Magnetic Mattress Pad Testing with Fibromyalgia Patients

Two Randomized Double-blind Clinical Trials on Magnetic Mattress Pad Use in Patients with Fibromyalgia

"Magnet Therapy Reduced Fibromyalgia Pain, Reports New Study"

Two groups of fibromyalgia sufferers were given magnetic mattress pads of differing polarities to determine which, if any, magnetic polarity had an effect on symptoms of fibromyalgia.

The researchers from the University of Virginia used three measures of pain in the study: functional status reported by study participants on a standardized fibromyalgia questionnaire used nationwide, number of tender points on the body and pain intensity ratings.

Data were compiled for 94 fibromyalgia patients randomly divided into four groups. One control group received mattress pads containing magnets that had been demagnetized through heat processing. The second control group received only their usual treatment for fibromyalgia. Two other groups received active magnetic pads: one group used Pad A, the other used Pad B. The subjects were treated and tracked for six months.

Pad A selected for the study was of north/negative polarity, also called BioNorth (-), with only the north magnetic fields facing the body.

Pad B selected for the study was of alternating polarity, with both north and south magnetic fields facing the body.

The group using Pad A experienced whole-body exposure to a low, uniformly static magnetic field of negative polarity. The effects of exposure to magnetic energy in this group reduced fibromyalgia pain intensity enough to be "clinically meaningful" by researchers.

The group using Pad B experienced whole body exposure to a low, variable positioned static magnetic field of alternating polarity, showed an improvement in all outcomes after 3 and 6 months - although the results were statistically inconclusive.

"Finding any positive results in the groups using the magnets was surprising, given how little we know about how magnets work to reduce pain," said the study's principal investigator Dr. Alan P. Alfano, Medical Director of the U.Va. HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital. "The results tell us maybe this therapy works, and that maybe more research is justified. You can't draw final conclusions from only one study."

"When we compared the groups, we did not find significant statistical differences in most of the outcome measures," said Ann Gill Taylor, R.N., Ed.D., co-investigator for the study, professor of nursing and director and principal investigator of the Center for Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies at the University of Virginia.

"However, we did find a statistically significant difference in pain intensity reduction for one of the active magnet pad groups. The two groups that slept on pads with active magnets generally showed the greatest improvements in outcome scores of pain intensity level, number of tender points on the body and functional status after six months. "

"To our knowledge, no other studies on magnet therapy have been done in as rigorous a clinical setting as U.Va., and this study was the largest conducted so far," Taylor said. "Nevertheless, larger studies are needed to find clear answers about magnets' safety and efficacy in treating pain."

"Fibromyalgia is a common rheumatological condition for which there is no generally effective treatment," Alfano said. "People who have fibromyalgia try everything and magnetic mattress pads are one of the most popular complementary products they try. We did this study because we hoped to provide some useful information for them.

"In the past decade, people in this country have been using magnets for everything from tennis elbow to carpal tunnel syndrome. They want to do something for their pain that doesn't involve medication or injections, and magnets seem relatively benign. But people don't know how to evaluate magnetic products when considering what to buy. There are no standards for magnets yet. So researchers need to find out what dosage, field strength and period of exposure is proper, what side effects may occur and what conditions benefit most," Alfano said.

Two other basic science laboratory studies currently underway at U.Va. are investigating the effects of pulsed and static magnetic fields on neural processes and functions and the effects of magnetic fields on microvascular capillary blood flow.

The study was conducted with partial support from a grant from the National Institutes of Health Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Magnetic Mattress Pad Use in Patients with Fibromyalgia, A Randomized Double-blind Pilot Study

The study's conclusion states "Sleeping on a magnetic mattress pad ... provides statistically significant and clinically relevant pain relief and sleep improvement in subjects with fibromyalgia. No adverse reactions were noted during the 16-week trial period."

"The results of this pilot study demonstrate that sleeping for an average of 8 hours per night (prone, supine, or side-lying) on a magnetic mattress pad ... for 16 weeks, provides significant pain relief and sleep improvement in women with FM. Because pharmaceutical agents are associated with a high rate of adverse effects and offer only minimum relief for the majority of patients, we recommend a trial of magnet therapy, as a non-invasive, painless, low risk adjunct to standard medical and physiatric interventions."