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On magnets and holy water

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | 01:34 PM ET

By Peter Hadzipetros

So we may be throwing our money away if we buy those magnets that are supposed to ease our aches and pains.

According to a study published in the latest Canadian Medical Association Journal, the "evidence does not support the use of static magnets for pain relief."

Nobody told that to one of the pitchers in last Friday night's baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Don't recall his name, but I do remember the half dozen or so magnetic necklaces he was wearing. The play-by-play announcer noticed them, too. Said that a lot of ballplayers use them to alleviate muscle soreness — and that it must work because a lot of players use them. Then he gave the brand name of the necklace the player was wearing and directed viewers to a website.

Selling magnets for pain relief is a multi-billion dollar industry. There are estimates that as many as 28 per cent of people with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia use static magnets or copper bracelets for pain relief. Static magnets — also called permanent magnets — generate a magnetic field by the spin of electrons within the magnet itself. Electromagnets use an electric current to generate a magnetic field — not too efficient if you want to carry it around in a bracelet.

The theory is that a magnetic field can increase blood flow, causing more oxygen, nutrients, hormones and painkilling endorphins to be distributed to tissues in the affected area.

But the CMAJ says magnets cannot be recommended as an effective treatment.

Too bad. I was thinking of carrying as many as I could while running my next marathon, in hopes of avoiding that post-race full-body seize up.

Copper bracelets are supposed to help ease pain, too. Seems copper's been used as a pain treatment since the time of the ancient Greeks. I do know someone who swore by that remedy, although the only difference I could see in him was a green ring around his wrist.

Maybe I'll turn to the remedies of a not-so-ancient Greek. I remember once driving my mother to an intersection in north-end Montreal.

"Wait to the car," she told me as she got out.

I watched as she walked into the middle of that intersection — under the light of a full moon — and smashed a small bottle that contained a few ounces of water blessed by a priest. Didn't help her pain. But sure kept away the evil eye.

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Murray

In the same realm as black magic, lieing under a pyramid structure that was the craze of over a decade ago, rabbits feet, four leaf clovers, horseshoes, snakes, snails and puppy dog tails. I recently saw an ad for an electronic gadget for the car. You stick it to the metal under the hood, near the battery area and it is supposed to create an aura around the car that will stop dust and dirt from adhering to the outside of the car. Monumentally rediculous. It will work great for the person that created and is selling that hallucination.

Posted September 30, 2007 11:40 PM

Jim

Timmins

The human body is an amazing thing. When you talk of the processes connected to pain, its a very small sensory step to go from a tickle to excruciating pain to pleasure - on a chemical, level that is. The S&M community will attest to that. It doesn't surprise me that in the absence of understanding, we will support any "snake oil" cure. I agree with Mr. Yellowknifer - if we believe by the basis of someone else's testimony; whether we know them or not, we're probably halfway there already. I love the infomercial for the "ionized(???)" bracelet, where the 200meter runner declares she had her best year, and the only changes she made was to start wearing the bracelet....and a new coach. I'm glad I'm not that coach. Wake up people and do some research. Me, I'm sticking to the only proven cure for chronic pain - chicken bones and goat blood around the perimeter of my yard.

Posted September 28, 2007 07:26 AM

Cynical Yellowknifer

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On magnets and holy water

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | 01:34 PM ET

By Peter Hadzipetros

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