Magnotherapy - What's the attraction ?Used
throughout history, magnets are fast becoming an accepted form of natural
healing. Find out how they could have a positive effect on your health and
well-being.
We’d all like to live without pain, but for most it catches up with us
eventually! Now we just don’t have to wish we could ‘kick’ the pills, we can,
because magnotherapy is here and fast becoming an alternative to painkillers
that are toxic and even habit-forming. Pain is an ‘indicator’, telling our body
to stop; that we have a problem or even an impending one. Pain means that our
body’s natural healing processes are signalling for more help. Unfortunately,
the ‘help’ prescribed is often chemical.
Magnotherapy’s
approach to pain relief is quite the opposite. This phenomenon provides a
totally non-toxic, non-invasive and natural source of pain relief that many
people have come to experience and appreciate. Mrs. L Taylor, 83, a sufferer of
arthritis says, “Magnotherapy has made a big improvement on the arthritic pain
I used to suffer. I was taking painkillers for the pain and have been able to
come off them which is very good news indeed.”
Magnotherapy has a long history. In fact, one romantic, yet unsubstantiated,
story tells of Cleopatra using magnets on her forehead to attract eternal
youth! More seriously, Aristotle, in 320BC, documented the use of magnets to
help heal sore eyes and subsequently used them to relieve painful joints and
headaches. Queen Elizabeth 1 Used magnets for arthritic pain and, in much more
recent times, magnets were used by the Russian Army in WW2 to treat their
troops as they were more efficient, effective and cheaper than traditional
medicines which were scarce at the front lines.
Today it is not uncommon to visit a health-care practitioner in Japan or many
eastern countries and be provided with a simple magnet to help alleviate pain.
In our Western world and in modern times the excesses and stresses of 21st
Century living have all contributed to reducing our body’s natural healing
processes.
To help us understand how magnotherapy works we must first understand what it
is that keeps a normal body healthy and pain-free. In order to remain in this
happy state, our body needs to stay in balance and that important balancing act
takes place within our blood cells.
Kick start to health
Magnets
applied to the body are believed to aid the body’s natural process of healing
by allowing it to rid itself of toxins more efficiently. Although the way it works
is still not completely clear, the most popular belief is that it works on the
cells in our blood. If the magnet is worn over a main artery, it ionises, or
energises, the blood cells. Each one has a sodium/potassium ‘pump’ on it to
keep our body in its natural pH balance, not too acid and not too alkali.
However, due to stress or injury or simply the natural ageing process, these
pumps do not always work as efficiently as they should and we get a build up of
acid. It is this, which causes pain and inflammation in the body. The
energising action of the magnet on the blood cells gives the ‘pumps’ a ‘kick
start’, similar to jumpstarting the battery on a car, which results in the
cells pumping the acid out and therefore allowing the body to maintain its correct
pH balance.
Speedy recovery
The
application of magnets to the body is also believed to increase the oxygenation
of the blood. This seems to be why athletes and sports people wear them with
excellent results such as increased energy levels and quicker recovery from
bruising or muscle injury. Ron McAndrew, the British Athletics Coach and his
team used them, as do several football teams who call them their Magnets are
beneficial for anyone and everybody including children and adults. Kate Penn,
nursery teacher, says, “I used to have to take time off work due to severe
period pains. Since wearing my magnetic bracelet I have not had any time off
for this problem and the pain has dramatically diminished. I always wear my
magnetic wristband and can recommend its effectiveness.”
Animals, who are warm-blooded like ourselves, have also had great benefits from
magnotherapy. Interestingly, one of the largest known animals (an Asian
elephant at Woburn Safari Park), was having difficulty mating due to a painful
back problem. The application of a magnet sorted the problem out!
Magnotherapy doesn’t claim to be able to help all people who suffer with pain,
nor does it even claim to be a cure for pain. What is evident is that many
people have had excellent results using magnotherapy and they are secure in the
knowledge that while magnets cannot do harm, they can change the quality of
your life. Mrs Brenda Robinson, and ME sufferer, says, “I keep horses and have
to look after them so I was unable to take the rest I needed. However, with the
use of magnotherapy I have stopped feeling so totally drained! It seems to have
balanced my body so that I don’t feel as though I am being dragged down all the
time. I still have to pace myself and treat ME with respect but, by not being
so exhausted all the time, I can do more. As a consequence I feel better
psychologically and can cope a lot better .”The success of modern magnotherapy
as a natural means of pain relief is partly due to the materials that have
become available through advances in technology. Until recently, many vets,
physiotherapists and hospitals have been the only ones able to treat patients
using pulsed electromagnetic units. These are regarded as the most effective
but need a mains supply of electricity. They are also bulky and expensive;
treatment is usually for short time (once a month or so) and, when removed from
the machine, the benefits reduce. British inventor, Nigel Broderick,
contributed to altering the choice people now have for sustaining natural pain
relief. He used a material called neodymium, which is very light and strong
and, when electrically charged, holds its magnetic charge for life. He further
developed a magnetic field with a multidirectional force in a single unit (a
magnetic bracelet), which causes a pulsed magnetic effect and mimics the
expensive hospital machines.
With
such fantastic technology easily worn on a wrist it is not surprising that
magnotherapy has become more prominent in alleviating pain – and in such a
natural, non-invasive way!
At the moment, magnotherapy has no official status in the medical profession,
although many doctors, physiotherapists and vets use it as a complementary
therapy for their patients and, indeed, themselves! Many vets have reported
amazing improvements or recovery from a wide array of conditions in animals.
This evidence has provided encouragement for use by humans and helps to dispel
the ‘it’s-all-in-the-mind’ argument of sceptics, as animals can’t speak but can
clearly be seen to improve.
There is a wide range of magnotherapy products on the market with a wide scale
of costs and standards. An average starting price will be about £50.00. When
such a lifetime of benefit is guaranteed from a magnotherapy product the outlay
is minimal when compared to the continually, spiralling prescription costs of
conventional, and often toxic, drugs.
People interested in pursuing magnotherapy as a natural source of pain relief
should look for a product that provides the strongest and most effective
magnetic field.
The magnetic strength can be judged by the product’s ability to pick up a heavy
bunch of keys. And, if you’re really astute, look for a lifetime guarantee on
the product’s magnetic properties and also a money-back guarantee if you find
that the product hasn’t worked for you.
How magnotherapy can help you
Muscle
and joint pain
Lower back ache
Tennis elbow/frozen shoulder
Upper limb disorders
Arthritis and rheumatism
Respiratory problems such as coughs and asthma
Menstrual cramps
Inflammation
Headaches
Jet lag
ME, MS…..the list is endless!
Warning: Magnetic products should not be worn by anyone fitted with a heart
pacemaker or other implant that could be affected by a strong magnetic field.
