Doctors, Patients Disagree On Magnetic Therapy
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Magnetic treatments that claim to alleviate pain are big business,
but do they work?



Terry Santone is a professional golf player who used to suffer from
chronic wrist pain. The discomfort got so bad, Santone was constantly
taking painkillers. Then, he turned to a magnetic bracelet.


"And I don't know if it's just psychological or not, but after I put
it on, my wrist just stopped hurting," Santone said.


In the five years since, Terry has rarely taken the bracelet off.
Fellow golfer Jerry Felker is a pharmacist who has arthritic hands
and knees and swears by his magnetic bracelet. Professionally,
though, Felker admits he is skeptical.


"I really see no evidence they work. But they don't do any harm, so
they can't cause a major problem," Felker said.


In the search for the cure to what ails us, more people are dumping
modern medicine for unproven products that promise what science
cannot or will not -- a cure.


"I'm always seeing people who say, 'I want a cure for arthritis.' And
I say, 'There is no cure for arthritis.' And then they go out and
find these other cures to see if it doesn't help them," said Dr. John
Ervin, a rheumatologist.


In fact, Americans spend more on unproven products than on
prescription drugs, KMBC's Jim Flink reported.


From magnetic bracelets, to beds, shoe insoles, to finger wraps and
black belts, magnetic products are making a lot of money. Some sell
for more than $500.


"To date, the evidence that they work is mostly anecdotal," Ervin
said. "That's to say, scientifically they don't work."


But do these magnets do any harm?


We talked with one woman, Becky, who bought a product called accu-
beads to cure a sore back.


She followed the directions to squeeze or press the beads repeatedly
for up to three days to relieve pain. But Becky did not have pleasant
results.


"Now your ear hurts, even to put your phone to your ear. It felt like
it was literally piercing my ear," Becky said.


Then Becky said she began to experience ringing in her ears.


Eventually, Becky said the ringing quit with no long-term effects.


Dr. Ervin said that magnets do not seem to have harmful effects, but
the benefits are simply not proved.


"If they think it works, I tell them good, go ahead and keep on using
it. Because it isn't going to hurt them. But if they ask me if it
works, I tell them there is no evidence it works," Ervin said.

Santone, however, continues to play golf and not worry about medical
opinion.

"The medical side, they have their own theories. And that's fine, but
as for me, I'm going to do what I need to (do) to feel better,"
Santone said.

Ervin said acupuncture has been proven effective, but magnetic
therapy has not. Doctors believe pressure treatment triggers body-
healing endorphins.