magnets ON HORSES

[Malibu]

ok so i am confused, i was taught that they increase the blood flow, circulation thus heating up the area applied too, so i thought of course i wouldnt put any on myboy who of sunday tore a tendon but i have been told to by a few peeps but surly it will only heat up the area, shouldnt i wait a few weeks?

anyone please explain

thanks in advance

 

[Ginn]

Posted this a while back - hope it helps but in short I'd never use magnetic products on a horse on the basis that scientifically they have no effect (other than adding unnecessary weight to the horse - which I wouldn't want to do on an injured tendon anyway!)

Basically, the principle of magnets is that "Like" charges repel and "unlike" charges attract. By putting a magnetic product on a horse you are therefore assuming that there is either some attraction or repulsion taking place (since that is basically the working of a magnet). Now assuming that the tissue/blood is going to have any effect from the magnet it too must be polarised (or charged). Now let us assume that this tissue is indeed charged...... what happens if you stick a magnet in a pile of paperclips? Answer? the paperclips all "clump" to the magnet since it is attracting them.

Therefore, should a manget have an effect on tissue or blood then one would expect to see said tissue or blood "clumping" in the direction of the magnet. Clearly in the case of blood flow then the magnet is going to stop the flow and creat a clot. However, this DOESN'T happen (so don't pannic - your horse will not get a blood clot from wearing these boots!). Infact, the magnet has no effect on healing whatsoever, since there are not magnetc forces acting between the horse and the boot (unless perhaps the horse has iron shoes on in which case there will be a force between the shoes and the magnetic, however, the strength of the magnets used is small so the observed effects of this would be negligable.

However, this is not to say thatmagnets do not have an effect on the body. Think of an MRI (or NMRI, nuclear magnetic resonnace imaging) scan. The magnets used in this machines are of a much greater magnitude then those found in everyday magnets like the boots discussed here. These work since the forces are significantly large to cause the charged H atoms in the body to oscillate (or resonnate) at certain frequencies to determine the chemical composition of what is being scanned (if that makes any sense?!). However, even magnets such as these do not have the "healing" properties or capabilities expected from using magnets for tissue repair processes which they are advertised as doing.

I hope that makes a little more sense - not sure Ive explained it very well as its a bit hurried!! But basically there is no scientific evidence or explanations as to why magnet products have any benifit what so ever!

 

[Malibu]

hi thanks i just searched magnets and read your post but thanks anyway! kind regards

 

[airedale]

cold on a tendon injury is there to reduce swelling. One of the things that happens to cause this is that the tissues and the blood vessels contract. As the blood vessels contract they squeeze the 'contents' - but like squeezing a tube of toothpaste - so the 'contents' of the blood vessels are encouraged to relocate elsewhere and thus the swelling is encouraged to reduce.

similarly stuff like IceTight and other similar paste products will also 'constrict' the swelling and again - stop the 'congestion' in the tissues. (If you've ever seen people - particularly the elderly - with congested tissues and swelling in their lower legs they are told to put their feet up to help with the blood circulation ). Horses can't "put their feet up" so cannot obey the human first aid mantra of ICE (Ice, Compression, Elevation)

So all you can do for a horse is the first two, the ice and the compression (so IceTight or similar would be good).

Now back to the question of magnets.....there may be no scientific proof but then there isn't an awful lot of that for Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Hypnotism, and other alternative therapies.

Arnica is acutally homeopathic so yep - by using arnica - which will help enormously initially - you are using homeopathy.

Magnets don't make things hotter - I wear a magnetic armband for about 9 months of the year - whenever it is damp - due to arthritic shoulder - and it doesn't make my arm hotter or make it swell - but it does mean that I no longer need ANY painkillers NOR ANY ibuprofen or similar gel.

I would try magnets but later on after say the first 3 weeks of the healing process has occured. At least magnetic boots do obey one law of healing - you use them on both legs, the injured one and the uninjured one (which is taking a hell of a load).

I expect your vet will give you something like Tensolvet to treat the tendon with as well.

Complimentary therapy - is just that - complementary to the treatment provided by a vet or a doctor.

I have a mare that the vet cannot do anything for - she gets asthma attack in hot weather that raises her respiratory rate x2 for about 2 hours but doesn't stop her eating or distress her in any way. She's been seen by 4 different vets and nothing in lungs, etc.

She's on a homeopathic remedy in her water and a herbal remedy in her feed and hasn't had any attacks since may despite the raging temps. we've had this July.

Do what the vet says but if you want to - after the first 10 days - try magnetic boots. They are not going to do any harm. They may very well do some good.

Only on for a max of 30 mins maybe twice a day and then build up the time to say 2 hrs twice a day.

 

[Marilyn]

You can get products with hot, cold and magnetic qualities that cater for all areas...FMBs do them