Magnets have been used for healing purposes for centuries in many countries such as China, Egypt, Greece, and India. They are mentioned in the oldest medical text ever found, the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine in 2000 BCE, as well as in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas (Whitaker & Adderly, 1998). In Europe during the 16th century, Paracelsus, a German-Swiss physician, theorized that because magnets attract iron they might attract and “draw out” diseases from the body. German physician Franz Mesmer, who is believed to be the father of alternate medicine, claimed that a mysterious fluid, which he called “animal magnetism,” had an influence on the body’s health and that the planets influenced how animal magnetism worked (Trueman, 2000).

Magnet therapy was popular in the United States in the 18th century, where it was used for treating many ailments of the body, especially in some rural areas where few doctors were available. The introduction of antibiotics, cortisone, and other medications resulted in magnet therapy losing its allure. Since the 1940s, there has been a resurgence of interest in magnet therapy by health professionals (Whitaker & Adderly, 1998). During the 1970s, both magnets and electromagnetic machines became popular among athletes in many countries for treating sports-related injuries (New York University, 2012). Magnetic products such as magnetic mattress pads, bracelets, and necklaces became a rapidly growing industry during that time for a variety of conditions. Although both public and health care professionals were fascinated by the potential therapeutic effects of magnets, it was not until the late 20th century that reports from adequately designed clinical trials of magnets were published. Results of several preliminary studies suggested that both static magnets and
electromagnetic therapy may have therapeutic effects. These findings have accelerated research interest in magnet therapy. A recent PubMed search for magnet therapy as the keyword yielded only 2,872 articles, and yet more than 2,540,000 links with mostly commercial advertisements were generated via Google. Currently, magnet therapy is one of the most widely used forms of complementary and alternative therapies for the management of chronic pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders. Magnets are often marketed for many different types of pain, including foot pain and back pain from conditions such as arthritis and fibromyalgia (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine [NCCAM], 2012). The modern magnet therapy industry’s total sales are estimated at $500 million per year in the United States and $5 billion globally (Winemiller, Billow, Laskowski, & Harmsen, 2005).

Today, energy healing remains a debatable subject in the scientific community. The scientific literature on magnet therapy continues to yield conflicting findings. Scientists continue to try to understand the healing power of magnets, and whether, how, and why magnets work on certain health problems.