My mother is 71, and her hands and feet are in a lot of pain. Pain medicine isn't an option. Do you think magnetic therapy for arthritis pain is promising?

Dr. John Connolly

Magnetic pain therapy involves the holding or attachment of specially formulated magnets to points on the body where patients routinely feel pain. It is a centuries-old treatment, with magnets touted to improve blood flow and increase the amount of available oxygen owing to heat generated by magnetic fields.

Compared with traditional means of pain relief, magnetic therapy does have its charms. It is non-invasive, for example, and apparently non-addictive. Magnets can be used over and over; they come in such forms as shoe inserts and arm and leg wraps, which are unobtrusive when worn. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that magnet therapy has helped athletes, including Yankee hurler Hideki Irabu and Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski. Some physical therapists swear by magnets.

From the sheer numbers alone of companies hawking magnetic therapy products, it's easy to believe that hard scientific evidence supports the many claims. Unfortunately, the various claims made over the years, not to mention poorly designed or conflicting studies, have led most scientists to relegate magnetic therapy to the realm of medical quackery.

Arthritis pain indeed is on the list of problems vendors say can be relieved; other conditions include headaches, carpal-tunnel syndrome, and sciatica. But until solid scientific studies determine that magnetic therapy is undoubtedly beneficial for arthritis sufferers, few physicians will extend themselves to endorse this approach.

It's not for want of trying. The National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine is funding a University of Virginia study on the effects of magnets on chronic pain. Another study, at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, found "significant and prompt" pain relief among its 50 subjects: patients experiencing pain from diagnosed post-polio syndrome.

Baylor's 1997 study, in fact, is often cited as proof that magnetic therapy works. The very doctors who conducted the study, however, are quick to warn that their results can not necessarily be interpreted as applicable for patients suffering from other conditions. Other studies are reportedly under way at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University.

Should you choose to give this therapy a try while you wait for hard evidence, you're likely to find magnetic products reasonably priced. Shoe inserts, for instance, cost roughly $10-$15 a pair. A bracelet fitted with magnets runs under $20. If your budget is tight, however, getting reimbursed by your insurance carrier may prove difficult if not impossible. In certain parts of Europe and Asia, therapeutic magnets are relatively commonplace; they are even considered reimbursable expenses in Germany, Israel and Japan. But in America's scientific community, this form of treatment remains on the fringe.

In other words, the Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved the use of magnets for pain relief. Medicare won't reimburse costs related to magnetic therapy, and it's doubtful that any HMO would reimburse the expense, although it certainly never hurts to check. This means paying out-of-pocket.

The jury is clearly still out on magnetic pain therapy, and until many more studies show conclusive results across a variety of disorders, most doctors would be loathe to recommend their use. On your side, however, is that magnetic therapy products seem inexpensive. There is also no evidence that using them is harmful. Inevitably it is your pain and your own experience with traditional treatments that must guide you from here.

Dr. John Connolly is President & CEO of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., America's "trusted" source for identifying top doctors. He has an extensive background in management and healthcare. For more than a decade, he was President of New York Medical College where he successfully revitalized the school while insuring its financial security. Dr. Connolly is extensively involved in healthcare activities including serving as a director of the New York Business Group on Health, as founder, a director and past chair of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, as a member of the Presidents Advisory Council of the United Hospital Fund of New York, and as a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. He has also served on the boards of two hospitals and as chairman of the board of one, and is currently Chairman of Professional Examination Service, Inc. He also is a frequent guest on regional and national TV and radio shows, including 20/20, CNN and Good Morning America.