarrhoea to epilepsy.

In the 1600's, the use of magnetic therapy started to spread through Europe and in 1600, William Gilbert, court physician to Elizabeth I of England, published the first scientific treatise on magnetism, De Magnete. This book summarized the current knowledge about magnetism, showing, for instance, that steel holds a magnetic charge better than iron and that there is a distinction between magnetism and electricity. Gilbert was the first to describe the Earth as a huge magnet with magnetic poles close to the geographic north and south poles. He also confirmed that use of the lodestone could be "beneficial in many diseases of the human system". (The term lodestone for magnetized stones is from the Middle Ages, when the lodestone -- "guiding stone" -- was used in compasses by sailors as a navigational tool.)

Franz Anton Mesmer, an 18th-century mathematician and physician, wrote his doctoral thesis on the effects of gravitational fields on human health. He proposed that there was magnetic energy flowing throughout the universe and inside the body as well. Mesmer thought that the body had magnetic poles and that illness was caused by these poles moving out of alignment with the universal magnetic flow. He experimented with using magnets to treat seizures and other conditions.

Around 1800, Alessandro Volta constructed the first battery (made of silver, moist cardboard, and zinc), which produced a small, steady electric current. Further experiments with electricity by Andre-Marie Ampere, Michael Faraday, and others, established the link between magnetism and electricity. Faraday demonstrated that a magnet in motion could produce electricity and that the flow of electricity produces a magnetic field. This was confirmed by Scottish scientist James Maxwell, who showed that light was an electromagnetic phenomenon as well.

The publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1818 certainly shows that electricity was very much “in the air topic” during this period. This gothic romance, about bringing the dead to life, reflected an interest at this time in using electromagnetism as a therapy. Reanimation devices - using electricity in much the same way as defibrillators are used in hospitals today to jumpstart the heart - became popular and were successfully used for heart arrhythmias, angina, and curvature of the spine.

Magnetic boots, rings, girdles, and caps, as well as magnetic ointments became available in mail-order catalogues.

Daniel Palmer founded Palmer's School of Magnetic Cure in Davenport, Iowa, which taught massage techniques, spinal manipulations, and use of magnets in healing therapies -- this later evolved into modern chiropractic.

The discovery of the electron at the end of the 19th century moved electromagnetism to the atomic level, demonstrating that all matter is essentially electric in nature.

Finally, Albert Einstein, in postulating his theory of relativity, showed that electricity and magnetism are not discrete phenomena, but different aspects of the same phenomenon.

Medical textbooks at this time included magnetism and electricity as therapeutic alternatives for mental disorders in particular and other conditions as well. It was recommended for convulsions, insomnia, migraine, fatigue, arthritis, and pain. Magnet therapy fell into disfavour following World War II with the development of antibiotics and biochemistry-based medicine.

Today, magnet therapy is seeing a resurgence in use and is an officially approved therapy in over 45 countries worldwide.

How does magnetic therapy work?

The human body is electromagnetic, being composed largely of charged particles such as atoms, electrons, protons, and ions (e.g. potassium, sodium, etc.). These all perform vital life functions.

When a magnet is placed on the body there may be a temporary increase in the magnetic force on the atoms composing the cells of his/her body in the area of the focal point. The force may results in a higher velocity of some of the orbiting electrons.

This increase in velocity of some electrons and not others causes precession or wobble of an atom and a higher charge on the valence electrons. Combined, the higher velocity and increased charge, leads to enhanced electron transfer. Electron transfer is the basic action in all chemical reactions in the body. So, the magnet may act as a catalyst to improve chemical reactions occurring in the human body.

This possibly improves a variety of body functions in the area under the magnet, such as oxygen carrying capacity, assimilation of nutrients, manufacture of enzymes, metabolic waste removal, reduction of free radicals, tissue regeneration, and most importantly healing.

The rate of healing may be accelerated to be much faster than the typical healing rate of the human body.