Ultrarunning: Using Magnetic Therapy for Your Injuries

June 12, 2012

This article is part of Endurance Planet’s ultrarunning article series. If you have questions, comments or feedback about “Using Magnetic Therapy for Your Injuries”, please leave it below in the comments section…

Ultrarunning is so difficult that athletes who are into it acknowledge that acute and chronic injuries are an unavoidable part of the sport. And ultrarunners are a brazen bunch of elite athletes too, not just because of their love for such a physically and psychologically demanding sport, but because they’re among those who’d be willing enough to try different methods for treating pain. And magnetic therapy happens to be one of these.

How magnets work for injuries

According to this therapy’s proponents, magnets work by interrupting the signal of pain. This perhaps explains the manner by which these magnets are used, that is, to be put directly atop the injured spot. Magnets are purported to increase blood and overall energy flow too. So not only is it said to alleviate pain, but swelling as well.

Types of magnets used for therapy

The magnets that are currently available in the market come in two types. There are the static magnets which usually come in bracelet form and are worn like jewellery. Insoles containing static magnets have been developed as well as knee and elbow sport wraps filled with these stones.

Then there are multi-polar magnets as well. Normally packaged within battery operated handheld gadgets, the magnets rotate when the apparatus is switched on. This continuous movement of the magnets purportedly creates multi-dimensional magnetic fields. The multi-dimensional magnetic fields are said to be stronger thus are more capable of reaching damaged tissues that are deep within the body.

Support for the method

Magnetic therapy has long been studied in the medical field. But because most of these scientific studies lack reproducible results, many do not believe that it can be useful in alleviating and even treating injuries. While scientific evidence is sparse right now, the fact that many attest to have seen and felt improvements in their respective injuries after use of the therapy cannot be discounted.

Add to this the increasing roster of professional athletes, trainers, and even sports science practitioners who use magnetic therapy to fast-track injury recovery. There’s Dara Torres, who at 41, is the oldest to have ever entered the United States Olympic Team. She was previously photographed wearing what seems to be a static magnet bracelet.

Aside from the elite athletes, there are regular people who confirm magnetic therapy’s benefits. There’s the case of Lucretia Diplan’s daughter who was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. It’s worth noting that Ms. Diplan is a retired doctor from Maryland, USA. Being a strong believer in magnetic therapy, she utilized this to treat her daughter’s debilitating jaw pain.

Many roll their eyes in cynicism at the mere mention of magnetic therapy. Some insist that the only thing these magnets are capable of providing is the placebo effect. But whether that’s all there is to it, or the magnets truly have healing properties, if using them alleviates your painful injuries from ultrarunning, then it would be safe to say that magnetic therapy’s worth continuing.

Summary

Do you have questions about magnetic therapy, or what you’ve read so far? Do you have any ultrarunning pointers of your own to add? Please leave your feedback, comments and questions below, and we promise we’ll respond.

Comments (3)

  • Kevin says:

    I've had great success using 'flux capacitors'. They regenerate connective tissue by creating a small kink in the space time continuum around the injury, causing the affected tissue to 'time-regress' and repair. It's amazing. A couple guys I know have regenerated tons of body parts and swear by it. That anecdotal evidence, coupled with mis-use of some very scientific engineering speak obviously pushes it into the domain of real science.

    The deniers are just close minded haters.

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