NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Magnets have been touted as a treatment for many ailments, including chronic pain and depression. Now, according to the results of a study on the effectiveness of magnet therapy for people with carpal tunnel syndrome, some users may find temporary pain relief--but the effect may have nothing to do with the magnets.

In the study, a device that delivered a magnetic field to the point of greatest pain was no better as a pain reliever than an identical ``placebo'' device that did not generate a magnetic field, report Dr. Richard Carter and colleagues at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.

``However, both magnet and placebo produced a significant decrease in pain during the 45-minute application that was still detectable at the 2-week follow-up,'' Carter's team writes.

``Most likely, this is a placebo effect due to the patients' belief in the efficacy of the device,'' they add. ``Also, it is possible that pressure over the area of pain, due to application of the (wrist wrap), somehow reduces the amount of pain experienced.''

In the small study, 30 patients who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome had their wrists wrapped with padding that contained either magnets or identical metal discs that were not magnetized. All of the patients characterized their wrist pain in a questionnaire and rated its intensity before, during and after the procedure.

The investigators report their findings in the January issue of The Journal of Family Practice.

``Although this study did not show magnets to be more effective than the placebo, the reduction in pain with this simple intervention was remarkable,'' Carter and colleagues conclude.

Marked by numbness and tingling in the hand and wrist, and pain that can extend up to the shoulder, carpal tunnel syndrome may be caused by work or hobbies that involve repetitive motions of the upper limbs. Swelling in the wrist compresses nerves that travel from the forearm to the hand through a ''tunnel'' in the wrist. Treatment includes painkillers, braces, steroid injections into the joint, and surgery to ``release'' the ligament that runs through the tunnel and puts pressure on nerves.

SOURCE: The Journal of Family Practice 2002;51:38-40

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