How do Magnets Work?

    This is the science bit. To understand how magnets work within the body you first have to understand some basic anatomy and physiology. This will help you understand exactly how magnets affect the body.

Blood.

    Your blood is a living tissue that circulates around your whole body via a network of arteries, veins and capillaries, it carries nutrients, oxygen, hormones, antibodies, heat, electrolytes and vitamins to the body’s tissues. Blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, plasma, electrolytes, hormones, minerals and iron.

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The composition of blood

    Blood flows around the body in arteries, veins and capillaries. The blood is transported from the heart to the lungs where it picks up oxygen and then transports it to all the organs and tissues. Every part of the body depends on blood to provide the necessary oxygen and nutrients it needs to survive.

Arteries, capillaries and veins

The circulatory system.

Magnetic forces

    A magnetic field is the environment around a magnet in which magnetic forces act. Magnetic field lines represent the area around a magnet: magnetic field lines flow from the north pole to the south pole.


The magnetic field radiating from a bar magnet.

How magnetic fields affect blood flow?

    Magnets are composed of metal alloys such as iron, nickel or cobalt they will attract many different types of metallic particles. The blood contains iron and when therapeutic magnets are placed on the skin the magnetic field penetrates through the skin and into the surrounding tissues and blood stream. The iron in the blood is attracted to the magnetic field, this causes movement within the blood stream and the increased activity causes the blood flow to improve.

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    The increase in blood flow is localised to the area where the magnets are placed, unless the magnets are placed directly over a major artery such as the radial artery (the wrist pulse point) or the carotid artery (the pulse point in the neck). When magnets are placed over a major artery there is a much larger perfusion of blood flow so the magnetic field is carried further around the body.

    When the body’s blood flow is increased oxygen, nutrients and hormones are distributed to the organs and tissues much more effectively and quickly. Your organs have a fresh rich supply of oxygen and nutrients to nourish them. Plus the tissues also gain oxygen, healing nutrients and hormones including endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkilling hormone.

    If you have an injury or ailment which is supplied with regular fresh oxygen, nutrients and endorphins then your injury or ailment will heal much faster and the pain will be reduced by the body’s own pain killing hormones (endorphins).

Cells

    All cells in the body share common components, regardless of their type. One of the common constituents of all cells are ions. Ions are positively and negatively charged particles that conduct electro- magnetic pulses from with in the cell. The electro-magnetic pulses allow the cell to function. Without ions a cell cannot live.

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    In a normal healthy cell the ions are distributed around the cell with all of the positive ions on one side and the negative ions on the opposing side. The ions which live outside of the cell in the tissues will align with those inside of the cell so that opposing poles are together with the cell membrane between them (see diagram of healthy cell below), This allows fluid , oxygen and nutrients (fluid exchange) to move freely in and out of the cell, whilst maintaining the natural balance within the cell (homeostasis).

    In a diseased (injured) cell the positive and negative ions do not stay on opposing sides of the cell. They are disrupted and scatter randomly around the cell. At the same time the ions on the outside of the cell membrane also become scattered as they try to find their opposing pole, this results in cellular imbalance. Extra fluid from the tissues outside the cell is able to penetrate the cell which in turn pushes vital nutrients, hormones and electrolytes (salts) out of the cell. The cell’s ability to function is greatly reduced and cellular degeneration begins, which if not corrected will lead to the cell dying.( see diagram of a diseased cell).

    When a static magnetic field is applied over an injured (diseased) area, the magnetism penetrates into the tissues and surrounds the damaged cell. The magnetic field that is created around the outside of the cell will pull the ions, both inside and outside, back into alignment. The result is that as the ions once again return to their correct position within the cell. The extra fluid that has penetrated the cell is pushed out (via osmosis and diffusion) and returned to the surrounding tissues. The cell regains its natural healthy balance and any damage is repaired over a period of days (see diagram of a cell with a magnetic field).

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Ionic distribution in healthy, diseased and magnetic influenced cells.

The Inflammatory Process.

    Inflammation is the body’s reaction to invasion by an infectious agent, antigen or even just physical, chemical or traumatic damage. The inflammatory reaction is one of the body’s oldest defence mechanisms. When damage occurs the body’s automatic defence system starts the inflammatory process within seconds. Blood flow is firstly increased at the point of injury, the blood vessels widen (vasodilate) to allow oxygen, clotting agents (platelets) and white blood cells to penetrate the damaged tissues. Over a period of hours the concentration of white blood cells increases at the injury site (white blood cells fight infection).


The beginning of the inflammation process.

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    Individual cells are affected by the inflammatory process. Extra fluid that has migrated from the blood vessels passes into the damaged cells; this begins the process of disrupting the ionic balance of the cell. The chemical balance of the cell changes and cellular degeneration begins.

    The presence of extra fluid, white blood cells, increased blood flow with in the tissues causes the damaged area to enlarge and swell, this is commonly known as oedema.

    If untreated or caused by a chronic incurable disease process such as, arthritis, fibromyalgia and spondylosis, inflammation can become chronic. When removal of the foreign bodies that are causing the inflammation is ineffective damaged cells become fused together forming gigantic cells with multiple nuclei (the brain of the cell) which in turn eventually become granuloma.


A knee joint with chronic inflammation.

How do magnetic fields influence inflammation?

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    When static magnets are placed over an area of inflammation, the magnetic field penetrates through the skin and deep into the tissues and blood stream. Damaged cells will react to the presence of a magnetic field by realigning their ions into the correct position. This begins the process of eliminating the excess fluid from with in the cell. Cell damage will stop and healing of the cells will begin over a period of days.

    Magnetic fields will also affect the white blood cells that are surrounding the injury and fighting the disease. White blood cells fight infection and disease by engulfing infectious and diseased and consuming them (phagocytosis). During this process the white blood cells release toxins into the blood stream. The body can not detoxify and excrete these toxins safely so they are stored in the tissues as small hard pockets of fluid (cellulite).

A white blood cell engulfing bacteria, infection or disease.


Waste (toxins) are released into the blood stream after the white blood cell has eaten the bacteria

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    When a magnetic field is present in the blood, toxins in the tissues are drawn out as the magnetised blood passes through the tissues. The toxins are then carried to the liver for detoxification and on to the kidneys for excretion.


Toxins show up as “clouds” in the blood stream.

    When inflammation in the body is alleviated, the damage caused by the inflammatory process begins to be repaired by a fresh and rich supply of oxygen and nutrients. Cells that have been disrupted and de-oxygenised begin to heal and tissue regeneration starts. Excess fluid is eliminated from the body and toxins are removed. The circulatory system returns to normal and the heart does not have to work so hard to pump extra fluid around the body. Magnetic fields will stabilise all of these processes and aid the body in its recovery.

Magnets do not block pain signals, they treat the cause of the pain.

    Conventional pain killing drugs like paracetamol and codeine based tablets (di-hydrocodiene, co codamol, co dydramol, tramadol and codeine phosphate) work by blocking the pain stimulus pathway. They interrupt the signal that starts at the point of pain (stimulus) and travel along the nerve pathways via the spinal cord to the pain receptors in the brain.

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    Depending on the type of drug, the signal may be interrupted at the pain stimulus or at any point along the nerve pathway to the brain. Pain killers only last for a short period of time. Depending on the type of pain killer and where they interrupt the pain pathway and the strength of the drug, they can last from 4-12 hours.


The pain pathway from the point of pain to the brain


Different pain killers block pain at different points along the pathway.

    Magnets do not block the pain signal. They work on the cause of the pain, which is why static magnets have to placed as close to the point of pain as possible.

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    Pain is not caused only by the onset of trauma (e.g. puncture wound) although you will feel pain if you experience a sudden traumatic injury. Trauma alone does not cause all of the pain. Pain is also caused by pressure on the nerves. This can occur with out a traumatic injury, as with long standing chronic conditions. Joint wear and tear, chronic damage from earlier injuries or chronic inflammation can cause pressure upon nerves. The pressure upon the nerves is usually caused by swelling or inflammation around the injury, this extra fluid causes the tissues to swell and thus places pressure upon the nerve endings. Compression of the nerves causes constant pain stimuli to be sent to the brain. This causes the chronic constant pain, that is often associated with long term ailments.

    To relieve the pressure on the compressed nerves the excess fluid in the tissues must be removed. Once the pressure has been removed the pain will subside. Magnets do reduce the inflammation in the tissues therefore they are very effective at reducing pain at the point of injury. Because the cause of the pain has been removed ( i.e. the inflammation) the pain relieving results will last for a much longer period of time than pain killers, which are just blocking the signal. Whilst the magnetic field is reducing the inflammation it is also improving blood supply to the injured area. The extra blood flow brings fresh rich oxygen, nutrients and hormones. One of these hormones is endorphin. Endorphin is known as the “happy” hormone as it is responsible for mood enhancement. The other function of endorphin is to kill pain naturally. As increased blood flow reaches the injured area the concentration of endorphins increases and pain is reduced.

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    When the magnets are removed from the area of pain, the cause of the inflammation will return, as the magnets are a treatment for the inflammation and poor circulation, they are not a cure for any disease process. Depending on the severity of the injury or ailment the effects of the magnets can last days, weeks or even months. Each individual will experience different time scales for the return of the pain as the disease process for each individual is slightly different.

Magnets do not block pain signals, they treat the cause of the pain.

    Magnetic fields will influence individual areas of the body in different ways. For example a swollen knee joint may respond very quickly to the presence of a magnetic field, with symptoms being alleviated with in just a few days. How ever the same person may treat another area of the body with out the same quick response. The length of time that magnets will take to resolve the symptoms of an injury is entirely dependent on the severity of the ailment, the amount of inflammation surrounding the injured area and the cause of the ailment. Long standing chronic conditions, with large amounts of inflammation and cell damage will take longer to treat than a recent acute injury.

    The process is similar when looking at different peoples reactions to magnets. Each individual will react to magnets in a slightly different way. Some people react very quickly to magnetic fields and others will take a longer period of time. An individuals medical history and symptoms must be taken into consideration when estimating how long magnets will take to work for a particular ailment.

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    As a general rule of thumb you should not expect to gain exactly the same results as another other person that has used magnets. Just because one person experiences pain relief within 2 days it does not mean that you will garner the same results. Many people are only too pleased to talk about their own experiences with magnetic therapy and while it is always great to hear an individual’s personal success with magnet therapy, it is sometimes hard not to expect to receive the same level of response for you.

Results can take any where from 2 days – 6 weeks depending on the condition and the severity of the injury.

Below are some examples of the very different results that patients have received with magnetic therapy.

“My friend and I had a consultation with Dee on the Wednesday and I purchased, the waist band, a magnetic pillow, shoe insoles and a water wand. The next day ( Thursday) I showered and dressed and realised that something was missing, I had no pain!!!”
Marilyn Yeomans.

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“With in 24 hours of purchasing one of your knee straps, the pain was much easier. I am sleeping through out the night and able to walk much further.”
Joy.

“I obtained one of these wands back in April, I can’t believe how quickly it worked about 7 days.”
Jean Barton.

“I suffer with intense face spasm which twists my mouth and closes my left eye…Ten days after using the magnet and trying the pillow not only had it eased the face spasm but it achieved what I didn’t dare hope for- my speech came back.”
Vivienne Murphey.

“My mother, at 90, suffers with diabetes. Her feet, always cold, warmed the instant she tried the magnetic insoles and the pain in her knees and feet was gone with in 2 weeks!”
Brian Lambie

“I have been using magnets every day for the pat four weeks, the pain has subsided to a tolerant level and I am able to sit in comfort.”
O Willey.

“I bought a magnetic back belt and I have worn it for four weeks, the results are really amazing.”
Derek Vernon-Morris.

“I was not sure at first if the magnets wee working for me. I tried the insoles for several weeks and then I knew they were. My reflexologist confirmed this too.”
Norma French.

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