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With a lot of advancements in the world of science, there is a new breakthrough in providing pain relief with the help of magnet therapy, which is a really new avenue in terms of providing pain relief. There have been researches conducted on a group of patients who have been suffering from post-polio syndrome. In that study a small magnet was strapped to the sensitive spots that were pretty sore and that the use of the magnet just reduced the level of pain in these individuals. In that study, which was a double blind study most of the patients were the ones who received the treatment with the magnet were the ones who had decrease in pain and on the other side the individuals who were given the placebos or the magnets that were inactive were the ones who either reported little or no improvement at all.

The researchers just analyzed the aspects of the magnet therapy in the adults who were diagnosed with the post polio syndrome and were suffering from the arthritic pain in the joints or had pain in the muscle. There were about 39 women and about 11 men who participated in the study. All these individuals were in their 50s and they had developed the post polio syndrome at the age of 40. First of all these patients were asked to identify the trigger points where they were feeling the most pain and they were asked to rate the pain on a scale of 1 to 10 where the level 10 was the worst. After that the patients were then randomly given an active and inactive magnet and that magnet was then strapped to their trigger point for a total of about 45 minutes. When the magnets were removed then the patients were asked to rate the intensity of their pain again and there were a total of about 29 participants in that study who received an active magnet. The pain that these individuals rated was of about 9 plus before the treatment and then when they wore the magnet the pain level reduced to about 4.4. On the other hand the group who received the placebo rated their pain to about 9 plus before they received the treatment and after the treatment the pain level went to about 8.4.

While explaining the magnets, the researchers said that these magnets are about less than a half inch thick and these magnets were slightly stronger than the refrigerator magnets and they were available in four set up arrangement so as to adjust in the different areas of the body, it is a rectangle which is the size of a credit card, and there was a six inch strip that was almost about two inches wide, a disc that is the size of a silver dollar and the disc, which is the size of a CD. There were about 76% of the patients who had been treated with the active magnet and they reported a decrease in pain and on the other hand only about 19% of the individuals who were treated with the placebo were the ones who felt improvement and there were no individuals who reported side effects from the treatment. The researchers said that they were not sure as to exactly why the patients did have a significant and quick pain relief. They said that the magnetic energy might be affecting the pain receptors both in the joints and in the muscles and that it lowers the sensation of pain in brain.

The researchers said that they need to do more researches in that aspect so that they are able to know as to what are the different aspects involved in the treatment of pain from the post polio syndrome and understanding that whether the magnet therapy should be recommended as an alternative to the treatment that are being prescribed as a standard mode such as physical therapy, braces, anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as muscle relaxants.
One of the physicians have made his opinion that the magnetic therapy has been under observation and there is a lot of data being collected that shows a lot of people who have used this mode of therapy have gained benefits from it. The thing that needs to be seen here is that there are two kinds of magnets that are being used, one is the pulsed electromagnet that has shown its effectiveness to treat the slow healing fractures as well as in other conditions where it has shown proven benefit, whereas on the other hand is the static magnet that is being marketed with the slogans that it increases circulation, reduces the inflammation and also gives a speedy recovery from injuries to the individuals. The physician added that there are no supportive evidences to prove the benefits of the static magnets.

There was another research conducted in which there were patients who were suffering from heel pain. In this study the patients wore molded insole that contained a magnetic foil in about 19 patients, where as other 15 patients wore the same insole but there was no magnetic foil in that. In this study there were about 60% of the people who reported improvement belonged to both the groups and it suggested that the magnetic foil just showed no benefit.

There was another study that was conducted on about 20 patients who were suffering from chronic back pain. In this study the patients were exposed to both the real and sham bipolar permanent magnets and this therapy lasted for about 6 hours a day for about 3 days a week and there was a one week gap between the treatments. There was no difference in either pain or mobility that was found between the treatments.

The physician also added that the manufacturers of these magnets claimed that these magnets increase circulation and he said that this claim is false because the magnet just did not raise the circulation of that area because if the magnet increased the circulation in that area then that area would have gone red. There was also a study that was conducted to see whether this claim was right or not that the magnet increased the circulation but it was found that the magnet did not increase the blood flow at all.

From the above mentioned information it is really important that when you are being told about the therapy that you ask your physician about the pros and cons of this therapy and that what is the percentage of improvement in pain among the different individuals suffering from pain so that you are able to make your decision that whether you are going to opt for this therapy or not. I hope you have found this article helpful and informative. I hope you overcome your pain that you are going through. Best of luck.

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