Magnetic therapy

From RationalWiki

Warning: Extreme Wingnuttery
This topic may or may not be bullshit, and is either nonsensical or idiotic.
May damage the mind and lead to drinking of the Kool-Aid.

Magnetic therapy is a worthless quack treatment for arthritis. Magnetic bracelets and shoe insoles are sold for this purpose. If you absolutely must have one you can find it -- where else -- at your local health food store or New Age bookstore, or advertised in the Weekly World News.

[edit] Bullshit

The general idea is that magnetic fields work miracles such as "increase circulation" or "reduce swelling". While pulsed, high powered fields have been shown to have some benefit on some wounds. The effect of exposure to very small magnetic fields is negligible to zero.^[1] Hæmoglobin, for example is slightly diamagnetic, but it would take extremely powerful electromagnets or superconducting magnets to show any influence on blood flow, let alone significant or positive effect. Most studies done on magnetic fields have yielded the result that wearing magnets has no effect above a basic placebo.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/QA/magnet.html