Questions posted in the Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Question Title: Magnets,re:to CCF neuro MD *!*

Forum: Neurology Forum
Topic: Chronic Pain

Re: Magnets,re:to CCF neuro MD *!*

Re: Magnets,re:to CCF neuro MD *!*



Posted by CCF Neuro MD on January 24, 1998 at 15:24:49:

In Reply to: Magnets,re:to CCF neuro MD *!* posted by Jean on January 23, 1998 at 20:52:08:

: I have a unique situation in relation to the magnet therapy question. I
have a relative who got into Nikken magnets about four years ago and has
a successful business with them now. My family has used the shoe pads and
car seats and matress pads, etc. for years. The only claim by Nikken for
the products is increased circulation. Long hours sitting on a cartrip with
the magnet pad made a definate difference..no sore butt! Now... two years
ago I had major surgery and 6 months later displayed all the symptoms of
fibromyalgia. Leg pain and weakness, joins coming easily out of line,arm
and shoulder pain, sleeplesness,etc. etc. I have a very good MD with a long
background in orthopedics, after extensive testing for all the regulars,
reumatoid, thyroid, etc.The real evidence was in a malfunctioning liver,
IBS probly related to a major klebsiella bowel infection substantiated by
a through bowel analysis, and the related development of real food
allergies probly caused by "leaky gut" from the inflamation of the baterial
infection.I was toxic into my muscles!!! The magnets did nothing for it !



I do believe the magnet therapies have their place but just reading about
the woman whos friend had no more pain after one night scares me. It is
false hope and an expensive proposition to encourage serious fibromyalgia
sufferers to seek help from magnetic pads rather than a specialist who
understands the connection, in some cases, between the human
detoxification system and the chronic pain that can be caused by poisons
retained and leaked into the muscles. I love my magnet matress. When I was
normal I noticed that I tossed less and had alittle less stiffness in
the morning after sports excertion the night befor. But please understand
that inthe case of fibromayagia there are many possible causes that will
never be cured by a magnet pad. In fact, one accupressurist that I
said that some of his patients benifited from the pads and some were
aggravated by them... having muscle twitches and cramps while sleeping on
the pad. Nows the time for good science. SOMEONE DO A STUDY !!!!!!!!!!



Dear Jean,
You brought up a very good point. There are a lot of new therapy modelities out there, which have been
claimed as being effective in treating all kinds of disorders. Granted that some people may have had significant
improvement with certain kinds of them, in a lot of cases, they have not gone through any well controlled studies to
test their effecttiveness. In reponse to your question about magnetic therapy on fibromyalgia, I was not able to locate
any literature from the past decade. There are several studies on related subjects, however. The results are rather conflicting.
Specifically, the effects of pulsed magnetic fields on chronic joint disease seem to be promising. On the other hand, when a similar medical device was used in a
different study, the result on pain control was much less significant. It goes without saying that the application of magnetic devices in medical therapy needs
to be studied more. As a general rule, if the device is doing more harm than good, regardless of what other people's experiences were, stop using it.
Always, First, Do No Harm. I am not aware of any studies on this subject going on at the Clinic at the present time.
This information is provided for general medical education purposes only. Please consult your physician for diagnostic and treatment options of your specific medical condition.



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