History of Magnetic Therapy

According to one legend, the phenomenon of magnetism was supposedly discovered, and named after, a Greek shepherd, named Magnes, whose iron staff became strongly attracted to a lodestone rock. Other legends claim that magnetism was first discovered in an ancient part of Europe known as Magnesia.The therapeutic power of magnets was known to physicians in ancient Greece, Egypt and China over 4000 years ago, who used naturally magnetic rock (known as lodestone or magnetite) to treat a variety of physical and psychological ailments.

Cleopatra (69 - 30 BC) was said to wear a magnet on her forehead to maintain her beauty, and was also said to recommend magnets to treat the gout that was prevalent among her Roman allies. In A.D. 46, the physician Scribonius Largus recommended the use of the electric torpedo fish to cure headaches and gouty arthritis. Ancient Romans also used magnet therapy to treat eye disease, the French physician Marcel used it to treat headaches, and the Islamic physician

Avicenna (980 - 1037) to treat depression.In the 16th Century, the famous Swiss physician and alchemist, Paracelus, was responsible for ‘rediscovering’ magnetic therapy and used it widely in his practice precipitating a resurgence in its popularity in Europe. He declared that “The magnet is the king of all secrets” and used it to treat a variety of conditions including headache and rheumatic problems. He also recommended drinking a solution made by adding ground lodestone to water.

The 18th Century Viennese physician, Franz Anton Mesmer believed that magnets could enhance a Universal force that permeated the body, which he called ‘animal magnetism’.Today, magnetic therapy is popular in Japan and parts of Europe, but has only recently become widely known in the West.

In 1959, surgeons in the US found that amputated amphibian limbs could be regrown when an electromagnetic field was used.Animal studies in the early 1970’s suggested that it was only the negative pole of a magnet that has beneficial effects on living cells.

Around the same time, researchers also discovered that weak electrical currents (which will produce a magnetic field) could enhance the healing of bone fractures, and strong electromagnetic fields are now used by many orthopaedic surgeons to hasten the healing of bone fractures. The reported success rate is over 80%, even in cases of non-union where other procedures had previously failed.

Magnetic therapy is now also used by some doctors to encourage healing of persistent wounds and ulcers, swelling (oedema) and sometimes to treat deep vein thrombosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is also widely used as a diagnostic technique to visualise internal parts of the body, and produces better results, more safely, than using X-rays.