Even though we did not observe a reduction in low back pain with magnet use in our study, I am not prepared to say they don't work. Right now I would say that if people are having success with them in treating their condition, they shouldn't use this study as evidence to throw them out. Ariz. The study looked at magnet use in 20 people with low back pain who had never tried magnets before to treat their condition. Study participants were asked to rate their pain using a pain scale and questionnaire. Measures of their spine flexibility were taken before and after treatment.
Magnets typically have two poles, a north and a south.
Some commercially available magnets have one pole facing the skin, called unipolar. Bipolar magnets' magnetic material is arranged so that both poles are facing the skin, he says. People in the study used the magnets for six hours a day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a period of one week. After a week with no treatment, they used something that looked exactly like the magnet but was not magnetized, called sham treatment. The researchers found no differences between magnet therapy and sham therapy for pain reduction, Collacott says.