Arthritis. Muscular Pain. Relief! If your joints are stiff. If your back aches. If Arthritis makes it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Perhaps you are a waiter or waitress and your knees hurt. If you look in the mirror and see that you still look tired, even after a full night's sleep. If you need to take 3-4 Ibuprofen to get you going in the morning and maybe a few throughout the day to keep you going. Senior+ Joint Repair/Arthritis Vitamins are designed to provide you with a balanced blend of vitamins, minerals and nutrients and aid in joint care which is important for people who may be developing or have arthritis, osteoarthritis, and other joint problems.

Arthritis Bracelets

Magnets are objects that produce a type of energy called magnetic fields. Magnets are widely marketed to treat or ease the symptoms of various diseases and conditions, including pain. All magnets possess a property called polarity - that is, a magnet's power of attraction is strongest at its opposite ends, usually called the north and south poles. The north and south poles attract each other, but north repels north and south repels south. All magnets attract iron.

The vast majority of magnets marketed to consumers to treat pain are of a type called static (or permanent) magnets, because the resulting magnetic fields are unchanging. The other magnets used for health purposes are called electromagnets, because they generate magnetic fields only when electrical current flows through them. The magnetic field is created by passing an electric current through a wire coil wrapped around a magnetic core. Electromagnets can be pulsed - that is, the magnetic field is turned on and off very rapidly.

Examples of Products Using Magnets

Shoe insoles
Heel inserts
Mattress pads
Bandages
Belts
Pillows and cushions
Bracelets and other jewelry
Headwear

There are some uses of electromagnets within conventional medicine. For example, scientists have found that electromagnets can be used to speed the healing of bone fractures that are not healing well. Even more commonly, electromagnets are used to map areas of the brain. However, most uses of magnets by consumers in attempts to treat pain are considered complementary and alternative medicine, because they have not been scientifically proven and are not part of the practice of conventional medicine.

A 1999 survey of patients who had rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or fibromyalgia and were seen by rheumatologists reported that 18 percent had used magnets or copper bracelets, and that this was the second-most-used complementary and alternative therapy by these patients, after chiropractic. One estimate places Americans spend around $500 million per year on magnets to treat pain; the worldwide estimate is $5 billion. Many people purchase magnets in stores or over the Internet to use on their own without consulting a health care provider.

Some examples of theories and beliefs about using magnets to treat pain are listed below. These range from theories proposed by scientific researchers to claims made by magnet manufacturers. It is important to note that while the results for some of the findings from the scientific studies have been intriguing, none of the theories or claims below has been conclusively proven.

Static magnets might change how cells function.
Magnets might alter or restore the equilibrium (balance) between cell death and growth.
Because it contains iron, blood might act as a conductor of magnetic energy. Static magnets might increase the flow of blood and, therefore, increase the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues.
Weak pulsed electromagnets might affect how nerve cells respond to pain.
Pulsed electromagnets might change the brain's perception of pain.
Electromagnets might affect the production of white blood cells involved in fighting infection and inflammation.
Magnets might increase the temperature of the area of the body being treated.
"Magnetizing" or "re-magnetizing" drinking water or other beverages might allow them to hydrate the body better and flush out more "toxins" than ordinary drinking water.

Static magnets are usually made from iron, steel, rare-earth elements, or alloys. Typically, the magnets are placed directly on the skin or placed inside clothing or other materials that come into close contact with the body. Static magnets can be unipolar (one pole of the magnet faces or touches the skin) or bipolar (both poles face or touch the skin, sometimes in repeating patterns). Some magnet manufacturers make claims about the poles of magnets - for example, that a unipolar design is better than a bipolar design, or that the north pole gives a different effect from the south pole. These claims have not been scientifically proven.

Electromagnets were approved by the FDA in 1979 to treat bone fractures that have not healed well. Researchers have been studying electromagnets for painful conditions, such as knee pain from osteoarthritis, chronic pelvic pain, problems in bones and muscles, and migraine headaches. However, these uses of electromagnets are still considered experimental by the FDA and have not been approved. Currently, electromagnets to treat pain are being used mainly under the supervision of a health care provider and/or in clinical trials.

An electromagnetic therapy called TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) is also being studied by researchers. In TMS, an insulated coil is placed against the head, near the area of the brain to be examined or treated, and an electrical current generates a magnetic field into the brain. Currently, TMS is most often used as a diagnostic tool, but research is also under way to see whether it is effective in relieving pain. A type of TMS called rTMS (repetitive TMS) is believed by some to produce longer lasting effects and is being explored for its usefulness in treating chronic pain, facial pain, headache, and fibromyalgia pain. A related form of electromagnetic therapy is rMS (repetitive magnetic stimulation). It is similar to rTMS except that the magnetic coil is placed on or near a painful area of the body other than the head. This therapy is being studied as a treatment for musculoskeletal pain.

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Did You Know?

The Johns Hopkins Arthritis WebSite focuses primarily on rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis since these diseases serve as prototypes for inflammatory and degenerative joint diseases, respectively. However, the editors may periodically add discussions of other types of arthritis (e.g., gout or spondyloarthropathies or psoriatic arthritis) as prompted by new therapies or other relevant issues.