How magnetotherapy can relieve occasional or chronic pain in the lumbar region, knees , shoulders or hands. Based on AGCOSS studies for AURIS: 2016-2022.
Briefly, AURIS therapeutic magnets are not ‘natural’ magnets of the ferrite or magnetite type but ceramics containing a mixture of neodymium, iron and boron, which are real magnetic field traps, ceramics that are magnetised secondarily in an electromagnetic coil.
There are two units for expressing the intensity of a magnetic field, the Gauss (G) and the Tesla (T), with 1T being equivalent to 10,000G.
AURIS magnets emit 1.2 tesla power and deliver 0.3T on contact with the articular surface, i.e. 3300 Gauss. They come in different sizes according to their polar surfaces: 25 mm, 18 mm and 11 mm, adapted to the sizes of the target joints for 3 mm thickness with a protective antioxidant titanium coating. These magnets lose only 4% of their power over 40 years and are therefore extremely stable and long-lasting.
By comparison, the Earth's magnetic field varies from 0.25 to 0.50 G, or 25 to 50 microT.
The human magnetic field, although quantitatively very weak, is essential to our existence, estimated on average at 10-10 Gauss (between nanoT and picoT), i.e. of the order of 0.0000001G and qualitatively very sensitive to natural and especially artificial magnetic fields (electromagnetic waves such as Hartman's grid: 10-9 G, magnetic fields used in medical imaging for diagnostic purposes such as proton MRI at 1.5 T, i.e. 15,000 G and sometimes 3 T... The most powerful MRI currently available for studying the human brain is in Saclay, France, where it has a power of 11 T).
Finally, it is important to understand that the power of the magnets decreases with the square of the distance, so they are therapeutic tools with localised effects.
AURIS magnets are available as free magnets or embedded in magnetically active textiles (MAT) that respect joint mobility, unlike rigid immobilising splints, which are known as magnetically active orthoses (MAO).
With its wealth of experience in therapeutic magnetic fields, the company AURIS offers innovative solutions that are affordable, effective, non-hazardous, non-medicinal and non-surgical in accordance with the EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) recommendations for the management of these pathologies.
Magneto-active orthoses (MAOs) are innovative, 3D-designed, eco-friendly because they are recyclable, washable at 30°C, unisex, one size fits all, without right or left laterality, lightweight, they respect joint mobility even in sporting conditions, they are easy to use and affordable. Given their adjustable nature, they can even be used most often in a family setting.
The mode of action of the AMO is threefold:
- reduction of pain perception
- stimulation of endorphin secretion, our own painkillers
- normalisation of the magnetic field in the painful area
In detail: or in a more precise scientific formulation:
- induction of an electric field in moving fluids (vessels under the skin). This Faraday effect is a kind of ‘alert GPS’ for the brain, which reacts by triggering a release of endorphins (our endogenous morphines) directed towards the zone of induced current. This is how we make our own painkillers,
- the magnets reduce the action potential of the pain nerve fibres ( C fibres ), which means that the magnets reduce the painful intensity of the message that goes back to the brain and therefore the perception of the intensity of the pain in the magnetised area
- the magnets restore the magnetic homeostasis of the painful area, thus contributing, beyond the painkilling effect, to the functional improvement of the treated joint, as observed in AGCOSS studies .
The clinical research company AGCOSS (a consulting agency specialising in health and safety) has been commissioned to study the efficacy and tolerance of AURIS therapeutic magnets in a pipeline of human clinical studies from 2016 to 2022 for the painful pathologies most relevant in terms of public health interest and potential service provided to a majority of patients with chronic or occasional pain.
Four studies were thus carried out:
- Lombalgis: chronic low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and the leading cause in France in terms of frequency of consultation in general medicine and private rheumatology.
- Gonalgis: a real health issue, the high worldwide prevalence of knee pain, which can be disabling, is constantly increasing, partly due to the sharp rise in overweight and obesity, leading to a predicted 600% increase in joint replacements between 2009 and 2030.
- Omalgis: 2nd most frequent cause of consultation in private rheumatology
- Rhizalgis: the hand, the natural extension of our brain, together with our environment, has helped to differentiate us from our primate cousins through our grasping capacity and pollicidigital opposition (pincers with thumb, index finger and thumb of other fingers, round pincers, flat pincers, etc.).
- Osteoarthritis of the thumb root (rhizarthrosis), predominantly affecting women, affects 20% of 50-year-old women and increases by 10% in each subsequent decade ...
These studies have the same protocol design: multicentre, observational, prospective studies with an inclusion period of 3 months and patient follow-up over 3 months. The main subjective objective assesses the downward variability of pain intensity ( minimum - 2 points on a scale of 10) and the objective decrease of an algofunctional index score adapted to each joint studied, which we will see in detail below. The secondary objectives are the reduction in the consumption of analgesics and/or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (non-cortisone), the time spent wearing the magnetically-activated orthosis and the level of response of patients, classifying them as URR (ultra-rapid responders in a few minutes to a few days), RR (rapid responders in less than a month) and LR. (slow responders in less than 2 months) or even NR (non-responders).
Let us specify from the outset that we have observed 100% of responders in less than 3 months in all the studies in which the recommended and respected wearing method was used!! This is explained by the fact that we all have a magnetic field that is more or less sensitive to our electromagnetic environment and that, given the triple mode of action of therapeutic magnets, we have not experienced any failures with these AMOs in chronic pathology.
These studies surprised us by the rate of analgesic efficacy, which was much higher than the main objective of a significant decrease necessary for the determination of a positive study , but also the carrying of DMOs has taught us more precisely the conditions for the proper use of DMOs to obtain these results while refining the effects felt by patients who are very satisfied both in terms of pain relief and function (i.e. increased joint mobility ).
Patient satisfaction goes as far as creating a pseudo dependence on the MWO , as patients do not wish to relive their initial states of suffering and disability prior to the clinical studies.
The studies have shown us 6 types of effects that optimise the proper use of the MWO. AURIS:
- Summation or addition effect: (essential to benefit from the other effects) this is the effect of wearing the AOM continuously for 12 hours a day or night or even 24 hours a day to obtain significant pain relief more or less quickly depending on your individual sensitivity (RUR, RR, RL)
- Preventive adjustment effect: the wearing time is adapted to the mechanical stresses that you will impose on your painful joint, so depending on the joint workload, it is the patient who chooses when and how long to wear the OMA. The patient directs his or her treatment instead of suffering the pain of his or her illness;
- Residual effect: the relief is not suspensive (the effect stops when the support is removed), but on the contrary, once the analgesic effect is obtained, it is possible to take breaks from wearing the support for a few days to a few weeks, so there is a lasting effect after stopping the support without escaping to resume wearing it if the pain relapses.
- Therapeutic threshold effect: on average, a minimum of 4 hours of carrying is required to feel the full pain-relieving effect for chronic conditions (a few minutes for acute pain), varying according to your sensitivity of responder RUR, RR, RL
- Night-time effect: it is possible to obtain the same analgesic effect by carrying the back exclusively at night for a minimum of 6 to 12 hours, thus avoiding the friction stresses that occur during certain daytime exertions on the thoracolumbar spine.
- Alternating effect: in the case of bilateral pain (knees, shoulders, etc.), it is possible to initially treat for 6 to 12 hours by alternating right and left during the day or by alternating day and night depending on the sides to be treated.
To conclude, here is a summary of the main results (averages) of the main objectives of the studies conducted by AGCOSS for the company AURIS:
- Lumbar pain: patient profile (20) 8 women / 12 men average age 60.8 / BMI 26.37, OMA ACTIFLUX lumbar belt, EVA initial pain: 6.97, at M3: 2.68 (delta 4.29, + >2), DALLAS Index (DRAD) (16 Q in 4 groups: impact on ADL, impact on APro and ALoisir, moral impact AD/sociofamilial impact) 63.7/47/42.5/46. 5 to M 3: 47.3 26 28.3 32.7. To put it simply, more than 50% improvement in pain intensity in a few days to a few weeks.
- Gonalgis: patient profile (30) 20 women, 10 men, 66.5 years old, BMI 26.8 OMA. GONOFLEX, WOMAC pain VAS A1: 7.25 initial M1: 3.14 M2: 2 and M3: 1.03, i.e. delta 6.22 + > 2 More than 60% improvement in pain intensity in a few days to a few weeks.
- Omalgis: patient profile: (30) 14 women, 12 men, 4 PV (Covid-19 period before the first lockdown) 66 years old, OMA OMOFLEX, initial SPADI 65.8% M1:41.2%, M2: 26.45%, M3: 19.2% decrease from 65% to M3 + > 30% expected... 65% improvement in pain intensity in a few days to a few weeks.
- Rhizalgis: patient profile: (30), 29 women, 1 man, 68.5 years old, OMA RHIZOFLEX, eva pain: initial 6.03 M1: 2.03, M2:1.15, M3:0.7 (Delta 88% + >2 points/10) FIHOA: Initial 15.8 M1: 4.73 M2:2.73 M3:1.5 with 5 dropouts for mainly technical reasons (some magnets ‘too powerful’ and too ‘close’ depending on the morphology of the hands of the subjects treated caused the magnets to collaberate ... the investigators' review at the end of the study enabled the company AURIS to modify its OMA to eliminate this technical incident). More than 80% improvement in pain intensity in a few days to a few weeks
The studies are available in full text on the website of the company AURIS
In summary, AOMs are simple, non-drug therapeutic solutions that are highly effective and safe (only contraindicated for people with pacemakers and insulin or morphine pumps, due to their electromagnetic drive probes) that provide relief to all patients within a period that varies from a few days to a maximum of 2 months, for chronic painful conditions (> 3 months) regardless of their aetiology.
The patients were very satisfied with the pain-relieving effects and increased joint mobility, unlike with rigid joint immobilisation splints, and they literally made these therapeutic tools their own, enabling us to determine the best way to use them.
Their use deserves to be widely extended to suffering patients, taking into account the experience of patients in studies in the wearing of ADOs (6 positive effects). These ADOs can also be used in situations of intense acute pain (1 day to 1 month) and subacute pain (4 weeks to 12 weeks of evolution)...
Doctor Jean-François MARC
Rheumatologist
RPPS: 10003009676
President AGCOSS
On 05-02-2025
PS 1: algofunctional index (pain and mobility):
DALLAS or DRAD: Spinal Pain Dallas Self-Questionnaire
WOMAC A1: Western Ontario Mac Master Universities Osteoarthritis Index
SPADI: Shoulder Pain And Disability Index
DREISER or FIHOA: Functional Index for Hand Osteoarthritis
SP 2: glossary
TMA: magnetically active textiles
OMA: magnetically active orthosis