magnetic therapy

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magnetic therapy - October 31, 2000 3:38:00 PM

7ced

Posts: 2
Joined: October 30, 2000
Status: offline

Has anyone used magnetic therapy as part of their physical therapy treatment? Do they really help to reduce pain and in what instances are they used? I'd love to hear about anyone's experiences! Thanks!

Post #: 1

Re: magnetic therapy - November 6, 2000 8:16:00 AM

Andrew M. Ball, MS, PT

Posts: 500
Joined: October 8, 1999
From: Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Status: offline

The peer-reviewed literature doesn't support the use of magnets. Period.

That said, I have seen an unpublished study looking at increases in strength when an individual lifted a pair of dumbells (10 seconds in an "iron cross" if I remember correctly), and then moved onto magnetic inner-soles and was able to lift a heavier set of dumbells.

"Yeah right," I thought.

At APTA conference, I actually tried doing just that on my own. I was in fact able to lift a significantly heavier load when standing barefoot over the magnets. I have no idea why. Was this a true effect? Did standing in a magnetic field (also an electric field) make my neurons somehow "more ready" to fire? If so, how did the field at my feet affect deltoid strength? OR . . . was it just Hawthorne effect (aka. Novelty Effect)?

We need to look into these effects, publish the results, and examine the neurophysiology before we start treating patients . . . and billing them . . . for this kind of stuff.

Drew

[This message has been edited by Andrew M. Ball, MS, PT (edited November 06, 2000).]

(in reply to 7ced)

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