Magnets may help relieve neuropathy pain
Study adds scientific evidence to folk remedy
The headline could be one of those supermarket tabloid sensations or a claim from a late-night television commercial, but it’s not. It appeared in The New York Times last year, and the publication’s prestige helped to debunk the myths about magnet therapy.
Some recent solid scientific evidence — while admittedly flawed and in fairly small trials — is moving magnet therapy from the realm of folklore into scientific fact.
More research and more proof are necessary, even principal investigators agree, but there’s now some documentation that magnet therapy can provide relief for the numbing, tingling, burning foot pain caused by diabetic neuropathy.
The foundation of current research began a few years ago when researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston tested magnets in 50 patients with post-polio syndrome — a condition of muscle pain and weakness experienced by some patients decades after they recovered from polio.
The most recent research, results of a randomized, double-placebo control crossover trial published last year in the American Journal of Pain Management, showed that 90% of the patients receiving real magnet therapy had significant reduction in pain after four months compared to 33% of the control group.
The improvement is likely due to the magnetic field’s interruption of the firing of C-fibers, the tiny, slow-conducting, pain-detecting nerves, says chief investigator Michael I. Weintraub, MD, FACP, clinical professor of neurology at New York Medical College and chief of neurology at Phelps Memorial Hospital, both in North Tarrytown, NY.
"I saw a couple of studies on this subject and I thought they were very provocative," he says. "Frankly, I didn’t believe it. I wanted to see it for myself, so I chose some patients with diabetic foot pain whom I didn’t expect to get better and I was very pleasantly surprised with the results."
Conventional therapies unsuccessful
Weintraub recruited 24 patients, 19 of whom completed the trial. One patient had digital amputation and another underwent 18 unsuccessful surgeries on his foot to reduce the pain.
All patients were unresponsive to conventional pharmacological treatments such as analgesics, NSAIDS, anti-convulsants, and tricyclic anti-depressants. Acupuncture was used on a few of the patients.
After neurological and electrodiagnostic evaluation, patients were randomized to active foot insoles with multipolar 475 gauss magnets imbedded for one foot and a similar appearing sham insole for the other foot. They were directed to wear them at all times, even while sleeping, and recorded their foot pain scores twice daily. The insoles were switched after 30 days. After an additional 30 days, they were given two active insoles and continued to rate their pain levels for another eight weeks.
Not only did 90% find relief when treated with the real magnets, compared to 33% for the placebo, those who removed the insoles for a day or two had a return of the pain, but the pain subsided when they resumed use of the magnets. The pain returned for all patients who stopped wearing the magnets for six weeks at the end of the trial.
Weintraub notes, "This didn’t cure the neuropathy; it relieved the pain. The effect seems to influence how pain is modulated rather than change the structure."
However, those who continued to wear the magnets noted a rising curve of improvement, suggesting that the magnets might be promoting long-term healing, he says.
His study had shortcomings in terms of size and the fact that several patients decided to test the insoles on their own, breaking the placebo-controlled aspect of the study.
Weintraub says there were no side effects whatsoever, but cautioned that patients with insulin pumps and pacemakers should not use magnets because they will interfere with the operation of the equipment. In terms of his study, patients with sleeping partners with pumps or pacemakers were also excluded because of the potential for interference with the partner’s medical devices.
He also notes that many patients will purchase magnetic insoles on their own. "I see them in their shoes, but they don’t tell me about them unless I ask. They seem to be a little bit embarrassed about it," he says.
Weintraub is currently recruiting patients for a multicenter double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 300 subjects in 22 states. About 20% of the subjects have been recruited, but he is seeking referrals of potential enrollees.
Podiatrists who treat diabetic pain on a daily basis remain somewhat skeptical about the use of magnets.
Donald F. Hovancsek, DPM, of the Olympia (WA) Podiatric Center, says he doesn’t prescribe magnets for his patients yet, but many of them already are using them, and "anecdotally many are reporting improvement."
"I know there are some new data coming in, and if there is any place where magnet therapy might be useful, pain management for diabetic neuropathy would be it," he says.
Yet Hovancsek is cautious. "I want to be sure it won’t harm them or we won’t come up with something medically important before I start recommending [magnets] to my patients."
When patients use magnets on their own, the relief they get may interfere with diagnosis, says Hovancsek. "Pain, in many cases, is important to diagnosis. There can be errors if the pain is masked."
For use after diagnosis, Hovancsek says he is still weighing the use of magnets.
On one hand, pain also serves as a protector, and may help keep a patient from injuring himself by stepping on something and causing an injury that ulcerates, so a magnet may actually encourage injuries. On the other hand, if the pain is relieved, and "I can get the patient to walk more and walk safely, it’s successful," says Hovancsek.
He doesn’t discourage patients from making their own decision to try magnets. "They’re looking for relief wherever they can get it."
[For more information and to find out how to enroll patients in the study, contact Michael Weintraub at (914) 941-0788 and Donald Hovancsek at (360) 943-9600.]
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content