XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
 Latest Research
 Cancer
 Psychiatry
 Genetics
 Surgery
 Aging
 Ophthalmology
 Gynaecology
 Neurosciences
  Memory
  Regeneration
  Stroke
  Brain Diseases
  Headache
  Spinal Cord Diseases
  Demyelinating Diseases
  Neurodegenerative Diseases
  Taste
  Trigeminal Neuralgia
 Pharmacology
 Cardiology
 Obstetrics
 Infectious Diseases
 Respiratory Medicine
 Pathology
 Endocrinology
 Immunology
 Nephrology
 Gastroenterology
 Biotechnology
 Radiology
 Dermatology
 Microbiology
 Haematology
 Dental
 ENT
 Environment
 Embryology
 Orthopedics
 Metabolism
 Anaethesia
 Paediatrics
 Public Health
 Urology
 Musculoskeletal
 Clinical Trials
 Physiology
 Biochemistry
 Cytology
 Traumatology
 Rheumatology
 
 Medical News
 Health
 Opinion
 Healthcare
 Professionals
 Launch
 Awards & Prizes
 
 Careers
 Medical
 Nursing
 Dental
 
 Special Topics
 Euthanasia
 Ethics
 Evolution
 Odd Medical News
 Feature
 
 World News
 Tsunami
 Epidemics
 Climate
 Business
Search

Last Updated: Aug 19th, 2006 - 22:18:38

Neurosciences Channel
subscribe to Neurosciences newsletter

Latest Research : Neurosciences

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Magnetic insoles do not provide pain relief
Sep 24, 2005, 21:12, Reviewed by: Dr.

"A moderate placebo effect was noted in participants who believed the strongest in the potential of magnets to help their pain"

 
Magnetic shoe insoles did not effectively relieve foot pain among patients in a study, researchers report in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. And the results indicate that patients who strongly believed in magnets had pain relief even if they were given false magnets to wear.

"This study provides convincing evidence that use of these static magnets was not effective in relieving symptoms of nonspecific foot pain in the workplace," says Mark Winemiller, M.D., the lead author of the study and a Mayo Clinic physician.

Dr. Winemiller said adults with foot pain are likely to initiate self-treatment with magnets based on personal recommendations or belief systems, often without a specific diagnosis or prescription. An interesting result in the study relates to "the placebo effect." Patients in studies who are given the placebo or false treatment often report improvement in their conditions when they believe they are receiving a treatment designed to provide relief. "A moderate placebo effect was noted in participants who believed the strongest in the potential of magnets to help their pain," says Dr. Winemiller.

In the past decade, the use of magnets for pain relief has increased substantially. Despite little scientific evidence (and lack of Food and Drug Administration approval for pain relief), many people have used magnets to relieve their pain, spending approximately $5 billion worldwide -- an estimated $500 million in the United States annually -- on magnetic pain-relieving devices.

Magnetic devices use either static or pulsed magnets. Clinically, pulsed magnets have been shown effective for treating delayed fracture healing, for reducing pain in various musculoskeletal conditions, and for decreasing edema associated with acute trauma, although other studies have shown no benefit in these situations. Most basic scientific research has focused on movement of tiny electrical voltages that may lead to decreased pain.

The insoles studied were the Active Comfort magnetic insole (Spenco Medical Corp.), which has a magnetic foil pad located under the arch of the foot. These insoles were chosen because they are comfortably cushioned but do not have rigid arch support or acupressure features, which potentially could confound results if such features provided an independent effect. The special set of false magnetic insoles also were produced by the manufacturer, using a nonmagnetized metal foil embedded identically in the foam insole material.

This project was funded by an unrestricted educational grant from the Spenco Medical Corp, Waco, Texas. Spenco was not involved in any way in the study design, data collection, data analyses, or data interpretation or in manuscript preparation, review or approval. Both the active and false magnetic insoles were provided at no charge directly from the manufacturer. In an editorial in the same issue, Roger Fillingim, Ph.D., and Donald Price, Ph.D., of the University of Florida College of Dentistry in Gainesville noted how the placebo controls of the study was important.

"Placebo controls are extremely valuable for determining the efficacy of pain interventions," the authors write.


 

- Mayo Clinic Proceedings
 

www.mayoclinicproceedings.com

 
Subscribe to Neurosciences Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 

A peer-review journal, Mayo Clinic Proceedings publishes original articles and reviews dealing with clinical and laboratory medicine, clinical research, basic science research and clinical epidemiology. Mayo Clinic Proceedings is published monthly by Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research as part of its commitment to the medical education of physicians. The journal has been published for more than 75 years and has a circulation of 130,000 nationally and internationally. Copies of the articles are available online at www.mayoclinicproceedings.com.

Mayo Clinic is now using Pathfire's Digital Media Gateway (DMG) for video news release distribution, to streamline our services and provide content that is easily accessible as needed. On the DMG main page, look for the Mayo Clinic branded page in the left navbar, or click on the VNF Master Locator and search for MayoClinic0035. If you have questions or problems in locating the story, contact Pathfire Customer Support at 888-345-0489 or [email protected]. If you do not have access to Pathfire's DMG, and would like access to Mayo Clinic's video resources by satellite or other means, please call 507-284-8377 or e-mail: [email protected].


Related Neurosciences News

Memories: It's all in the packaging
New Effort to Treat Stroke More Effectively
Atrial Fibrillation linked to Reduced Cognitive Performance
Human Memory Gene Identified
Laser Analysis Points to Brain Pigment's Hidden Anatomy
Cause of nerve fiber damage in multiple sclerosis identified
REGARDS Study: Stroke Symptoms Common Among General Population
Signals That Tell Fly Neurons to Extend or Retract
Potential link between celiac disease and cognitive decline discovered
Progesterone for Traumatic brain injury??


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us