Has anyone ever used magnetic lotion?

Question

A friend of mine has arthritis and is on a somewhat limited income (she is older) and another friend my age told me his grandmother used magetic therapy in the form of lotion she applies to her joints. Has anyone heard of this and if so do you know if it worked?

I think the stuff is from Magneticare and I don't know anything about it so I thought I would see if anyone had ever tried it or knew anything about it. I know she thought magnets helped her but I don't know about lotions and drops etc.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

That sounds even more bogus than magnetic bracelets or shoe inserts.   I suppose they could suspend minute particles of magnetite in a lotion, but they'd have to be very tiny not to scratch

While magnets have been touted for 100's of years,(Mesmer, DD Palmer who invented chiropractic, Paracelsus) there are absolutely no proven health benefits at all from magnets.

The most common claim is that the magnet acts on the iron in the hemoglobin molecule and draws the redblood cells to the injured area to stimulate healing.  Sounds plausible?  Almost like science.?

Except:

-the form of iron in the hemoglobin molecule is non-magnetic.(oops)

-if actually true, simply by putting a magnet up to your skin should make it red and warm..like if you put a heat source or rubbed it. Try this at home...nothing happens

-the gauss field of the typical magnets sold for "healing" purposes extends about 1 mm beyond the magnet. About the thickness of a piece of several pieces of paper, therefore it can't even penetrate the skin. (see how many pieces of paper you can hold up with a fridge magnet before it falls)  The field drops off by 1 over the square of the distance. (basic physics..look it up)   So, in those strap-on wrist and knee gadgets they sell, the magnetic field won't even penetrate the fabric that holds the magnet!

-if little magnets can draw blood to the skin surface, then big magnets should have an even greater effect. But an MRI is a giant magnet with a field many thousands of times stronger than the magnets sold for "healing" purposes. I haven't heard of anybody having the blood sucked out of their body or turning red from having an MRI

-there isn't a single credible study ever done that shows any effect at all beyond the usual Alt Med endpoints "feels good" and "more relaxed". (Pet your dog folks...the effect is the same and you'll be helping another creature in return!)

If she is a senior on limited income then it is even more important that she not waste her money on useless products.

Any benefit she thought she had from magnets was an illusion, from the combination of the placebo effect, doing something rather than doing nothing, having high expectations of benefit, the regression to the mean...ie arthritis is a disease that waxes and wanes.  Using magnets (or any other placebo treatment, such as homeopathy) when the pain is at it's natural peak...for when else will you get desperate and try something weird?...the pain is already about to start waning, but the magnet gets the credit !

This is a scam. If this is someone you care about, tell her not to waste her money.

Glad to be of help

EDIT  JAMES P.   I understand where you're coming from.  If it seems to help, why be cruel and tell her it's useless? The "what's the harm?" argument.   The problem for me is that is a slippery slope.  Passive acceptance of this apparently benign bit of nonsense leads eventually to more readily accepting more pernicious ideas from homeopathy to creationism to astral projection.  It is a "normalization" of woo.  It represents regression to a more primitive and superstitious culture in pre-scientific times.  It is the first step in a descent back to the Dark Ages.

LISA J.  With all due respect to your being delusional for 20 years, I said "the most common claim", I didn't say it was the only claim.  The claim you present has no more evidence to support it, and once again, the magnetic fields only extend 1 mm..  It is pseudoscientific nonsense, and you clearly don't understand electromagnetism, physiology or or neuroanatomy.    The claim on HOW it works is moot until you provide evidence (not testimonials) that it DOES work...................waiting.

Answer 2

I've never heard of it but I bet it doesn't work just like all those other magnets. But if she thinks it helps her and it isn't expensive, and no bad side effects, let her alone. Thinking or believing something is helping you is all she needs. That's the same thing as giving a person on pain medication, a sugar pill, and don't tell them any different and that here is your pain pill, they'll think it helps and feels better.

Answer 3

I don't think these lotions work and I think your friend would be wasting her money.

Magnet therapy at a specialized institute (in magnetic drums etc.) would probably be beneficial, but anything as small as bracelets or lotion has no effect.

Contrary to the first person answering here, who hasn't a clue, magnets work because magnetic fields disrupt electrical circuits in the body. The whole body and brain consist of various small electrical circuits.

In this case they disrupt the function of afferent nerves (the nerves which relay pain and various sensations and messages to the brain). The pain is still there, but the brain doesn't feel it as the "pain message" doesn't reach it. For that to happen, you need magnetic chambers or drums which act on the spinal attachement of afferent nerves to the spinal cord. No bracelet nor lotion will do the work.

The problem is that this is not a cure and the cause continues to damage the body.

However, in the case of your friend - or of any incurable disease where the cause cannot be attended to - magnet therapy is in fact very useful and a very good substitute to pain killers which do more damage than good.

I hope your friend may find out that she can afford this kind of treatment. She may get great benefit already after one session.

All the best!