Sports Innovations: Magnetic Therapy Blanket for Equines

The magnetic therapy blanket has been used to treat ailing horses for decades. This device places ceramic magnets on strategic areas of the horse's body. These magnets generate a magnetic field, that emits low-energy electrical pulses to help dilate blood vessels and stimulate the horse's tissue. The therapy accelerates the healing process and alleviates pain.

  1. History

    • Magnets were used to treat ailments in the ancient cultures of Greece, Egypt and India. As drug-based treatment took hold of the modern world, magnetic therapy lost favor. Due to research by Dr. Kyoichi Nakagawa in Japan, magnets returned to the scope of modern medicine. In the late 1970s, Nakagawa asserted that the man-made electrical fields, such as ones generated by automobiles, power lines and steel buildings, have impacted the planet's magnetic field. As a consequence, people and animals may be prone to insomnia, fatigue, cramps, aches and pains.

    How It Works

    • Magnetic field therapy employs magnetic fields produced by permanent magnets. Made of a blend of nickel, iron, cobalt, ceramic, aluminum and neodymium, the magnet becomes magnetized when positioned near a wire coil and emits a pulse of electrical current. The magnet can range from 200 to 3,000 Gauss, a scale that indicates the density of the electromagnetic force. Stronger magnets exhibit a higher Gauss number. The magnet size and the duration of treatment depend on the ailment.

    Administration of Therapy

    • While anyone can buy permanent magnets in their various forms, veterinary practitioners must prescribe the use of specialized devices, such as blankets, boots and leg wraps. These magnets pose a challenge to place on equines. Trained therapists overseen by veterinarians may operate the equipment and administer pulsed electromagnetic field therapy.

    Lack of Scientific Proof

    • While advertisements for magnetic therapy devices, such as blankets, proliferate on the Internet, the magnetic field delivered by such devices can not be measured or modulated. According to "Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine Considered," scientific studies proving that magnetic field therapy is effective in treating medical conditions in animals does not exist. When compared to untreated limbs, animal limbs with bone injuries that were treated with electromagnetic therapy did not heal any faster in one study. Another study failed to demonstrate that the therapy had an significant effect on the metabolism of equine bone.

    Side Effects

    • Although the Shores Animal Clinic puts forth that magnetic field therapy does not engender side effects, there is published evidence that the therapy does have side effects. According to "MicroCurrent for Horses," treated horses suffer from colic disturbances and discomfort from wearing the blankets. In addition, therapists and people who work closely with therapy blankets report illness.