Magnetic Therapy: Using Magnetic Energy for Health

Electromagnetic therapy applies magnetic fields either static or pulsed that activate the body's natural electromagnetic impulses to assist healing, provide pain relief and support optimal health in prevention and disease. All matter, including the human body, is composed of electromagnetic frequencies (vibrations), the universal energy. Magnetism and electricity are interconnected.

The brain works and communicates using electromagnetic frequencies that can be stimulated by internal or external forces. Interactions between the body and the electromagnetic environment occur continually, forming the biorhythms that also determine the biological clock of the body. The brain and immune system are constantly sending messages to each other via electromagnetic impulses. Both are intricately influenced by energy frequencies.

There are two different types of devices commonly used in magnetic therapy: pulsed magnets or "pulsars" that emit intermittent electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and permanent magnets that generate static fields of fixed strength and duration. Essentially, both therapies are used for treating the same ailments. There is also a new treatment device developed by a Calgary dentist, which uses very powerful direct current (DC) electromagnetic fields for treatment of disorders of the brain such as Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy and stroke.

Pulsed magnets achieve fast and deep results and are especially indicated in the healing of injuries such as bone fractures. Large pulsars are used in hospitals for bone cancers, fractures, etc., and in diagnostics in various ways. Physiotherapists and sports medicine practitioners, who treat large areas of pain, injuries, bone and muscle diseases, often employ powerful pulsars to accelerate healing. In the more sophisticated of these pulsars, magnetic strengths, polarities, frequencies, pulse rates and waveforms are variable.

Modern reduction technology produced tiny but efficient electromagnetic field generators (hand-held pulsars) for personal and in-home therapies. Such small pulsars use only the lower portion of extremely low frequency (ELF) range, yet, are effective for a wide range of ailments and conditions. Small, hand-held pulsed devices include transcutaneous electronic nerve stimulators (TENS) that are mainly used in arthritis and other local pain management.

Permanent magnets generally work more slowly and gently. They are especially appropriate for long-term self-administration. Fixed magnetic therapy is usually applied for longer periods to be optimally effective. Permanent magnets come in great variety. There are acupuncture magnets, small adhesive magnets, magnetic foil and magnetic jewelry, sleeping pads, pillows and magnetic beds.

A magnetic field is generated by all of these therapies, performing essentially the same healing function. Static or permanent magnets are placed directly on the affected area for specific complaints or used periodically to energize and stimulate (i.e., improve blood flow, stimulate nerve and brain functions). When magnets are placed on the meridian points or affected areas, they elicit a brain response very similar to that of acupuncture.

Another form of magnetic treatment is drinking magnetized water or magnetized juices.

Did You Know?

Live cell microscopy determines disease by looking for an abundance of undigested fats in the blood, days after ingestion of fatty substances.

History

The use of magnets for healing can be traced back as far as the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Chinese. Pliny, a Roman naturalist, used magnets to heal eye problems, female disorders and wounds. The famous physician of antiquity, Paracelsus, used magnets for many different conditions, claiming that "...the magnet is king of all secrets." Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), a German mathematician, astronomer and physicist, was involved in the first worldwide survey of the magnetic field of the earth in the early 1800s. He formulated the laws of terrestrial magnetism and began the mathematical theory of electromagnetism. The measure of electromagnetic energy as magnetic induction or changing magnetic flux density uses his name a gauss being the unit of magnetic intensity.

In 1865, James Maxwell, the mathematician who proved the interrelation of electricity and magnetism in his electromagnetic wave theory, patented an impulse magnetic field device for therapeutic treatment. Magnetic fields had proved to have a noticeable effect on the electrical currents within the body.

Research into magnetic therapeutics continued throughout the world. Oskar Gleichmann discovered the pulsating magnetic field for medicine. This German physician studied the uses of magnetic energy in the treatment of serious disease. He developed a pulsating electromagnetic device, the pulsar, for medical application in the late 1960s.

Hans A. Nieper's 1981 book Conversion of Gravity Field Energy Revolution in Technology, Medicine and Society was the catalyst for the application of static magnetic fields in hospitals and patient care for a variety of conditions.

North American interest in electromagnetic medicine largely grew out of NASA's space program. NASA recognized the importance of stimulative electromagnetic fields to biological organisms when astronauts in optimum health became ill traveling in outer space. Beyond the outermost layer of the atmosphere (ionosphere), the astronauts' bodies were no longer immersed in the geomagnetic fields of the planet. Withdrawn from the influence of these fields, their health deteriorated (rapid bone loss, etc.), but was restored when administering artificially generated magnetic fields that emitted the necessary planetary frequencies. Magnetic field generators installed in NASA's spacecraft alleviated health problems in orbit.

Today, magnetic therapy is well established worldwide. Japan has given official approval for the use of pulsed and permanent magnetic devices for healing. In Germany, the medical results of pulsars convinced the government health care system to officially recognize and reimburse the cost of electromagnetic treatments.

Did You Know?

Cleopatra is said to have worn a magnet on her forehead to maintain her exquisite beauty.

How Can It Help Me?

For most common ailments, specific magnetic therapy results in seventy to eighty percent effectiveness. Use of electromagnetic therapy can often halve the healing time required for sprains, and bone, muscle or tendon injuries. A few days of magnetic treatment usually gives some improvement and minor problems can clear up in a few minutes.

Magnetic therapy helps relieve pain and illness, restores vitality and reduces the need for medications while simultaneously being fully compatible with all types of medications. Conditions that have been helped with magnetic therapy include headaches, back pain, blood pressure disorders, nervous tension, joint and muscular complaints, fractures, broken bones, wounds, burns, arthritis and stomach problems.

Did You Know?

NASA devised rare-earth cobalt magnets to successfully treat illnesses affecting astronauts when they returned from the moon.

When To Use Pulsars?

The use or supplementation of pulsed magnetic fields allows the body to function normally despite heightened environmental stresses. Atmospheric pressure changes are alleviated and interference from electrical household appliances and computers is neutralized. Efficacious, non-invasive in the traditional sense (unlike drugs and surgery), and wonderfully preventive, this therapy has no unwanted long-term side-effects. Insomnia and jet lag show significant improvement. General healing and prevention of scar tissue is promoted. Skin allergies, weather sensitivity, depression, PMS, stress and gastrointestinal ulcers can all be mitigated.

In small pulsars, the low frequency range of less than 10 cycles per second (cps), or hertz (Hz). The higher frequencies of 10-24 Hz prompt stimulative relief similar to the positive pole of static magnets. The pulsed magnetic field initiates the flow of blood and lymph. This flushes out toxins and boosts energy.

When to Use Permanent Magnets?

North and South Pole have opposite spin directions and different healing effects. North, the negative pole, stabilizes biological activity, calms and sedates, and reduces pain, infection and inflammation. The positive South Pole should be used with the advice of a practitioner since it can also overstimulate brain activity and at high strength stimulates the growth of harmful bacteria, viruses, tumors and cancers.

North polarity produces "cold energy" and is used to treat "hot" problems such as pain, inflammation and infection. It sedates and draws out pain and localizes bacteria so it is easier for the body to fight infection. South is "hot energy" used to treat "cold" problems such as weakness, poor circulation and stiffness. It dilates blood vessels, increases circulation, normalizes cell function and stimulates body functions.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the earth's magnetic field is negative (-); in the Southern Hemisphere it is positive (+). Since unidirectional magnetic flux is the key to magnetic revitalization and cell renewal, in either hemisphere the earth's field is passing through our bodies in only one direction, assuring the restoration of energy during sleep regardless of earth polarity. Supplemental permanent magnetic treatments work with the hemispheric polarities by applying the correct polarities to reinforce the currently depleting earth magnetic flux, but only if the magnets are the right size, strength, number and distance from the body such as a properly constructed magnetic pad.

Did You Know?

Stacked red blood cells reveal poor digestion and circulation; blood cells clumped together indicate an infection or stress.

Causes of Magnetic Deficiency

Stress significantly taxes this complex balance of vibratory energy. Increasingly harmful quantities of high frequency, high voltage alternating current (AC) electrical fields are emitted by the modern electrical sources in industry and in the home. Electropollution hits us from TVs, computers, alarm clocks, radios, microwaves, cellular telephones and all types of electrical appliances. These sources of electropollution are all implicated in the development of cancers, especially leukemia. Even the baby monitor lying next to a child's head emits harmful frequencies.

This dangerous form of high voltage electromagnetic energy is detrimental to health because it conflicts with the natural, low geomagnetic frequencies that corresponds to the resting state of the brain. While the body reacts favorably to these natural frequencies, it becomes disordered with the intervention of fields from common appliances and power lines, resulting in heightened stress, fatigue and lowered resistance to disease. Some buildings in which we live and work, and the cars in which we drive, can block the earth's natural electromagnetic waves from reaching our bodies, as does the steel in concrete and heavy industrial interference patterns. Man-made, high frequency, high voltage electrical and magnetic fields interfere with the brain's frequencies. Modern society is producing an increasing amount of electropollution. High-tension power lines and electrical gadgets inundate us with harmful AC using frequencies of 60 Hz or more. Although these frequencies are also in the relatively low range of the electromagnetic spectrum they still fall into the higher portion of the ELF range.

Computer operators are routinely exposed to strong EMFs. There is an entire sweep of fields that over time can create health problems. It ranges from microwave ovens, cellular and portable telephones to police, military and commercial radar installations.

Excessive electromagnetic interference can cause memory loss, headaches, changes in heartbeat and blood chemistry, and general malaise. Exposure is cumulative, resulting in increased sluggishness and fatigue. Cancer rates have been found to be much higher in areas close to high-tension power lines, especially childhood cancers. Electrosmog blocks out the brain's electromagnetic signals to the cells and weakens the immune system.

Electromagnetic interference is a concern in today's complex world, the more so as electropollution is exacerbated by a cyclical depletion of the earth magnetic field necessary to magnetic resonance, so vital to health. It is estimated that over the last four thousand years, the geomagnetic field has lost up to ninety percent of its original strength and is still depleting. Thus magnetic therapy, though still in its infancy, is increasingly vital in medicine and prevention of magnetic deficiencies.

How Does It Work?

A principle of physics states that: if the magnetic field is increased, the velocity of the electrons and protons will increase or decrease depending on the direction of the magnetic field and the orbits of the particles. The outermost unpaired (valence) electrons are the ones that are shared to make up molecules. These join to make the cells which compose all of the tissues in our body.

When the magnetic field passes through the atoms in the correct direction it will increase their energy state, which in turn will enhance the sharing of their electrons. Also involved is increased precession or "wobble" activity of some electrons depending on the relationship of their orbits to the magnetic field direction. All this increased action is a catalyst to all the chemical reactions in the body.

Some hold that the therapeutic magnetic fields influence the electrolyte balance of cells. By stimulating the skin, magnetic fields act on reflexes in the skin that correspond to certain organs, similar to foot reflexology. Nerve impulses are sent to activate the function of certain organs. The body is a magnetic conductor and possesses its own biomagnetic field.

Continual flow of body fluids is essential to health. When flow is stopped, fluid accumulates in the tissues. Excess fluid can be carried away and disbursed when proper polarization of malfunctioning cells is regenerated, prompting healing. Pulsed magnets are effective because they initiate a resonance in the affected tissues, causing increased ion exchange through the cell wall.

Human nerve paths are electrochemical conductors, able to produce currents and retransmit them. Magnetic fields, from the natural magnetism of the earth or those created by a pure negative unidirectional field such as the earth has in the north hemisphere, underlie the pulsation of these currents.

Healthy cells maintain an active transport of ions, those electrically charged particles important to energy exchanges and cell metabolism. If electromagnetic energy is lacking, the cells malfunction, initiating illness. The magnetic energy from the brain and the earth is a catalyst to the chemical reactions in the cell which are necessary to run the sodium-potassium pump which charges up the cell wall so oxygen will be attracted in and carbon dioxide and other wastes will be expelled.

Magnetized Water

Magnetizing water has been shown to structure it temporarily thus changing its properties temporarily. Some feel that this has beneficial effects.

Magnetized water can be made by putting a glass jug of cool water in, next to, or on a 3,000 gauss magnet (500, 800 or 2,000 gauss strength are also beneficial). Either polarity, negative or positive, or both simultaneously, can be used for magnetizing water. Length of exposure time necessary for magnetization differs among experts, but ten hours will generally suffice. Recommended daily intake varies from two to three doses of an eight-ounce glass of water, up to a quart per day.

Other liquids can be magnetized in the same way, such as fruit and vegetable juices or body oils used for massage. Some feel that magnetized olive oil has been effective in the treatment of gout and rheumatism.

PDF Table of Self-Care Treatments

How Is It Done?

It is recommended to consult a practitioner for proper diagnosis and initial treatment. However, after brief instruction, magnetic therapy can be performed at or away from home by just about anyone.

Treatments

The easiest treatment is magnetized water, which is energy-building, activating, cleansing and detoxifying. Half a glass of water on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and continued for several months is optimal under conditions of regular health.

Larger, usually in-clinic electromagnetic therapy machines, create large magnetic impulse fields and are used for vast areas of pain. In Europe they have been used to heal bone cancer.

Small pulsars and permanent magnets offer more specific self-care treatments for pain and ailments. General treatment of the entire body is best achieved by sleeping on a magnetic bed or by wearing a pulsar over the solar plexus. Electromagnetic research has shown that pulsed fields of 2-24 Hz work well. Studies have shown that specific ailments respond best to specific frequencies and day or night conditions.

Smaller permanent magnets are best applied to acupuncture meridian points; reflex points on the hands for problems above the navel and reflex points on the feet for problems below the navel. Pulsars or permanent magnets can be applied to the chest area or spine for general symptoms such as depression or weakness. Body response to pulsars is influenced by frequency settings; the response to permanent magnets is influenced by polarity, which can be bipolar, negative or positive.

Other modalities of vibrational medicine include sound, light therapies.

Specifics of Pulsar Treatments

Small pulsars (battery-operated, hand-held electromagnetic therapy devices) have a flexible range of operation. Most of them oscillate between an extremely low frequency of 2-24 Hz. Small magnetic fields of 2-10 gauss are used in this generation process. Pulsars are placed directly over the site of the pain, injury or affected organ. Pulsars are used for fifteen to thirty minutes once or twice a day for several sessions. In severe cases they can be used for up to three months to accelerate response to treatment.

Pulsar therapy should begin at about 8.5 Hz during active periods, lowered to about 3 Hz during rest periods, and at night. After a few days, frequencies can be adjusted according to personal results and state of well-being. Response time can vary from two minutes to a month, depending on individual sensitivity, environment, medical history and gender. Females generally respond quicker than males. Preceding or ongoing chemotherapy means that the body will need more time to return to homeostasis.

Generally, pulsar therapy should not be continued uninterrupted for long stretches of time as the nervous system's vitality will eventually be depleted, thus reducing the effect.This depletion can be overcome by an on/off approach interjecting regular periods of use and non-use.

Specifics of Permanent Magnet Treatments

Permanent magnets are also best used with an on/off approach. For minor aches and pain, small magnets are worn until there is relief (often within fifteen minutes), or strong 3,000 gauss magnets are used twice a day for half an hour. For acute pain, adhesive magnets are left on for three to ten days, or strong 3,000 gauss magnets are used four times daily for an hour each session. Adhesive magnets are used for chronic pain, for two or more treatments consisting of ten days' continuous wear followed by a rest of two days. Strong magnets of 3,000 gauss are used three times daily for an hour at a time. Large permanent magnets of 2,000 gauss can be used in pairs, with treatments lasting from five minutes to two hours.

For a person who sleeps on their back or side, a negative polarity magnet should be applied to the back or side and a positive polarity magnet to the front. The opposite polarities are used if the person sleeps on their stomach.

A properly constructed magnetic bed pad is a very effective way to receive magnetic treatment while you sleep. It treats the whole body at one time with a very gentle 3-6 gauss negative magnetic field and in studies has been shown to be beneficial for arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, PMS and back pain. They cause no loss of vitality with continued use.

Who Can Use Magnetic Therapy?

Pregnant mothers and patients with pacemakers should not use magnetic therapy unless advised by their doctor. All others will benefit regardless of sex, age or body type although males generally require longer treatment periods than females

What Will I Feel?

Some users experience minor temporary side-effects, such as dizziness, dull sensation, headache, sleepiness or extra body heat. With pulsed magnetic fields, there can be some tingling. Females usually experience more sensation than males, especially when acute injuries are being treated. Some may develop magnetic resistance when using static magnets of simultaneous polarity or south polarity. This is overcome by applying north polarity. Some may not notice anything in particular, but this is no indication of inefficacy

What Can I Do?

Magnetic therapies can be easily combined with other forms of treatment, especially acupuncture, massage therapy and reflexology. Homeopathic remedies, healing herbs and water therapy are important adjuncts. The stimulus of magnetic fields should be used as part of a holistic regimen based on proper nutrition, vitamin and mineral supplementation and exercise in a natural, health-promoting environment. If you choose to pursue magnetic therapy, keep the following in mind:

• To reduce interference with the natural biomagnetic field, unnecessary electrical appliances should be eliminated and those not in use, unplugged.


• Magnets should be kept at least one foot away from magnetized items such as computers, videos, tapes and credit cards. Magnets worn on the body should be removed or switched off when receiving X-rays.


• Strong magnets must be kept away from batteries as they can drain the battery charge.