Posted By:
Captain Al
in Alberta, Canada Jan 12, 2005
I saw this "miracle bracelet", advertised on TV last night and just had to check out their website. With this device, you could win the Olympic marathon or a PGA title. But I wonder what would happen if all your competitors had one too?
Qray
First of all, I notice that it's 'ionized'. Therefore, it's got to work.
But once everybody has an n-ray, they'll come out with z-rays. Those will be super-ionized.
The original Q-Ray bracelet ads from a few years back used to come closer to making medical claims for the worthless thing. I guess they got some static about that because the newer ads are considerably more vague about what the thing actually claims to do. It just somehow "enhances" performance or some nonsense like that.
I'd LOVE to know how wearing a bracelet helps you compete better. Oh, that's right--it's IONIZED! I forgot. Duh.
Yvonne
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 | 09:12 PM
I've seen bracelets just like this at Wal-mart for maybe $5... and I may have seen some at the Dollar Store for $1. It's just a couple magnets in the end pieces (I bought one, it didn't do anything that I could tell). I think the $5 ones came out before Qray, but don't quote me on that. I just remember there was a craze for magnets to fix everything, for a while. I had a BF who spent $60 on a magnetized shower head, for instance. I got the same (minimal) results by wrapping my own shower head in flexible magnet strip from the hardware store, which made him mad... and then he started having me read the "scientific info" on the supplements and gadgets he was thinking about buying. I felt a little strange, being someone's science advisor when I could remember so little from my science classes. I'm a bit of a hick, and he was definitely slumming when dating me.
Drawing from my own/my friends' experiences, I would say some people get a benefit from magnet therapies, some do not, and it certainly doesn't require a $350 bracelet to do it. If a person is going to benefit, they will benefit just as much from the cheap magnets. Maybe the extra money is for that ionization label? ~ponders a $345 label~
(Whoohoo! My second post! Maybe I should go ahead and get an account and a screen name.)
JoeSixpack Member
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 | 06:23 AM
The Amazing Randi (Randi.org) was talking about this a few years back. Aparrently it has a U.S. patent, so it's GOT to work.
"I just remember there was a craze for magnets to fix everything, for a while. I had a BF who spent $60 on a magnetized shower head, for instance. I got the same (minimal) results by wrapping my own shower head in flexible magnet strip from the hardware store, which made him mad..."
What "effect" did you perceive? No one has ever demonstrated under controlled conditions that there is any benefit from running water through a magnetic field.
"Drawing from my own/my friends' experiences, I would say some people get a benefit from magnet therapies, some do not, and it certainly doesn't require a $350 bracelet to do it. If a person is going to benefit, they will benefit just as much from the cheap magnets."
Have you considered that any "benefit" people may perceive from a magnetic bracelet might be imaginary? If you are unfamiliar with it, you might want to check into something called the "placebo effect. It's an interesting quirk of the human mind.
Hairy Houdini
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 | 11:28 PM
Yvonne: I'm a little intrigued by this BF/Magnetic shower head contest you have going on. Do I understand you correctly to say that the magnetic shower head gave you the same minimal results as your BF? Try putting the spray setting on Massage.
Yvonne
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 | 10:56 AM
To Cranky Media Guy--
I apoligize for the lack of specifics. Yes, the amount of improvement I received was approximately equal to placebo effect, which is why I haven't bothered putting magnets on my showerheads since then. I had a friend from the Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome support group who had much better results, which is why I was willing to try it at all. She went from being in danger of losing her job to being able to go dancing again. Several of us tried it because of her results (hey, I guess we all miss dancing!), but had quite varied levels of relief, from none at all up to great relief.
I realize this wasn't a scientific study, but I believe someone did a real study on magnets for back pain a few years ago and got the same "good for some, not for others" results. I think maybe half the subjects who received the magnets showed measurable improvement, so it won't be featured in medical school any time soon. I also realize that many people don't believe in Fibromyalgia (even among the ones who have heard of it), so my "testimony" is twice suspect.
I hope my bad grammar hasn't made this worse.
To Hairy--
Maybe I should magnetize my boyfriend to combine the effects?
For maximal affect magnetize yourself and your boyfriend at the same time. Just make sure to align your North and South poles correctly or things could get rather embarassing.
"I had a friend from the Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome support group who had much better results, which is why I was willing to try it at all. She went from being in danger of losing her job to being able to go dancing again."
Yvonne, thank you for your thoughtful response. Thanks, too, for not jumping down my back for my semi-snotty posting.
Something to consider: were there other factors that *might* explain your friend's improvement? As far as I know, no one has ever showed that a magnetic field can do much of anything (good or bad) to water. I'm glad she's feeling better, but I suspect the magnets had nothing to do with it.
Yvonne
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 | 08:19 PM
Cranky Media Guy--
I think I shall have to give up hope of keeping my posts short, for a while.
OK, the lady who had good results didn't use the showerhead magnet. She magnetized her mattress pad and comforter, and it took a couple weeks to show any improvement. Her husband, a healthy/normal man, showed no effect that was ever mentioned. They made only the one change. Fibromites learn early on not to change more than one thing at a time during our constant search for pain relief, if only from our doctor's orders.
I have since moved to another state, so I don't know if anyone else from that support group received such good results. (My, what a good scientist I am! Leaving without follow-up!)
I never understood the part about magnetizing water, either, unless it affects dissolved iron particles. It certainly wouldn't matter to the H2O molecule. I think there was a gadget to magnetize fruit juice and coffee, too... but I shouldn't digress too far. (Yes, I was trying to get that BF to stop wasting his money on these things. I do not endorse or recommend magnets or "ionizing" or even drinking wheat juice for breakfast. He did that, too.)
My theory (meaning "I can't spell hypothesis on a regular basis") is that some people get a positive effect from their EMF sensitivity, and they are the ones who get better when they use magnets. Sensitivity to electromagnetic fields is another thing most people don't believe in, so this isn't liable to be tested any time soon. It's too vague and varies too much from person to person. For myself, I mostly just don't like standing next to electrical appliances, although I did get anemia while living in an apt right next to some power lines (about 5 feet from my window). I moved +1 month --> I wasn't anemic any more. Like I said, very vague. My doctor says I'm wierd, and I agree.
OK, I think I've derailed enough this with my rambling. I'd better quit. Thank you for reading and not assuming I'm a random nutcase just because I've forgotten how to present a case logically or even smoothly.
Yvonne
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 | 08:21 PM
"I think I've derailed enough this with my rambling"?
Hmm, I've forgotten how to speak English, too...
Redhead
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 | 05:38 AM
I just saw an ad for the Q-ray bracelets and was also curious...found this article done by a physician who debunked it pretty thoroughly..also explains why they no longer make ridiculous claims about their product...(the amazing ionic energy produced by LAWSUITS)...
"I was interested in this "to good to be true" offer so I did some reading, the Q-Ray doesn't do anything. Look it up for yourself."
Well, I agree with you 100%; the Q-Ray doesn't do anything at all. What, however, are you suggesting people look up and where?
Brett
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 | 04:19 AM
Two people that I work with use these braclets. The one co-worker says he doesn't know if it really is doing anything or if it's all in his head, but claims that since wearing it that the pain in his shoulder is gone.
"Two people that I work with use these braclets. The one co-worker says he doesn't know if it really is doing anything or if it's all in his head, but claims that since wearing it that the pain in his shoulder is gone."
It's in his head.
Want to try an interesting experiment? Buy some cheesy bracelet that ISN'T advertised as having any "powers." Give it to your co-worker, telling him that it's "therapeutic." Tell him it's the New, Improved Q-Ray. Let him wear it for a week or so and ask how it's working.
MD
in CA
Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 | 11:43 PM
Personally I think that all of this magnetic massage stuff is a scam. I have a small background in the physics of magnetism, and I don't understand how it is they think these magnets are supposed to help! It is true that a moving magnet induces an electric current, so moving magnets across your body does induce a VERY small electric current, possibly generating a SMALL amount of heat (due to resistance). But take a AA battery! Touch both ends and you're getting the same thing! I think it's a bunch of crock.
I've got magnets on my refrigerator and one of them is holding up a photo of my husband. And he weighs over 230 pounds! It's must be some kind of miracle or something.
