Most people naturally place a Q Magnet exactly where it hurts.

In many cases, that’s exactly where you should begin.

The most painful or tender area is often the best starting point for magnetic field therapy because it places the magnetic field directly over the tissues that are causing the most discomfort.

But experienced practitioners don’t always stop there.

Sometimes, they ask a different question:

“What else could be contributing to this pain?”

That simple shift in thinking can sometimes change the outcome.

Pain Doesn’t Always Tell the Whole Story

Pain is often more complex than it first appears.

The sore spot may be the result of overloaded muscles, tight fascia, irritated nerves, altered movement patterns or structures working together rather than one isolated tissue.

Physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, massage therapists and acupuncturists have long recognised this principle, even though they may explain it in different ways.

Some look for muscular trigger points.

Others assess movement patterns or biomechanics.

Acupuncturists may select points some distance from the painful area based on traditional acupuncture principles.

Although the approaches differ, they often arrive at a similar conclusion:

Sometimes treating only where it hurts doesn’t provide the best outcome.

A Good Example: Plantar Heel Pain

Plantar fasciitis is a perfect example.

Most people instinctively place a Q Magnet directly over the painful part of the heel or the tender portion of the plantar fascia.

That’s still exactly what we recommend as the primary placement.

But the recently updated Heel Pain & Plantar Fasciitis protocol also includes something new.

It introduces Additional Placement Insights.

Alongside the local heel placement, experienced practitioners may also consider carefully selected distal placements, including:

• Trigger points within the soleus muscle

• Specific acupuncture points that are traditionally associated with the lower leg and foot

These additional placements aren’t intended to replace the local magnet.

They’re designed to complement it.

A Clinical Observation That Prompted Us to Think Differently

A physiotherapist recently shared an interesting clinical observation with us.

One of their patients had been using Q Magnets over the painful plantar fascia with some benefit, but progress had largely plateaued.

Rather than changing the original placement, the practitioner left those magnets exactly where they were.

Then they identified tender trigger points within the soleus muscle and added two more Q Magnets over those areas.

According to the practitioner, that small addition made all the difference.

While this is simply one clinical observation—not formal research—it illustrates an important principle.

Sometimes the most effective application isn’t about replacing the original placement.

It’s about thoughtfully expanding it.

This Principle Has Also Appeared in Research

Interestingly, the idea of looking beyond a painful area isn’t limited to everyday clinical practice.

One of the better-known studies involving multipolar medical magnets examined people living with post-polio syndrome, a condition often associated with persistent muscular pain. Rather than placing magnets randomly, researchers applied specially designed static multipolar magnets directly over carefully identified pain trigger points.

In this double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, participants receiving the active multipolar magnets reported greater reductions in pain than those receiving placebo devices after just 45 minutes of application.

While post-polio syndrome is very different from plantar heel pain, the study highlights an important principle that experienced practitioners recognise across many musculoskeletal conditions:

Thoughtful placement matters.

It’s not simply about using a magnet—it’s about selecting an appropriate magnetic field and placing it over clinically relevant tissues or trigger points.

If you’d like to explore this landmark study in more detail, we’ve summarised the research here:

👉 Static Magnets Providing Hope for Post-Polio Syndrome Pain Sufferers
https://qmagnets.com/static-magnets-providing-hope-for-post-polio-syndrome-pain-sufferers/

Why Might That Help?

There isn’t one simple explanation.

Pain may involve multiple tissues working together.

A muscle higher up the leg may be contributing to increased tension through the calf and into the plantar fascia.

Trigger points may be influencing discomfort or movement.

Acupuncture points have long been used as part of traditional approaches to support pain and function.

Every person is different.

That’s why experienced practitioners often assess more than just the site of pain before deciding where additional support may be appropriate.

Local Plus Distal

One of the biggest misconceptions is that you must choose one approach or the other.

Local placement.

Or distal placement.

In reality, they’re often used together.

The painful area remains the primary target.

Additional placements simply broaden the overall application based on anatomy, trigger points, acupuncture principles or other clinical findings.

It’s not about putting magnets everywhere.

It’s about placing them with purpose.

Important

While trigger points, acupuncture points and additional placements may complement your Q Magnets application, they are not a substitute for an accurate diagnosis. If your pain is severe, persists, worsens, follows significant trauma, or you are unsure of the cause, seek assessment from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. Identifying and treating the underlying cause should always take priority over managing symptoms alone.

The Takeaway

If you’re using Q Magnets, start where it hurts.

In many cases, that’s exactly the right place to begin.

But if your progress slows or your condition is more persistent than expected, it may be worth asking a broader question:

Is there somewhere else that could also be contributing?

Sometimes the best results don’t come from moving the original magnet.

Sometimes they come from adding one or two more in carefully selected locations.

Because the goal isn’t simply to chase the pain.

It’s to better understand what the body might be telling us.

Looking Beyond the Pain

The painful area is often the best place to start, but it may not be the only place worth considering.

Where appropriate, experienced practitioners may combine local placement with carefully selected trigger points, acupuncture points, or other related anatomical locations.

This is the thinking behind the new Additional Placement Insights now being added to selected Q Magnets protocol pages helping users understand not just where it hurts, but where additional support may sometimes be beneficial.

👉 Explore the updated Heel Pain & Plantar Fasciitis protocol to see how local and distal placements can be used together.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Weekly Reframe

“You see, but you do not observe.”
— Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Most people see the painful spot.

Experienced practitioners observe the whole picture.

They don’t ignore the painful area, it usually remains the best place to start. But they also look for related muscles, trigger points, movement patterns and other structures that may be contributing to the problem.

Sometimes the difference isn’t a different magnet.

It’s seeing what was there all along.

Don’t just see the pain. Observe the whole picture.

Featured Articles

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Last month we reached a milestone.

We shipped Q Magnets to Lebanon, making it the 75th country we’ve now supplied around the world.

Seventy-five.

When I first began experimenting with multipolar medical magnets all those years ago, I never imagined a small Australian business would eventually be sending magnets to people on every habitable continent.

But as I reflected on that milestone, I realised something.

I’ve never really been interested in counting countries.

What has always fascinated me are the people within those countries.

Because behind every parcel is a person with a story.

Sometimes it’s someone living with chronic pain.

Sometimes it’s an elite athlete searching for another recovery tool.

Sometimes it’s a physiotherapist, doctor or acupuncturist asking thoughtful questions that challenge how I think.

And occasionally it’s someone who simply loves science and wants to understand how these little magnets might interact with the human body.

Those people have shaped Q Magnets just as much as I have.

Lebanon: Our 75th Country

Reaching Lebanon wasn’t straightforward.

There was no practical shipping route from Australia, so the magnets first travelled to a friend in the United States before finally making their way to Beirut.

When they eventually arrived, Rafif H sent me a wonderful email.

Rather than simply thanking us for the magnets, she wrote about being fascinated by their strength despite their compact size.

She was intrigued by the quadrupolar magnetic profile.

She wanted to investigate the published literature, explore possible effects on water and seed germination, try them personally, introduce them to health professionals and even show them to her physics students.

That email reminded me why I’ve always loved what I do.

Curiosity is contagious.

Every Country Has Taught Us Something

Over the years we’ve met extraordinary people in places I never expected.

In Auckland, physiotherapist Doug Edwards has helped demonstrate how thoughtful clinical application can improve outcomes, particularly when practitioners understand that successful use depends on far more than simply sticking a magnet over where it hurts.

Those conversations reinforced something that would eventually become our Field | Dose | Placement framework, a reminder that outcomes may depend on the interaction between the magnetic field, exposure time and anatomical placement, rather than on magnet strength alone.

In the Netherlands, Mayon Roeffen and the team at KR8 embraced Q Magnets with enormous enthusiasm, eventually leading to the establishment of QMagnets.nl and introducing many more Dutch practitioners to the technology.

Across Canada, John Stan and Kelly Kitchen from Eastern Currents became valued partners, distributing Q Magnets through their Vancouver-based health products business to acupuncturists and other health professionals. Through their enthusiasm and education, many practitioners were introduced to Q Magnets as a practical, conservative adjunct to the therapies they already used.

These weren’t distributors first.

They were educators.

They were clinicians.

They were curious people asking good questions.

Learning From the World’s Best

Some collaborations have taken us into entirely different worlds.

Working alongside elite athletes taught us that recovery is every bit as important as performance.

Conversations with sports professionals weren’t about miracle cures.

They were about helping athletes recover well enough to train again tomorrow.

Other relationships introduced us to military medicine, medical acupuncture, rehabilitation science and emerging ideas around nervous system modulation.

Meeting pioneers such as Dr Richard Niemtzow and participating in international medical conferences expanded our thinking well beyond what any one clinic or country could have achieved.

Every conversation added another piece to the puzzle.

Different Perspectives, Shared Curiosity

Not every collaboration has come from people who think alike.

Some practitioners approach pain through biomechanics.

Others through acupuncture.

Others through biomagnetism, neuroscience or rehabilitation.

We don’t have to agree on everything.

In fact, many of the most rewarding discussions have begun with different viewpoints.

When thoughtful people are willing to explore ideas together, everyone learns.

Several MagnaBlog articles over recent years have grown directly from those conversations, whether discussing why magnet placement sometimes changes as pain changes, exploring the relationship between biological and emotional influences on pain, reflecting on healthy ageing and recovery, or sharing insights from conferences and long-standing collaborations around the world. Those stories all share a common thread: curiosity leads to better questions, and better questions often lead to better understanding.

More Than 75 Dots on a Map

People occasionally ask me which country has become our biggest market.

That’s never really interested me.

What stays with me are the individuals.

The doctor who emailed after trying Q Magnets on a difficult patient.

The physiotherapist who discovered a different placement worked better than expected.

The acupuncturist who connected our magnets with ideas from another discipline.

The teacher who wanted to show them to physics students.

The athlete who simply wanted to get back on the field.

Those people have collectively shaped the way I think about multipolar medical magnets, static field therapy and recovery far more than any sales report ever could.

The Real Milestone

So yes, Lebanon became our 75th country.

But I don’t see seventy-five coloured pins on a map.

I see seventy-five opportunities to learn.

Seventy-five collections of conversations.

Seventy-five communities of curious people.

And countless friendships that have helped transform a small Australian idea into an international exchange of knowledge.

For that, I’m deeply grateful.

Here’s to the people we’ll meet in country number 76.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Weekly Reframe

“A shipment delivers a product. Curiosity begins the journey.”

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I have spent many hours counting shorebirds such as the Pacific Golden Plover, Eastern Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey-tailed Tattler, Red Knot, Terek Sandpiper and the tiny Red-necked Stint.

Many of these birds migrate around 10,000 kilometres to reach Australian shores. Some cross vast stretches of open ocean, yet return to the same estuary, mudflat or harbour year after year.

How on Earth do they find their way?

The Sun, stars, landmarks and even smell may all contribute. But Earth’s magnetic field appears to provide another important part of the answer.

That is remarkable because Earth’s magnetic field is extremely weak.

So weak, in fact, that for many years it seemed impossible that the warm, noisy chemistry of a living body could detect it.

Yet the birds clearly can.

And the emerging explanation may have important implications for how we think about static magnetic fields and biology.

The Stars Are Still There During the Day

Think about the stars.

They do not disappear when the Sun rises. Their light is still reaching us, but the much brighter sunlight overwhelms their weak signal and makes them invisible.

Scientists once viewed Earth’s magnetic field in a similar way.

Inside a living body, molecules are constantly moving, vibrating and colliding. Compared with all this thermal activity, the magnetic influence of Earth’s field appears almost insignificant.

It should be lost in the noise.

But bird navigation tells us that biology has found a way to detect it.

A Weak Field Does Not Need to Power the Reaction

The leading explanation is known as the radical pair mechanism.

The name sounds complicated, but the central idea is surprisingly simple.

A magnetic field may not need to provide the energy that powers a chemical reaction. That energy may already have come from light, metabolism or another chemical process.

The magnetic field may only need to influence which direction the reaction takes.

Imagine a train approaching a railway junction.

The locomotive provides the enormous energy needed to move the train. But only a small movement of the railway points is needed to send it down a different track.

The small force does not power the train.

It changes its destination.

A weak magnetic field may sometimes do something similar within a chemical reaction.

The tiny fly in Professor Peter Hore’s illustration represents the weak magnetic influence. It does not move the entire chemical reaction by force. It may simply help determine which product is formed.

This week’s MagnaBlog is a simplified summary of our in-depth article on bird magnetoreception and static field therapy.

How Might a Bird See a Magnetic Field?

The current leading theory involves a light-sensitive protein called cryptochrome, found in the bird’s eye.

When light activates cryptochrome, a brief chemical reaction occurs. Earth’s magnetic field may slightly influence the outcome of that reaction.

If these proteins are arranged throughout the retina, the bird may receive a pattern that changes according to the direction it is facing.

It may not experience magnetism as a compass needle pointing north.

Instead, it may see a faint pattern, shadow or change in contrast layered over its normal vision.

The complete mechanism has not yet been proven, but magnetically sensitive cryptochrome chemistry has been demonstrated in laboratory research involving migratory birds.

Watch Peter Hore Explain the Bird’s Magnetic Compass

What Does This Have to Do With Mitochondria?

Radical reactions are not limited to the bird’s eye.

They occur throughout biology, particularly wherever electrons are being transferred from one molecule to another.

That makes the mitochondria especially interesting.

Mitochondria are often called the powerhouses of our cells. They move electrons through a chain of reactions to help produce ATP, the chemical energy used by muscles, nerves and almost every repair process in the body.

During this activity, mitochondria also produce small amounts of reactive oxygen species.

These molecules are often associated with oxidative stress, but in controlled amounts they also act as important biological signals. They help regulate adaptation, inflammation, cell communication and responses to stress.

Some researchers have proposed that certain short-lived reactions involving these molecules could be magnetically sensitive.

Laboratory studies have also reported that relatively weak static magnetic fields can influence mitochondrial respiration and reactive oxygen species under particular conditions.

This does not prove that Q Magnets work by changing mitochondrial activity.

But it does show that mitochondria are one scientifically plausible place to investigate how static magnetic fields might interact with living systems.

The radical-pair mechanism is well developed as an explanation for bird magnetoreception. Similar reactions inside mitochondria remain an emerging hypothesis.

Biology May Respond Within a Window

One of the most important lessons from this research is that biological responses do not always increase as the field becomes stronger.

In some experiments, the response rises within a particular field range and then falls again.

This is known as a window of response.

It challenges the simplistic idea that:

stronger magnet = greater biological effect

Instead, the result may depend on:

• the type and shape of the field

• the duration of exposure

• the depth and type of tissue

• the exact placement

• the condition of the tissue or nervous system

This fits closely with the Q Magnets framework of:

Field | Dose | Placement

Field
Not all magnetic fields are the same. Q Magnets use engineered multipolar arrangements that create localised fields and steep spatial gradients.

Dose
Dose includes more than magnetic strength. It also includes magnet size, exposure time, tissue depth and cumulative use.

Placement
The field must reach the relevant anatomical region. A well-designed magnet in the wrong place may provide little useful exposure.

This is why Q Magnets should not be compared with generic magnetic bracelets or flexible magnetic sheets simply because they all contain magnets.

The field environment is different.

What This Means for Q Magnets

We are not claiming that bird magnetoreception proves how Q Magnets work.

Nor should we claim that radical-pair chemistry or mitochondrial effects are established mechanisms of Q Magnets.

They are not yet proven.

But this research does weaken one of the oldest objections to static magnetic field therapy:

“The field is too weak to influence biology.”

Birds detect Earth’s field, which is dramatically weaker than the localised fields produced by Q Magnets.

The radical pair mechanism shows how a weak magnetic field may influence biology without overpowering thermal energy or supplying the energy for the reaction.

It may simply alter the probability of what happens next.

That does not provide the final answer.

But it tells us the question is no longer:

“Can a weak static magnetic field possibly matter?”

The more useful question is:

“Under what biological conditions might a particular field, dose and placement influence the system?”

Nature Has Already Shown Us It Is Possible

A Red-necked Stint weighs little more than a few coins.

Yet it can travel thousands of kilometres across a changing planet and find its way back to a familiar stretch of coast.

The magnetic signal helping guide it is extraordinarily weak.

But weak does not mean irrelevant.

Nature has already shown us that living systems can detect and use magnetic information in ways science is only beginning to understand.

There is still much we do not know about radical pairs, mitochondria, field gradients and static field therapy.

There may also be mechanisms we have barely considered and keep us curious.

Because sometimes the weakest signal can still help determine the direction.

Further Reading

1. Rodgers, C.T. “Magnetic Field Effects in Chemical Systems.” Pure and Applied Chemistry. 2009;81:19–43.

2. Xu, J., et al. “Magnetic Sensitivity of Cryptochrome 4 from a Migratory Songbird.” Nature. 2021;594:535–540.

3. Zadeh-Haghighi, H., and Simon, C. “Magnetic Field Effects in Biology from the Perspective of the Radical Pair Mechanism.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 2022;19:20220325.

4. Pooam, M., et al. “HEK293 Cell Response to Static Magnetic Fields via the Radical Pair Mechanism.” PLOS ONE. 2020;15:e0243038.

5. Luo, J. “Sensitivity Enhancement of Radical-Pair Magnetoreceptors as a Result of Spin Decoherence.” Journal of Chemical Physics. 2024;160:074306.
   

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Weekly Reframe

A weak influence does not need to power a system if it can change which path the system takes.

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For months now, I’ve been seeing the same advertisement appear in the New York Times.

It’s for one of those futuristic LED face masks.

You know the type.

It promises healthier skin, fewer wrinkles and a more youthful appearance, provided you’re willing to sit there wearing it for twenty minutes every day.

Now, I'm certainly not suggesting it's a bad product. In fact, LED photobiomodulation is a valuable recovery technology and one that can sit very comfortably alongside static magnetic field therapy.

But every time I see the advertisement, I find myself thinking about something else.

I know more than one person who bought one with every intention of using it regularly.

They did...

For a few weeks.

Perhaps a month.

Then it quietly disappeared into the cupboard.

Not necessarily because it didn’t work.

Because life happened.

Work became busy.

Grandchildren arrived.

The garden needed attention.

The novelty wore off.

Like so many health products, it simply required one more thing to remember.

The Real Challenge Isn’t Always the Technology

One of the biggest challenges in healthcare isn’t always whether a treatment has the potential to help.

It’s whether people actually keep using it.

Behavioural scientists sometimes refer to this as friction.

Every health intervention has a certain amount of friction.

• You have to remember it.

• You have to make time for it.

• You have to interrupt your day.

• You have to stay motivated.
  

The more effort something requires, the more likely it is to slowly drift to the back of the cupboard.

That’s simply human nature.

We all have good intentions.

Life just gets busy.

Why Some Recovery Tools Fit Real Life Better

Over more than twenty years of working with Q Magnets, we’ve noticed something rather interesting.

People rarely tell us they stopped using them because they became disappointed.

More often, they stopped because they simply didn’t need them anymore.

The magnets went back into the medicine cabinet.

Not forgotten forever.

Just waiting.

Waiting for the next gardening marathon.

The next weekend of golf.

The heavy lift while helping a neighbour.

An old sports injury reminding you it still exists.

Or the occasional flare-up that catches you by surprise.

Then the cupboard opens again.

The magnets quietly return to work.

Perhaps that’s one of the advantages of a low-friction recovery tool.

It doesn’t demand your attention every day.

It’s simply there when life does.

What If You Didn’t Have to Remember at All?

If there’s one product that perfectly illustrates this idea, it’s probably the Q Blanket.

One of the biggest barriers to any recovery routine isn’t the treatment itself.

It’s remembering AND making the effort to do it.

The Q Blanket almost removes that barrier entirely.

• You don’t need to schedule another session.

• You don’t need to set a reminder.

• You don’t need to charge batteries.

• You don’t need to stop what you’re doing.
  

You simply go to bed.

For many people living with persistent pain, bedtime is when discomfort becomes most noticeable anyway. Rather than adding another task to an already busy day, the Q Blanket works with something you’re already going to do—sleep.

That’s about as low-friction as recovery gets.

Of course, the Q Blanket doesn’t replace targeted Q Magnets when precise placement over a particular nerve or painful area is required. They serve different purposes.

But for people looking for a simple way to support overnight comfort, it’s hard to imagine a routine that asks less of you.

Sometimes the easiest habit is the one that doesn’t feel like a habit at all.

“I Forgot I Was Supposed to Be in Pain”

Recently we received an email from Connie, a 69-year-old caregiver.

She had injured her own lower back while helping reposition her bed-bound partner.

Anyone who has cared for a loved one knows that when the caregiver is injured, it’s not just their own wellbeing that’s affected. Their ability to care for someone else is suddenly compromised as well.

Connie first tried the homeopathic creams she normally relied upon.

When they didn’t seem to help, she suddenly remembered her Q Magnets.

She applied two OF50-3 magnets along with two OF28-3 magnets over each kidney region.

Then she wrote something that genuinely made me smile.

“I soon forgot I was supposed to be in pain!”

What a wonderful sentence.

She wasn’t monitoring pain scores or analysing symptoms.

She simply became absorbed in getting on with life again.

Perhaps that’s what happens when discomfort no longer occupies the front of your mind.

Connie went on to write:

“Now I feel uplifted, positive and good about life. I feel defeated when I cannot help take care of her in the way she needs.”

That reminds us that recovery isn’t always about returning to sport or getting back to work.

Sometimes it’s about being able to care for the person who depends on you.

Sometimes Practitioners Forget Too

Interestingly, it isn’t only patients who forget.

Health professionals do too.

Recently, practitioner Lesley Wood shared that she had use Q Magnets years ago...

...then simply forgot about it.

Not because she had concluded it didn’t work.

Life moved on.

Other techniques filled her clinical toolbox.

Then she was treating a patient with persistent chronic back pain. Despite making good progress with manual therapy, the patient still had ongoing discomfort.

Suddenly she remembered the magnets.

She later wrote:

“I used magnets years ago and then forgot about them until recently.”

That probably resonates with many clinicians.

Over the course of a career, practitioners accumulate dozens of useful techniques.

Sometimes an old tool simply waits quietly until the right patient reminds you it’s there.

Then There’s Silvano

Perhaps no story illustrates this better than Silvano.

More than twenty years after surviving a life-changing helicopter accident...

He’s still using the very same magnets.

Not every day.

Not because he’s dependent on them.

Because they’re there when life reminds him he needs them.

In a world increasingly filled with disposable gadgets, rechargeable devices and monthly subscriptions, there’s something rather reassuring about having a trusted recovery tool waiting quietly in the cupboard.

Maybe We’ve Been Asking the Wrong Question

People often ask,

“Does this product work?”

That’s certainly an important question.

But perhaps an equally important one is:

“Will I actually use it?”

The most sophisticated technology in the world won’t help if it becomes another forgotten gadget sitting in a drawer.

The best recovery tools are often the ones that fit naturally into everyday life.

The ones that don’t ask for constant attention.

The ones that quietly support you when you need them.

Whether that’s a couple of Q Magnets ready for the next flare-up...

...or a Q Blanket that’s already waiting on your bed every night.

Perhaps that’s why so many emails we receive begin with the same words:

“I remembered my magnets...”

And every now and then, we’re lucky enough to receive one that says something even better:

“I forgot I was supposed to be in pain.”

That’s the kind of forgetting most of us would be happy to experience.

If your Q Magnets have been sitting quietly in the cupboard for a while, perhaps that’s not a sign they’ve been forgotten.

Perhaps it’s a sign they’ve already done their job.

And if life throws another long day in the garden, a sporting injury, an unexpected flare-up or simply reminds you that you’re not quite as young as you used to be, you’ll know exactly where to find them.

Because sometimes the best recovery tool isn’t the one with the most impressive technology.

It’s the one that fits so naturally into real life that, when you need it, using it is almost effortless.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Weekly Reframe

We often assume the best recovery tool is the one with the most impressive technology.

But technology isn’t usually what determines success.

Human behaviour does.

The treatments that become part of our lives are rarely the ones that demand the most attention.

They’re the ones that quietly fit around the life we’re already living.

Perhaps the best recovery tool isn’t the one that does the most...

It’s the one you’ll still be using six months from now.

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One of the most interesting observations we’ve made over more than 20 years of working with Q Magnets is this:

Occasionally, someone will tell us,

“The magnet worked brilliantly at first... then it seemed to stop working.”

It’s a perfectly reasonable conclusion.

After all, people using other therapies sometimes experience exactly that.

For example, users of TENS machines may notice that the familiar tingling sensation becomes less obvious with continued use. The medical term for this is accommodation, where the nervous system becomes less responsive to a constant stimulus.

So it’s understandable that someone using Q Magnets might wonder whether the same thing has happened.

But before concluding that your body has “got used to” the magnet, we’d encourage you to ask a much simpler question.

Has anything changed?

Sometimes the Magnet Hasn’t Changed... Its Position Has

This is something we see most often with lower back pain.

Unlike a shoulder, elbow or knee, you can’t easily see the magnets on your own back.

• They may have been removed after showering.

• The adhesive might have loosened.

• A partner may have replaced the magnet after cleaning the skin.

• Or the magnet simply rotated or moved a few millimetres without anyone noticing.

Most people would never think that such a small change could matter.

Yet over the years we’ve seen enough examples to know that it sometimes does.

This is one of the reasons we place so much emphasis on Field | Dose | Placement (FDP).

Peter’s Story

One of our favourite examples comes from a physiotherapy patient.

After years of persistent lower back pain, Peter finally began experiencing something he hadn’t felt for a very long time.

Pain-free moments.

He could sit longer.

Driving became easier.

Perhaps most importantly, he began to feel hopeful again.

Then everything changed.

His pain gradually returned.

He was understandably disappointed and assumed the improvement had simply been temporary.

When he returned to his physiotherapist, however, something unexpected was discovered.

His wife had removed the magnet to clean the skin and replace the tape.

Without either of them realising it, the magnet had been replaced the wrong way around.

Instead of the active surface facing the body, the yellow label side (with the steel flux plate) was against the skin, substantially reducing the magnetic field reaching the intended tissues.

The placement orientation was corrected.

Very quickly, his symptoms began to settle again.

What makes this observation particularly interesting is that Peter never knew the magnet had been replaced incorrectly.

As far as he was concerned, nothing had changed.

• His expectations hadn’t changed.

• His treatment hadn’t changed.

• Only the placement had changed.

That doesn’t prove how static magnetic fields work, nor does it eliminate every possible explanation.

But it is a strong clinical observation that is difficult to explain by expectation alone. If the response had been driven purely by placebo, you might not expect symptoms to worsen when the patient was completely unaware that anything had changed, and then improve again once the placement was corrected.

You can read Peter’s full case study here:

https://lifestyle.physio/pain/magnetic-therapy/402.html

Peter Stanton Has Seen the Same Thing

Sports physiotherapist Peter Stanton tells remarkably similar stories from his years working with elite athletes.

Professional athletes train hard.

• They sweat.

• They shower.

• Tape loosens.

• Magnets move.

Occasionally an athlete would return disappointed, convinced the magnet had “stopped working”.

Peter’s first response wasn’t to change the treatment.

He checked the placement.

Quite often, the magnet had simply shifted slightly from the intended location.

Once it was repositioned correctly, many athletes reported that the benefits returned.

Again, these athletes had no reason to believe that moving the magnet a few millimetres would make any difference.

Yet repeated clinical experience suggested that it sometimes did.

Like Peter’s (the patient) experience, these observations don’t prove a mechanism.

But together they form a consistent pattern that suggests there may be much more occurring than expectation alone.

One athlete understood the importance of accurate placement enough, that she solved the problem permanently.

An international triathlete whose symptoms responded best when the magnet was positioned over a very specific point around her L4/L5 spine decided to have a small turtle tattoo placed exactly where the magnet belonged.

From then on, whether it was her physiotherapist, coach, partner or support crew applying the magnet, everyone knew precisely where to place it.

Sometimes the simplest stories are the most memorable.

If you’d like to hear Peter describe these clinical observations himself, you can watch his practitioner education video here…

Why We Teach Field | Dose | Placement

One of the biggest misconceptions about magnetic therapy is that placement doesn’t really matter - that as long as the magnet is somewhere near the painful area, the result should be much the same.

In reality, placing a magnet where it hurts is often an excellent place to start. In fact, many of the published clinical cases involving multipolar medical magnets describe the magnets being placed directly over the patient’s area of greatest pain or tenderness.

Experienced practitioners will often use palpation to identify the most tender point, allowing them to refine the placement even further.

However, pain isn’t always felt exactly where the underlying problem originates. Referred pain, altered movement patterns and central sensitisation can all influence where symptoms are experienced. In those situations, the most effective placement may not always be the most painful spot.

That’s why we teach Field | Dose | Placement as a clinical framework. It doesn’t replace good clinical reasoning, it helps guide it. Sometimes the most painful point is exactly where the magnet belongs. Sometimes a small adjustment, even just a few millimetres, can make all the difference.

Before Assuming Your Magnet Has Stopped Working...

If your Q Magnet doesn’t seem to be providing the same benefit it did initially, ask yourself:

• Has the tape loosened?

• Has the magnet rotated?

• Has it slipped even a few millimetres?

• Has someone removed and replaced it after showering?

• Is the correct side still facing the skin?

• Has the location of your pain changed as your condition has improved?

Sometimes, a careful review of placement is all that’s needed.

We’d Love to Hear Your Story

Have you ever discovered that a Q Magnet had shifted without you realising?

Did repositioning it seem to make a difference?

Or have you developed your own way of ensuring it always goes back in exactly the right place?

We’d love to hear your experience.

Every real-world story helps us better understand how people use Q Magnets in everyday life, and helps us continue improving the educational resources we provide for both patients and practitioners.

The next time you think your Q Magnet has stopped working, don’t immediately assume your body has become used to it.

First, ask a simpler question.

Has anything changed?

Sometimes the answer isn’t the magnet at all.

Sometimes it’s Field. Dose. Placement.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Q Magnets Weekly Reframe

Helping you think differently about pain, recovery and the science of precision multipolar medical magnets.

Don’t ask...

“Have my Q Magnets stopped working?”

Ask instead...

“Has anything changed?”

Before assuming your body has become accustomed to the magnets, check the simplest possibilities first:

✔ Has the magnet rotated?
✔ Has it moved a few millimetres?
✔ Has someone reapplied it after showering?
✔ Is it still over the intended treatment area?

Sometimes the answer isn’t the magnet at all.

Sometimes it’s Field. Dose. Placement.

Featured Article

Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

Read Article

Field, Dose and Placement in Magnetic Field Therapy

Read Article

Magnetic Therapy

Read Article

When most people hear the words magnetic therapy, they usually picture something simple: a magnet, placed on a painful area, either “working” or “not working.”

But that is not how the better research reads.

And it is certainly not how we think about it at Q Magnets.

A good example surfaced in an older article published in American Family Physician. The article summarised a Harvard-affiliated pilot study by Wolsko and colleagues looking at static magnets for osteoarthritis of the knee.

The headline was straightforward enough: Magnet therapy appeared to produce short-term pain relief in knee osteoarthritis.

But the most interesting part of the study was not the headline.

It was the device.

The active sleeve used in the study was not just a generic magnet strapped to the knee. The researchers had gone to considerable effort to design a high-strength magnetic knee sleeve that exposed the knee to both high field intensity and high field gradients.

In other words, the study was not really testing “a magnet” in the everyday sense.

It was testing a deliberately engineered magnetic field environment.

That distinction matters.

The Problem With Asking, “Do Magnets Work?”

The usual public conversation around magnets is far too blunt.

People ask:

“Do magnets work for knee pain?”

But that question skips over the variables that may matter most.

· What kind of magnet?

· What field configuration?

· How strong is the field at the target tissue?

· How quickly does the field change across space?

· Where is the magnet placed?

· How long is it worn?

· Is the painful structure superficial or deep?

· Is the pain mainly local tissue irritation, sensitized nerve behaviour, or part of a broader pain pattern?

These are not minor details.

They may be the whole conversation.

This is why Q Magnets uses the Field | Dose | Placement framework. It moves the question away from generic magnetic therapy and toward something more useful:

Under what conditions might a static magnetic field environment influence pain, recovery, or nervous system behaviour?

What the Wolsko Knee Study Helps Us See

The Harvard Medical School/Wolsko knee study is often summarised as a simple magnetic therapy trial. But when you look more closely, several details stand out.

The researchers were concerned about proper blinding. That is important because static magnet trials are notoriously difficult to blind. If a participant can test whether the device sticks to metal, the placebo becomes obvious.

This is what researchers call unblinding.

So the researchers created a clever sham sleeve that still appeared magnetic from the outside, but directed little meaningful field toward the knee joint.

That is good trial design, and it is similar in principle to the approach used by Segal and colleagues in their study of multipolar static magnets for rheumatoid arthritis of the knee.

But the most interesting detail is how Wolsko and colleagues described the active sleeve.

They did not only describe it in terms of magnetic strength. They also described the gradient.

The active knee sleeve exposed a large adult knee to magnetic field intensities ranging from about 40 to 850 Gauss, with magnetic gradients reported as high as 100 G/mm. The authors noted that these gradients were in the same general order of magnitude as in-vitro gradients associated with suppression of sustained action potential firing in earlier laboratory work by Cavopol.

That is the part most people miss.

Even the American Family Physician POEM summary does not mention field gradients. Most clinicians reading it would likely walk away thinking the study was simply about “high-strength magnets.”

But strength alone is not the whole story.

A field gradient refers to how quickly the magnetic field changes from one point in space to another.

In plain language, it is not just “how strong is the field?”

It is also:

“How much does the field vary across the tissue?”

That spatial variation is especially relevant when discussing multipolar magnets, because alternating polarity designs can create more complex field environments than a simple north-south magnet.

Why Multipolar Magnets Are Different

Most people have heard of magnets.

Very few have heard of multipolar magnets.

When I speak with members of the public or health professionals, I often ask who has heard of multipolar magnets. Almost no one puts their hand up.

That tells us something.

People are not necessarily rejecting the idea of magnetic therapy. In many cases, they have never been introduced to the important design questions.

A simple bipolar magnet has a north and south pole. A multipolar magnet uses multiple poles arranged in a specific configuration. Q Magnets use engineered multipolar designs such as quadrupolar, hexapolar, octapolar, and alternating polarity concentric ring configurations.

These designs are not just aesthetic.

They are intended to create localized field gradients and more complex magnetic field geometry. That may be one reason why lumping all “magnets” together is scientifically unhelpful.

A weak flexible magnetic sheet, a fridge magnet, a simple bipolar disc, and a precision multipolar medical magnet should not automatically be treated as equivalent.

They are different field environments.

What the Laboratory Research Suggests

The field-gradient discussion becomes especially interesting when we look at the earlier Vanderbilt/McLean/Cavopol work.

In cultured sensory neurons, researchers observed that static magnetic fields generated by arrays of permanent magnets could influence sustained action potential firing. Importantly, the effect appeared to depend strongly on spatial variation in the field.

This does not mean we can simply jump from a laboratory dish to a human knee and claim the same thing is happening.

We should not do that.

But it does provide a plausible reason to take field geometry seriously.

If certain biological interactions depend more on spatial field variation than on raw field strength alone, then the old question “How many gauss is it?” becomes too simplistic.

A better question is:

What field is being created at the relevant tissue, and is the placement appropriate for the pain pattern?

What Knee Pain Testimonials Can Teach Us

Customer testimonials are not the same as controlled clinical trials.

But they are still valuable when they are used correctly.

The most useful testimonials do not simply say, “My knee felt better.” They help us understand the real-world pattern:

· Where was the discomfort?

· Where were the magnets placed?

· How long were they worn?

· Was the change immediate, gradual, or inconsistent?

· Did walking, stairs, sleep, or confidence with movement improve?

· Was the result sustained, or did the magnets need to be reapplied?

This is where published studies and customer experience can complement each other.

Studies help us ask whether an effect can be detected under controlled conditions.

Testimonials help us understand how people actually use magnets in daily life.

We have received many authentic knee pain testimonials over the years. One example involving knee osteoarthritis and Q Magnets was also published in Medical Acupuncture, and several other knee pain stories are collected on the Q Magnets website.

These stories are not proof that every knee pain case will respond the same way.

But they do remind us that application details matter.

For knee pain, practical context is especially important. Knees are not simple structures. Pain may arise from the joint line, patellofemoral region, soft tissue irritation, tendon attachment areas, referred patterns, or sensitized nerves around the knee. A single placement may not suit every case.

That is why Field | Dose | Placement is not a marketing slogan.

It is a practical framework.

For readers who want the practical knee pain guide, the Primary Page is here:

Magnetic Therapy for Knee Pain Using Q Magnets

You can also read several knee pain experiences here:

Using Magnetic Field Therapy to Put Knee Replacement Surgery on the Backburner

Even one published in a medical journal…
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1089/acu.2022.29203.rcn?cf-mal-redirected=true&

Why the Wolsko Study Still Matters

The Wolsko study did not provide a sweeping answer.

The short-term results were encouraging. The authors concluded that, despite the small sample size, magnets showed statistically significant benefit compared with placebo after four hours under rigorously controlled conditions.

But at six weeks, the difference between active and sham groups was not statistically significant.

Some people may read that and say, “So magnets do not work.”

Others may say, “They clearly work.”

Both interpretations are too simplistic.

The more useful interpretation is this:

The study suggests that static magnetic field therapy for knee osteoarthritis deserves careful investigation, especially when field characteristics, gradients, dose, placement, and placebo design are properly described.

It also reminds us that pain is not one thing. Knee osteoarthritis pain can involve local tissue changes, inflammation, mechanical load, sensitized nerve endings, and central pain processing.

A magnetic device is not a replacement for strength work, weight management, mobility, medical assessment, or appropriate professional care.

But it may be a useful non-pharmaceutical support tool for some people, particularly when the application is thoughtful.

The Practical Takeaway

The next time someone asks, “Do magnets work for knee pain?” the best answer may be:

“It depends what kind of magnet, what kind of field, what dose, and where it is placed.”

That is not a dodge.

It is a more scientific answer.

A multipolar medical magnet is not just a stronger version of a fridge magnet. It is an engineered field-based recovery tool designed to create a localized static magnetic field environment.

For some people with knee pain, the right application may help reduce discomfort enough to move more confidently, sleep more comfortably, or participate more easily in rehabilitation.

For others, especially where the pain is complex, severe, structural, or referred from elsewhere, magnets may be only one small part of the picture.

The important step is to stop treating all magnets as the same.

· Field geometry matters.

· Dose matters.

· Placement matters.

· Context matters.

And when we understand those variables, the conversation becomes much more useful.

References

• Cavopol, A. V., A. W. Wamil, et al. (1995). “Measurement and analysis of static magnetic fields that block action potentials in cultured neurons.” Bioelectromagnetics 16(3): 197-206. PMID 7677796; doi:10.1002/bem.2250160308

• Segal, N. A., Y. Toda, et al. (2001). “Two configurations of static magnetic fields for treating rheumatoid arthritis of the knee: a double-blind clinical trial.” Arch Phys Med Rehabil 82(10): 1453-1460. PMID 11588753; doi:10.1053/apmr.2001.24309

• Wolsko PM, et al. (2004). “Double-blind placebo-controlled trial of static magnets for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: results of a pilot study.” Altern Ther Health Med. Mar-Apr;10(2):36-43. PMID: 15055092”

  
  Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
  James Hermans
  and the Q Magnets Team

The Weekly Reframe

Not all magnets are the same.

And not all knee pain is the same.

The better question is not simply whether magnetic therapy works.

The better question is whether the right field is being applied, at the right dose, in the right place, for the right pain pattern.

Featured Article

Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

Read Article

Field, Dose and Placement in Magnetic Field Therapy

Read Article

Magnetic Therapy

Read Article

It is one of the most common questions we receive about Q Magnets.

Customers ask it after their first purchase. Practitioners ask it when they begin using Q Magnets with patients. People living with long-term pain ask it because they want to know whether they should expect a change in minutes, hours, days, or weeks.

It sounds like a simple question.

But it is not really one question.

It is several questions hiding inside one:

How long before they begin to work?

How long should I keep wearing them once I feel better?

When should I remove them?

And if the pain returns, does that mean I am dependent on them?

To help answer those questions properly, we recently published a new practical guide:

How Long Should You Wear Q Magnets? When They Begin to Work, When to Remove Them, and When to Reapply

The reason we wrote it is because the answer depends heavily on context.

A fresh injury is not the same as chronic pain.

A small finger joint is not the same as the lower back.

A bruise is not the same as nerve-related facial pain.

And immediate relief is not always the same thing as complete recovery.

That is why the new guide looks at four different case studies, each showing a different response pattern.

Case Pattern 1: Acute Injury with Immediate Relief

The first case is one of the simplest and most instructive examples we have.

A young football player injured his finger at training. The finger swelled quickly, bruising appeared by the next morning, and a doctor confirmed there was no fracture, just a badly bruised finger.

Two small magnets were placed on either side of the affected finger joint.

This was a clean example of Field | Dose | Placement.

The injury was small.
The target was superficial.
The placement was precise.
The dose did not need to be large.

By Saturday morning, the bruising and pain had reportedly settled, and he was able to play football that weekend.

This type of case teaches an important principle:

When the injury is recent, localised, and close to the surface, the response may be relatively quick, especially when the magnets are placed accurately.

In cases like this, the wearing strategy is usually straightforward:

Wear while symptoms are active.
Remove once the area feels settled and function has returned.
Reapply if symptoms return.

Case Pattern 2: Chronic Pain with Immediate Relief

The second case is very different.

John had lived with low back pain for 27 years after a lifting and twisting injury. His history included disc bulges at L3/4 and L5/S1, multiple specialists, many therapies, and daily pain medication.

When Q Magnets were placed over the relevant lumbar levels, he noticed an unusual sensation almost immediately.

But the most meaningful change became obvious the next morning.

For the first time in many years, he was able to get out of bed without the same pain. Two weeks later, he reported that his daytime pain had reduced substantially.

This case is important because it challenges an assumption many people make.

People often assume that if pain has been present for decades, any response must be slow.

That is not always what we observe.

Some long-term pain cases may respond quickly, especially when the pain pattern, placement, magnet size, and tissue depth are well matched.

But there is an equally important caution.

Fast pain relief does not always mean the underlying condition has fully resolved.

If someone has had pain for 10, 20, or 30 years, their body may also have developed protective movement patterns, muscle guarding, altered confidence, and sensitised responses.

So in chronic pain cases, the question is not simply:

“Did the pain reduce?”

The better question is:

“What should we do with this window of reduced pain?”

Sometimes the answer is to keep wearing the magnets while the body stabilises. Later, once symptoms are consistently improved, it may be useful to test short periods without them.

Case Pattern 3: Chronic Pain with Delayed Relief and Intermittent Use

The third case involves Beth, who had trigeminal neuralgia affecting all three branches of the trigeminal nerve on the left side of her face.

This was not a simple injury.

Beth had undergone several brain surgeries and was still experiencing severe burning pain.

Using a Field | Dose | Placement approach, she positioned one magnet over the trigeminal ganglion region and another over the occipital area.

Her response was not instant.

After three days of continuous use, she reported a significant reduction in pain intensity. She then continued using the magnets at night for around eight hours while sleeping.

Over time, this became an intermittent routine that fit into her life.

This case helps answer another common question:

“What if I do not feel something immediately?”

In more complex pain states, especially nerve-related pain, the response may build over time. A few minutes may not be enough to judge the application.

This does not mean people should wear magnets indefinitely without thought.

It means the first trial may need to be long enough to give the body a chance to respond.

In Beth’s case, the pattern was:

Consistent early use.
A delayed but meaningful response.
Then intermittent use that suited her daily routine.

That is a very different pattern from the bruised finger.

And that is exactly the point.

Case Pattern 4: Chronic Pain with Strong Relief and Continued Use

The fourth case is Fran’s story.

Fran had lived with chronic atypical trigeminal neuralgia for seven years. After applying Q Magnets, she experienced three weeks completely free from pain.

For someone who had lived with symptoms for years, that kind of relief was understandably difficult to let go of.

And this is where Fran’s case becomes especially important.

When someone finally feels better after years of pain, it is natural to avoid changing anything. If the magnets are helping, why remove them?

But this is where we need to think carefully.

In Fran’s case, the magnets were eventually changed. Smaller magnets were used, and one larger magnet was positioned incorrectly. Her pain returned immediately, and the original comfort could not be recreated despite further attempts.

This story is not a warning that everyone must remove magnets after a fixed period.

It is a lesson in timing, placement, and observation.

When symptoms are active, magnets may provide useful support.

But when symptoms have been absent for several days, that may be the best time to gently test whether the body can remain comfortable without continuous exposure.

If symptoms return, reapply.

If symptoms remain settled, continue without them.

This is not dependency.

It is learning how the body responds.

Pain Relief Is a Window

One of the most important ideas in the new guide is this:

Pain relief creates a window. What you do in that window matters.

When symptoms reduce, it may be easier to sleep, walk, move, rehabilitate, relax, or simply live with less guarding.

But pain relief and full recovery are not always the same thing.

A person may feel better before the tissue has fully recovered. A nerve pathway may settle before the broader pain pattern has fully changed. A chronic condition may improve while still needing ongoing management.

That is why the question “How long should I wear Q Magnets?” cannot be answered with a single number.

The better question is:

What is the context?

Is the problem acute or chronic?
Is the pain local or referred?
Is the target superficial or deep?
Is the response immediate or delayed?
Do symptoms remain settled when the magnets are removed?
Does discomfort return when support is taken away?

These questions are much more useful than asking for a universal wearing time.

A Simple Practical Rule

For most people, the starting point is simple:

Wear Q Magnets while symptoms are active.

Once symptoms have clearly reduced or settled, remove them for a short period and observe what happens.

If symptoms return, reapply.

If symptoms remain settled, continue without them and use again only as needed.

For acute injuries, this may happen quickly.

For chronic pain, the process may take longer.

For complex nerve-related symptoms, some people may need consistent use before testing removal.

The important thing is not to treat symptom return as failure.

And it is not evidence of dependency.

It may simply mean the underlying pain sensitivity, injury, joint irritation, nerve pathway, or recovery issue still needs support.

Read the Full Guide

We have now published a more detailed resource that brings these ideas together and includes all four case studies in more detail.

You can read it here:

How Long Should You Wear Q Magnets? When They Begin to Work, When to Remove Them, and When to Reapply

It is designed for new users, existing customers, and practitioners who want a clearer framework for response timing, wearing duration, removal, and reapplication.

Because the real answer is not “wear them for X hours.”

The real answer is:

Understand the context.
Match Field | Dose | Placement.
Observe the response.
Remove when symptoms have settled.
Reapply if needed.
And seek professional advice for persistent, severe, worsening, or unexplained pain.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

The Weekly Reframe

Marcus Aurelius reminded us that what stands in the way can become the way.

Symptom return after removing Q Magnets does not need to be seen as failure.

It may simply be feedback.

Wear while symptoms are active.
Remove when symptoms have settled.
Reapply if discomfort returns.

The goal is not constant use.

The goal is learning what your body is ready for next.

Featured Article

Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

Read Article

Field, Dose and Placement in Magnetic Field Therapy

Read Article

Magnetic Therapy

Read Article

Q Magnets did not begin as a typical consumer health product.

They grew out of clinical practice, patient experience, early research, and the work of people who were willing to explore a very different approach to pain management.

A very important part of that story begins with Dr Robert Holcomb MD, PhD.

Dr Holcomb was a pioneer in the field of therapeutic static magnetic fields and the inventor of the original Magna Bloc technology. He worked with Dr Michael McLean at Vanderbilt University on some of the early research into quadrupolar magnet arrays and their possible role in pain therapy.

That early work mattered because it was not simply about “using magnets.”

It was about field design, field gradients, polarity patterns, biological effects, and the critical importance of placement.

In other words, it was about moving beyond the idea of a simple north-south magnet and asking a much more serious question:

Can a specifically designed static magnetic field be applied in a way that produces a useful therapeutic effect?

For Dianne and me, that question became the beginning of a very long journey.

Dianne’s role in the early clinical work

My wife, Dianne Hermans, was a physiotherapist. At the time, we had our clinic, Lifestyle Therapies, in Queensland.

Dianne first became interested in therapeutic magnets after suffering neck injuries from a car accident. She began using magnets herself and noticed the difference they made. But Dianne was not the type of person to stop at personal experience.

As a physiotherapist, she wanted to understand how the technology could be used properly with patients.

That led her to travel to Vanderbilt University a number of times between 1999 and 2001, where she learned from Dr Holcomb and became closely involved in the practical application of quadrupolar magnets.

Dr Holcomb once said of Dianne that, apart from himself, no one knew more about how to apply quadrupolar magnets as a therapy for chronic and complex pain, which said a great deal about Dianne’s clinical skills.

She was not just using magnets in a general way. She was learning how to think about placement, pain patterns, tissue depth, polarity, field exposure, and patient response.

That clinical experience became central to the development of Q Magnets.

The clinic was our proving ground

At Lifestyle Therapies, Dianne used quadrupolar magnets as an adjunct to normal physiotherapy treatment.

The magnets were not presented as a replacement for diagnosis, physiotherapy, medical care, or good clinical judgement. They were used as an additional tool within a clinical setting.

Patients were assessed. The magnets were placed carefully. Responses were observed. Placement methods were refined.

Over time, we learned that one of the greatest advantages of the technology was that patients could continue using the magnets between visits.

That meant the support did not have to stop when the appointment ended.

This idea has stayed with me ever since:

The best clinical tools should not remain locked inside treatment rooms.

If something is safe, practical, reusable, and can be taught properly, then patients should be able to use it at home as part of their own self-care.

That principle is still at the heart of Q Magnets today.

From four discs to more complex magnetic field designs

One of the things worth understanding about the early Magna Bloc work is that it was still based on combining four separate bipolar disc magnets into a quadrupolar array.

That was a significant step forward compared with simple bipolar magnets, but it also had a limitation.

When four separate discs are combined, the practical configuration is essentially quadrupolar.

See my video explanation here: Magna Bloc Q magnets Comparison - Why Q magnets are superior

One of the important developments we made later was learning how to create quadrupolar and hexapolar magnets from a single magnet body. From there, we went on to develop octapolar designs and later concentric alternating polarity rings.

That opened up a much greater level of complexity and versatility in the applied magnetic fields.

This became a major part of how Q Magnets evolved beyond the early designs.

We were no longer thinking only in terms of whether a magnet was north or south, or whether four separate magnets could be arranged in a square.

We were thinking in terms of field geometry.

How many poles?
What pattern?
What size?
What strength?
What depth?
What body region?
What pain presentation?
What placement strategy?

That is where our thinking around Field | Dose | Placement became so important.

The field matters because the shape and polarity of the magnetic field influence how it is applied to the body.

The dose matters because different sizes and strengths may be more appropriate for different tissues, body regions, and pain presentations.

The placement matters because even a well-designed magnet still has to be applied in the right location to have the best chance of helping.

This is why Q Magnets have always placed so much emphasis on placement guides, practitioner education, and practical instructions.

The magnet itself is only one part of the system.

How it is used matters just as much.

A practical system for clinics

Another important development came directly from clinical practice.

When magnets are used in a clinic, the practitioner often wants the patient to continue wearing them between visits. That can be very helpful, but it also creates a practical problem.

How do you keep track of reusable clinical tools once they leave the clinic?

In our own practice, we developed a simple method of loaning magnets to patients, recording what was issued, setting expectations, and following up.

This helped patients continue using the magnets between appointments, while also helping the clinic keep track of the devices.

That system is now something many clinics can benefit from today.

We have made it available as the Q Magnet Loan Agreement & Follow-Up System, including loan forms, a patient instruction sheet, and a staff training guide.

The goal is simple:

Help patients receive the benefit of continued magnet use between visits, while maintaining accountability for reusable clinical tools.

It is a small example, but I think it says a lot about the way Q Magnets developed.

We did not just ask, “Can we make a magnet?”

We asked:

Can this be used properly in a clinic?
Can patients understand what to do?
Can practitioners follow up?
Can the same tool be used in a way that is practical, accountable, and safe?

That is the sort of thinking that came from Dianne’s physiotherapy background and from years of real patient care.

A local clinic story that became much larger

Years ago, the Bayside Bulletin in Redlands, Queensland, published a story about our early work with Q Magnets.

Looking back, the headline was written in the bold style of local newspaper reporting. Today, we would be more careful with wording, because pain is complex and no product works the same way for everyone.

But the story behind that article is still very meaningful to me.

It captured a real period in our history: a large suburban clinic, real patients, Dianne’s physiotherapy work, and a technology that was beginning to attract attention because people were reporting significant changes.

Those early clinic experiences shaped everything that came later.

They shaped the way we explained the product.

They shaped the way we thought about placement.

They shaped the way we developed different magnet models.

They shaped the belief that Q Magnets should be simple enough for home use, but serious enough to be used by health professionals.

Some memorable people along the way

Over the years, Q Magnets have brought us into contact with many interesting people.

Some were everyday patients looking for help with persistent pain. Some were practitioners looking for another tool to support their clinical work. And some were well-known athletes, including Australian cricketer Shane Watson and AFL champion Simon Black.

Those moments were memorable, of course.

But the real story has never been about celebrity.

The real story is that the same principles apply whether the person is an elite athlete, a weekend golfer, a tradesperson, a parent, or someone simply trying to get through the day with less pain.

The question is always:

Where is the pain coming from?

Where should the magnet be placed?

What field and dose are appropriate?

Can the person use it consistently and safely?

What response do they notice?

That is the practical clinical thinking that Dianne brought to the work, and it is still the thinking behind Q Magnets today.

Giving credit where it is due

I also want to give proper credit to Dr Robert Holcomb.

Without his pioneering work, and without the early research at Vanderbilt, Q Magnets would not have the foundation that it does.

Dr Holcomb helped move the discussion away from generic “magnet therapy” and toward something more specific: designed magnetic fields, quadrupolar arrays, measurable gradients, biological plausibility, and the need for controlled research.

That foundation influenced Dianne’s work and then our own development of Q Magnets.

Our contribution has been to take that early quadrupolar concept and build it into a more practical, versatile system for clinics and home users.

That meant improving the physical design, developing different polarities and sizes, and creating a broader range of options so that field, dose, and placement could be matched more effectively to different pain presentations.

Why some of our placement videos are old

If you have watched some of our Q Magnet placement videos, you may have noticed that a number of them were recorded quite some time ago, around 2010.

The information is still current.

The placement principles have not changed, and many of those videos continue to help people use Q Magnets properly.

But the videos do need an upgrade.

The reason they have not been updated sooner is personal. Dianne has not been well enough to redo them for many years.

That has been one of the difficult realities behind the scenes.

Dianne’s illness has made parts of this story harder to tell, and it has made some of the educational work harder to refresh in the way I would have liked.

But we are now getting closer to a new stage.

In the coming months, we hope to create updated video illustrations using the power of AI medical illustration. This should allow us to explain placements more clearly, show anatomy more effectively, and improve the learning experience for both home users and practitioners.

In a way, that is very consistent with the whole Q Magnets story.

The goal has always been to take useful clinical knowledge and make it easier for people to apply properly.

Dianne’s contribution remains central

Dianne’s illness has made this story much harder to tell in recent years.

But it has not made her contribution any less important.

Dianne’s work as a physiotherapist helped shape the way Q Magnets were applied, tested, refined, and explained. She brought a clinician’s eye to the project. She cared about patient outcomes. She understood that a device is only useful if people can use it properly.

That is why Q Magnets are not just a product range.

They are a placement-based system that grew out of clinical practice.

The new About Us page tells more of that story, but I wanted to write this MagnaBlog because there is a deeper history behind the brand that deserves to be remembered.

Q Magnets began with pioneering research, clinical curiosity, and practical physiotherapy experience.

They were shaped by Dr Holcomb’s early work, Dianne’s clinical skill, our years at Lifestyle Therapies, and the many patients and practitioners who helped us learn what worked in the real world.

That history still guides what we do today.

Clinic-born. Research-informed. Practitioner-guided. Designed for home use.

That is the story behind Q Magnets.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

The Weekly Reframe

Progress isn’t measured by pain-free days alone. Sometimes growth is choosing to keep showing up, adapting, and learning what your body needs. Small adjustments can create meaningful change over time. What’s one challenge you could view as feedback instead of failure?

Featured Article

Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

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Field, Dose and Placement in Magnetic Field Therapy

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Magnetic Therapy

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And why early support matters more than waiting it out

Most people notice it quietly.

A rolled ankle that once settled in a few days now lingers for weeks.
A sore shoulder after gardening takes longer to calm down.
A back strain that used to feel like a nuisance becomes something you have to plan your week around.

It is easy to explain this as simply “getting older.”

But that is only part of the story.

A better way to think about it is this:

As we age, recovery is still possible. It just becomes less automatic.

And that makes early support after an injury much more important.

A quick note before we get too far:

There’s also a small offer at the end of this week’s MagnaBlog for anyone thinking about putting together a Q Magnets kit for themselves, a parent, or someone they care about. It ties directly into today’s theme: early support is much easier when the right tools are already close at hand.

Recovery Is Not Just Repair

When we think about injury, we often imagine the body doing one job: repairing damaged tissue.

But recovery is more coordinated than that.

Inflammation has to arrive, do its job, and then settle. Muscles, tendons, joints, and connective tissue need the right conditions to adapt. The nervous system has to protect the area without becoming overprotective. Movement needs to return gradually without aggravating the injury.

In younger bodies, these systems often move through the process more smoothly.

With age, the same process can become slower and less forgiving.

Inflammation may hang around longer.
Tendons and muscles may take longer to settle.
The nervous system may become more sensitive when pain signals continue for too long.

This is why “just give it time” can sometimes become a problem.

Time helps many injuries.

But too much unhelpful time can allow guarding, stiffness, fear of movement, and nervous system sensitivity to become part of the pattern.

The Pattern Practitioners Often See

Practitioners hear this story often:

“I thought it would settle by itself.”

At first, that makes sense.

A person tweaks a knee, strains a lower back, irritates a shoulder, or flares up an old sciatic pattern. They rest for a few days and expect things to improve.

But then they start moving differently.

They avoid certain positions.
They stop loading the area normally.
They sleep poorly.
They tense up.
They become cautious.

By the time they seek help, the original irritation may no longer be the only issue.

Now the body has learned a protective pattern.

This is why early treatment becomes more important as we age. Not because every minor injury is serious, but because older recovery systems may have less margin for delay.

Jan Johnson’s Experience: Nipping Pain in the Bud

Jan Johnson’s Q Magnets story fits this idea beautifully.

Jan had already used magnets for years and felt she had seen “a fair amount of success” with pain and inflammation reduction. But she found Q Magnets performed better than the magnets she had previously used.

What stood out in Jan’s testimony was not just that she used magnets.

It was how she used them.

She noticed that once she discovered the correct position for the injury or site of inflammation, the response was “really quick and comprehensive.”

That detail matters.

Placement is not a minor technicality. In magnetic therapy, it can change the experience entirely.

Jan also observed that more chronic pain patterns needed a different approach. For sciatica, she found she needed to leave the magnets on for about a week. After that, if the pain returned, she noticed it seemed to take only a day or so to resolve when she applied them early.

Then, in an email from April 2022, Jan made the early intervention point even clearer.

She wrote that she and her husband were doing well with their “bigger collection of Q Magnets” and used them regularly, adding that it was “a great relief to nip those pains in the bud before they flare and really get in the way of mobility.”

That phrase captures the whole lesson.

Early support is not about panic.

It is about preventing a small problem from becoming a bigger pattern.

You can read Jan’s full story here:
https://qmagnets.com/how-jans-uses-magnetic-therapy-for-ongoing-pain-relief-and-recovery-support/

Field, Dose, Placement — In Real Life

Jan’s experience is also a practical example of Field | Dose | Placement.

The field matters because not all magnetic fields are the same. Q Magnets use engineered multipolar designs that create localized static magnetic field gradients.

The dose matters because exposure time, consistency, magnet size, and tissue depth all influence the recovery environment.

Placement matters because the magnet must be positioned in relation to the relevant tissue, joint, nerve pathway, or painful area.

Jan noticed all three in practice.

She found that correct positioning changed the response. She found that chronic pain required longer exposure. She found that early use helped her act before pain became more disruptive.

That is very different from treating magnetic therapy as a one-size-fits-all approach.

It is more precise.

And it is more practical.

Why Early Support Matters More With Age

As recovery slows, the nervous system has more time to rehearse pain.

This does not mean pain is imaginary. It means the body can become better at protecting an area, even after the original irritation has started to settle.

A small movement may feel larger than it should.
A normal stretch may feel threatening.
A mild flare-up may create more guarding than expected.

This is one reason early treatment should not only focus on tissue repair.

It should also support comfort, movement confidence, and nervous system regulation.

Q Magnets are not a replacement for diagnosis, rehabilitation, or appropriate medical care. But when used thoughtfully, they can create a localized wearable recovery environment that may help support comfort while the body does its work.

For older adults, that timing can matter.

Not because the body cannot recover.

But because recovery often needs better conditions.

Keep Them Close

Early support only helps if the tool is available when you need it.

This is why it makes sense to keep a set of Q Magnets close at hand.

Keep them in your gym bag.
Pack them when you travel.
Take them when you go hiking, cycling, golfing, running, or exercising.
Have them nearby when gardening, lifting, or doing the activities most likely to stir up an old injury.

Many people wait until pain has fully flared before they act.

Jan’s approach points to a better pattern: apply support early, place it carefully, and give the body consistent help before pain starts interfering with mobility.

Of course, early support does not mean ignoring proper assessment.

If there is severe pain, major swelling, deformity, numbness, loss of strength, inability to bear weight, or symptoms that do not make sense, seek medical advice.

But for everyday strains, flare-ups, and minor injuries, the first few days matter.

They are a window to reduce irritation, maintain gentle movement, avoid unnecessary guarding, and support the nervous system before pain becomes more entrenched.

Practical Takeaway

When you experience a minor injury or flare-up, ask:

Is this settling, or becoming more protective?
Am I moving normally, or compensating?
Is sleep being affected?
Is the area becoming more sensitive rather than less?
Have I placed support directly over the most relevant area?
Do I have my Q Magnets nearby, or did I leave them at home?

Recovery after 50 is not about accepting slow healing as inevitable.

It is about creating a better recovery environment earlier.

And sometimes, that starts before the pain has a chance to flare.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,
James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

The Weekly Reframe

“Early support is easier than chasing pain later. Keep your Q Magnets close when you travel, exercise, hike, garden, or do anything that may stir up an old injury. As Jan put it, the goal is to nip those pains in the bud before they flare and get in the way of mobility.”

A Thought for Someone You Care About

Do you have a parent, partner, or loved one who is getting on a bit, whether they like to admit it or not?

Maybe they still garden, walk, golf, travel, hike, or insist on doing “just one more thing” around the house. And maybe you have noticed that the little aches, strains, and flare-ups are taking longer to settle than they used to.

This is where having Q Magnets close at hand can be a practical investment in their comfort, mobility, and independence.

Not just for when pain has already become a problem.

But for those early moments when something starts to niggle, tighten, or flare before it gets in the way of moving well.

Use coupon code EARLY to receive 10% off and help someone you care about build their own recovery support kit.

Because early support is much easier than chasing pain later.

Featured Article

Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

Read Article

Field, Dose and Placement in Magnetic Field Therapy

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Magnetic Therapy

Read Article

There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that doesn’t always show on the surface.

The kind that builds slowly.

A body that never fully relaxes. Morning stiffness that arrives before the coffee does. Interrupted sleep. The quiet calculations people make every day around pain, recovery, energy, movement, and rest.

For many people, wellness isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s about getting through the day more comfortably than the day before, even as we age!

Sleeping more deeply. Waking up with less tension. Feeling calmer in the body. Having enough relief to enjoy ordinary life again.

That emotional thread appears again and again throughout the customer stories surrounding the Q Magnet Blanket.

Not dramatic promises. Not polished marketing language.

Just people describing what changed.

And often, the changes they describe are surprisingly human.

A better night’s sleep. A calmer nervous system. Less discomfort in the morning. More mobility. Better recovery. A sense of ease they hadn’t felt in years.

Reading through the testimonials feels less like reading advertisements and more like listening to conversations people have after finally finding something that helped them rest.

A Wellness Product People Actually Live With

The Q Magnet Blanket is not something most people describe as a quick fix.

Instead, customers often talk about it as part of their environment. A blanket they sleep with every night. An underlay that stays on the bed or on top of their favourite chair. Something they return to during recovery, stress, discomfort, or periods of poor sleep.

For many users, the appeal is surprisingly simple:

comfort, consistency, ease of use, and the feeling of support.

One of the clearest endorsements comes from Dr. Robyn Cosford, who explains why she recommends the Q Blanket to patients:

“I recommend the Q Blanket to my patients because it provides general support for the central nervous system. The distribution of the Q magnetic field can provide greater tolerance to unwelcome electromagnetic field exposure and to life’s external stressors.”

That speaks to - Support. Tolerance. Stress. The nervous system.

Those same themes continue to appear throughout many of the customer experiences.

People repeatedly describe feeling calmer, sleeping more comfortably, waking with less discomfort, and recovering more effectively.

I should add that we were initially reluctant to manufacture the Q Blanket at all. Under the Field | Dose | Placement framework, we have always been more focused on targeted placement over specific areas of the body. But Dr Robyn Cosford, an integrative medicine doctor, encouraged me to make them after describing how valuable similar types of magnetic blankets had been in her own clinical experience. That perspective helped me see the blanket differently, not as a replacement for targeted Q Magnet placement, but as a broader comfort and recovery support tool that people could easily live with every day.

“I Was Highly Sceptical”

One of the most compelling stories comes from Frank Campagna from Melbourne.

What makes Frank’s experience resonate is not enthusiasm. It’s hesitation.

Like many people, he wasn’t immediately convinced.

He writes:

“A friend of mine loaned me a Q magnetic blanket that I accepted (reluctantly) out of courtesy but was highly sceptical.”

Frank had spent years waking with severe foot pain.

“For the past 5 years, I cannot recall a single day when the first steps taken in the morning haven’t registered 9/10 pain levels.”

Eventually, with nothing to lose, he decided to sleep on the blanket.

“Having nothing to lose, I placed the Q magnet blanket on the base of the bed and slept on it so that the magnets covered from my lower back to my feet.”

The next morning surprised him.

“On waking the very next morning, I took my first steps and could not believe that my pain was now 1/10. I can’t even remember the last time my feet had felt that good in the morning.”

What stands out is not just the reduction in discomfort.

It’s the emotional tone. The disbelief. The relief. The memory of what it feels like to wake up without immediately bracing for pain.

Frank later added:

“It’s now been over one week and the morning pain in my foot has remained at around 1/10.”

There’s something deeply relatable about that kind of story.

Not because it sounds miraculous. But because it sounds honest.

The Sleep Conversation Keeps Appearing

Across dozens of testimonials, one theme continues to surface naturally:

sleep.

Not luxury sleep. Not performance sleep.

Just better sleep.

The kind that changes how people feel the next morning.

Joseph Glandon shared:

“I also bought the blankets with Q magnets sewn in, I replaced my regular blanket, feel very rested. Extremely comfortable weight very snuggly.”

That word “snuggly” probably says more than any technical explanation could.

People are not only talking about recovery. They are talking about comfort. Warmth. Relaxation. Feeling settled.

Toni Curran wrote:

“I love my Q Magnets. I purchased 2 large blanket/underlays. All my little morning niggling pains have disappeared. Thank you Q Magnets.”

Again, the language is simple. Morning pains. Comfort. Daily life.

Steve Musco described the impact the blanket had on his wife’s sleep:

“Using the magnets in the blanket, my wife has experienced a significant decrease in pain at night allowing for a more restful , comfortable night of sleep.”

And another customer, Mal Craig, shared:

“I have just purchased the blanket for my wife who is in chronic pain . 4 days and she is sleeping better so far...”

There’s a quiet consistency to these experiences.

People are not necessarily talking about dramatic transformation. They are talking about what happens when the body finally begins to relax.

And for many people dealing with ongoing discomfort, stress, inflammation, or restless nights, sleep itself becomes the turning point.

Recovery, Comfort & Everyday Function

One of the most striking things throughout the testimonials is how often customers describe returning to ordinary activities they had started avoiding.

Walking. Gardening. Riding a bike. Going upstairs. Sleeping through the night. Standing for long periods.

Small things. Except they are not small at all.

Connie, a 68-year-old from Florida, described years of discomfort affecting multiple areas of her body.

Before trying Q Magnets, she rated her pain at 8 out of 10.

What stood out most to her was how quickly she noticed relief:

“Upon first using Q magnets, she found almost immediate relief, within just 15 minutes.”

But perhaps more important was what happened over time.

“Connie typically uses the magnets twice a week, leaving them on for about 12 hours, even while sleeping. SLEEP WITHOUT PAIN.”

That phrase carries emotional weight.

Not simply pain reduction. Sleep without pain.

She also described being able to continue enjoying activities like walking, biking, and gardening.

Again, quality of life becomes the real story.

Jay, who had struggled with chronic neck pain and lower back pain for years, shared a similar experience:

“Q magnets have helped Jay sleep better and bike longer without the need for medication.”

There’s a groundedness to that sentence.

Not perfection. Not cure language.

Just better sleep. Longer bike rides. More freedom.

The Blanket as Part of Daily Life

Another pattern appears throughout many long-term customer experiences:

people integrate the Q Blanket into their routines naturally.

It becomes part of the couch. The bed. The recovery chair. The evening routine.

Jenny Katz-Brandoli described her husband’s experience living with fibromyalgia, PTSD, chronic pain, fatigue, and migraines.

She explained:

“We also bought a magnet blanket, which lives permanently on the couch for him to sit and lie on.”

That detail feels important.

The blanket isn’t being described as a special event. It becomes part of the environment. A source of comfort woven into daily life.

The daughter of Johanna Keysers shared the experience of her 93-year-old mother:

“She has been sleeping with a small Q Blanket for years and I am sure it helps with the circulation and any pain issues.”

That idea of ongoing support appears frequently.

Not intensity. Consistency.

And for many people managing chronic discomfort or nervous system stress, consistency matters more than anything.

A Different Kind of Wellness Story

Modern wellness culture often swings between extremes.

Either impossible promises. Or complete cynicism.

What feels refreshing about many Q Magnet Blanket testimonials is how measured they are.

People are not trying to sound convincing. They are simply describing what they experienced.

Better mornings. Less tension. Improved sleep. Reduced discomfort. Calmer bodies. More manageable days.

Some customers describe recovery after injuries. Others describe chronic pain. Others talk about stress, inflammation, mobility, or restless sleep.

But emotionally, many of the stories point toward the same thing:

people wanting to feel more comfortable in their own body again.

And perhaps that’s why the testimonials resonate.

Because they don’t sound polished. They sound lived in.

The Emotional Side of Better Sleep

Sleep changes everything.

People who sleep better often describe waking differently. Thinking differently. Moving differently.

There’s more patience. More resilience. Less fear around pain.

That emotional shift quietly appears throughout many of the Q Blanket experiences.

The blanket is often described not only as supportive physically, but comforting emotionally.

Soft. Warm. Calming. Grounding.

For some people, simply feeling relaxed enough to fall asleep comfortably becomes meaningful.

And in a world where many people live in a near-constant state of stress, tension, overstimulation, and physical discomfort, products associated with calmness and recovery naturally become deeply personal.

Why These Stories Matter

No wellness product works identically for everyone. And the people sharing these stories understand that.

What makes the Q Magnet Blanket testimonials compelling is not certainty. It’s consistency.

Across many different ages, lifestyles, and health experiences, people continue describing similar themes:

better sleep, calmer mornings, less discomfort, improved recovery, more mobility, more comfort, and a better overall quality of life.

That doesn’t read like hype. It reads like lived experience.

And increasingly, lived experience matters.

Because when someone has spent years feeling exhausted, uncomfortable, tense, or unable to fully rest, even modest improvements can feel significant.

A night of uninterrupted sleep. A walk without stiffness. A calmer morning. A body that feels less reactive.

These things matter.

Sometimes enormously.

The Human Side of Wellness

At its core, the popularity of the Q Magnet Blanket may come down to something very simple.

People are searching for ways to feel better in everyday life.

Not perfect. Just better.

To sleep more deeply. To wake with less discomfort. To recover more comfortably. To feel calmer. To rely less on constant pain management strategies. To feel more at ease in their body.

And while every experience is different, the stories surrounding the Q Magnet Blanket continue pointing toward one consistent idea:

for many people, it has become a meaningful source of comfort, support, recovery, and rest.

Not because of exaggerated promises.

But because of how people say it makes them feel.

Since we only hear back from a small percentage of customers. If you have a Q Blanket story to share, please do so. Reply to this email or from the Contact Us page. We’d delighted to hear about your experiences.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team.

Weekly Reframe

Relief is not always dramatic. Sometimes it begins when the body finally feels safe enough to rest.

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Gauss is one of those topics we often get asked about, and like many things involving magnetic fields, it can quickly become more complicated than most people want.

So here is the simple version.

Gauss is a measurement of magnetic field strength. More precisely, it is what an instrument called a Gaussmeter measures at one specific point, in one specific direction.

That means Gauss is not simply “the strength of the magnet” as one universal number.

This matters because a simple bipolar magnet and a multipolar medical magnet behave very differently when measured.

A typical bipolar magnet has one North side and one South side. If you take readings across the same face of the magnet, the measurements are usually fairly similar because the field is relatively uniform across that surface.

A quadrapolar Q Magnet is different. It has alternating North and South poles on the same treatment face. Because of this, the Gauss reading can change dramatically depending on exactly where the probe is placed and which direction it is measuring.

You might get a strong positive reading over one pole, a strong negative reading over another pole, and even a near-zero reading at the boundary between poles.

But that zero reading does not mean there is no magnetic field there.

It may simply mean the instrument is measuring one axis of the field where the vertical components cancel. When measured across the surface, that same boundary can show a strong lateral field. This boundary region is important because it is where the field changes direction rapidly.

That rapid change is called a magnetic field gradient.

And this is one of the most important differences between ordinary bipolar magnets and precision multipolar medical magnets.

The question is not just:

“How many Gauss is it?”

A better question is:

“Where is the Gauss being measured, and what kind of field gradient does the magnet create?”

For Q Magnets, the variation in Gauss readings is not a flaw. It is part of the multipolar field design. The alternating pole structure creates localized gradients, and these gradients are central to why field geometry matters.

This is also why simply comparing magnets by their highest Gauss number can be misleading. A high surface Gauss reading does not tell you how the field behaves across the magnet, how quickly it falls with distance, or whether it creates the kind of localized gradient associated with multipolar medical magnet design.

So the takeaway is simple:

Gauss matters, but it is only part of the story.

When comparing magnets, especially therapeutic magnets, the more useful factors are:

• how the Gauss was measured

• whether the magnet is bipolar or multipolar

• how the field changes across the surface

• whether the magnet creates useful field gradients

• how the magnet is positioned over the target tissue

For anyone who wants the deeper explanation, including Gauss vs Tesla, N45 magnet ratings, Z-axis and XY-axis measurements, field gradients, the Maximally Effective Region, and why “total Gauss” marketing can be misleading, we have written a full guide here:

Read Full Article

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans

and the Q Magnets Team

Weekly Reframe

On fields, particles, and invisible forces:
“A complete field theory knows only fields and not the concepts of particle and motion.”
— Albert Einstein

Invisible does not mean inactive.
Einstein’s field-based view of physics reminds us that particles are not the whole story. Fields have structure, direction, and influence even when we cannot see them directly.

That is exactly why Gauss alone can be misleading. With Q Magnets, the important question is not just “how strong is the magnet?” but “how is the field shaped?”

Featured Article

Why magnet design matters? Learning from Cow Magnets

Read Full Article

Magnetic Field Gradients

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Magnetic Therapy

Read Full Article

I’ve been in the United States attending conferences, meeting practitioners, and speaking with researchers about Q Magnets. Including Professor Dr Pradip Ghosh and final-year physiotherapy students at Maryville University in Saint Louis, MO.

Those conversations were encouraging, but they also brought me back to a bigger question I’ve been thinking about for years:

Why do ordinary ideas get adopted quickly, while others struggle to be taken seriously, even when they may have genuine value?

That question matters for Q Magnets.

It matters for healthcare.

And, as history shows, it matters far beyond medicine.

A system doesn’t always choose what works best

One of the things I’ve noticed from my many trips to the United States is how influence operates within their political system.

I don’t say that as a partisan comment. It is about structure.

The United States has a highly developed lobbying system where large industries, wealthy donors, and powerful interest groups often have direct access to the people writing legislation. In 2024, federal lobbying spending in the US reached a record US$4.4 billion, according to OpenSecrets.

That doesn’t mean every decision is corrupt.

But it does mean access is not evenly distributed.

If an industry has money, lobbyists, political relationships, and a strong commercial interest in maintaining the status quo, it has a much greater chance of shaping policy than a smaller idea, a less profitable solution, or an intervention that doesn’t fit neatly into the existing system.

In healthcare, this becomes especially important.

Some interventions don’t struggle because they are useless.

They struggle because they do not have the lobbying power behind them.

Or because they might disrupt vested interests that already have influence.

Or because they are difficult to patent, package, scale, and sell in the way the system prefers.

Trams are a useful example

A simple way to see this is through transport.

Most major American cities once had tram or trolley systems. Many were removed. Roads expanded. Cars became dominant.

This video gives a useful overview of the American trolley story:

US — The Real Reason America Killed Its Trolley Systems

My home city of Melbourne took a different path.

Melbourne kept its trams.

This video explains that story:

Australia — Why did Melbourne keep its trams?

That outcome wasn’t inevitable. It happened because individuals resisted the pressure to follow what other cities were doing.

One of those people was Major General Sir Robert Risson, chairman of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board from 1949 to 1970. He is widely recognised as a major reason Melbourne retained its tram network at a time when trams were falling out of favour.

The point is not that trams are perfect.

The point is that what survives is not always what is objectively best.

Often, it is what powerful interests lobby to remove, or what someone courageous decides to protect.

Not everyone gives in to the system

Clair Patterson is an important example.

Patterson was the American geochemistry who helped determine the age of the Earth. But in doing so, he also uncovered widespread environmental lead contamination.

His work eventually challenged the use of lead in petrol, paint, food containers, and other industrial products.

That was not a small fight.

He was pushing against powerful industrial interests. Caltech notes that Patterson’s work put him at odds with major industry lobbies and that he paid a professional price for it.

That matters.

Because Patterson is a reminder that systems can be wrong for a long time.

They can protect harmful practices.

They can dismiss inconvenient evidence.

They can make life difficult for the people pointing out the problem.

But occasionally, someone keeps pushing anyway.

Major General Sir Robert Risson did that for Melbourne’s trams.

Clair Patterson did that for environmental lead.

Different countries. Different issues.

Same pattern.

Society benefits when individuals are willing to resist powerful interests, even when it costs them personally.

So what does this have to do with magnets?

This is where my recent trip to the United States ties back to Q Magnets.

At Maryville University, I spoke with Professor Dr Pradip Ghosh and final-year physiotherapy students who had completed a small knee osteoarthritis study using quadrapolar Q Magnets.

Another group was preparing to begin a lower back pain study.

We had a very useful discussions about research design, patient compliance, placement, dosage, outcomes, placebo effects, and what can realistically be measured.

And that is exactly where this subject belongs.

Not in hype.

Not in miracle claims.

But in careful observation.

The knee pain study

The first group looked at knee osteoarthritis.

They used an A–B–A design:

• baseline testing
• three weeks using the magnets
• three weeks without the magnets
• then three weeks using them again

Participants wore the magnets for two hours a day, five days a week. They were placed on the medial and lateral sides of the tibiofemoral joint line. Following the Q Magnets protocol for knee pain.

The students measured outcomes using gait data, the visual analogue scale for pain, and the KOOS knee osteoarthritis outcome score.

The most interesting finding was not simply “pain went down.”

Pain scores were mixed.

But function changed.

Step length improved during the magnet phases, and in several participants it declined when the magnets were removed. Gait velocity and KOOS scores also improved when compared with baseline.

One of the students made a point that I think is worth remembering:

“We didn’t have a single patient who said this was not beneficial for me… the subjective reports of improvement were there across the board.”

That is not definitive proof.

But it is a signal.

And in healthcare, signals are often where better questions begin.

The lower back pain study

The second group was preparing a study on chronic lower back pain.

This discussion was especially useful because it showed how difficult good research can be.

Where should the magnets be placed?

Should placement be standardised across every participant?

Or should it be based on the individual’s symptoms, anatomy, and pain presentation?

If someone’s issue is at L5–S1 but the study protocol places the magnet at L4–5, then you may have the right field and the right duration, but the wrong placement.

That matters.

Because with Q Magnets, the question is rarely as simple as:

“Do magnets work?”

A better question is:

“Under what conditions do they influence biology?”

That means considering:

• Field — strength, gradient, and configuration
• Dose — duration and consistency
• Placement — anatomical relevance
• Context — condition, timing, and tissue state

This framework sits at the heart of MagnaBlog’s approach: avoid binary thinking and focus instead on when, where, and why static magnetic fields may influence outcomes.

Why many therapies are misunderstood

This is where the system problem returns.

Modern healthcare often favours interventions that are easy to standardise, patent, fund, and scale.

That does not automatically make those interventions bad.

But it does mean other approaches may struggle to gain attention, especially if they require careful application, clinician judgement, or individualised placement.

Q Magnets are not a drug.

They are not a procedure.

They are not a one-size-fits-all intervention.

They depend on use.

They depend on placement.

They depend on the right magnetic field for the right tissue and condition.

That makes them harder to study, but not less worthy of study.

In fact, it makes the research more important.

The wrong conclusion is the easiest one

When people hear “magnets,” many already have an opinion.

Some think of fridge magnets.

Some think of weak flexible magnetic products that were poorly designed.

Some think of pseudoscience.

That history has muddied the water.

But poor products and poor explanations do not mean the entire field should be dismissed.

A badly designed tram system does not prove public transport is useless.

A weak magnetic product used in the wrong place does not prove static magnetic fields have no biological relevance.

The design matters.

The placement matters.

The dose matters.

The context matters.

What I took from the United States

My recent trip reminded me of two things at once.

First, large systems often protect what already has influence.

That is true in politics.

It is true in transport.

And it is true in healthcare.

Second, progress often starts with individuals who are willing to ask better questions before the system is ready to accept them.

Researchers.

Practitioners.

Students.

Patients.

People who notice something, test it, refine it, and keep going.

That is how many useful ideas begin.

Not as accepted wisdom.

But as careful observation.

The practical takeaway

When looking at any intervention, including Q Magnets, the better question is not:

“Does it work?”

The better questions are:

• What type of field is being used?
• Where is it placed?
• How long is it worn?
• Is it being used consistently?
• What condition is being treated?
• What outcome is being measured?

That is where useful understanding begins.

Final thought

History shows that society does not always adopt the best ideas first.

Sometimes it adopts what is profitable.

Sometimes it adopts what is politically convenient.

Sometimes it adopts what powerful interests are willing to support.

But not always.

Sometimes, courageous people resist.

Clair Patterson pushed back against the lead industry.

Major General Sir Robert Risson helped preserve Melbourne’s trams.

And today, in a much smaller but still meaningful way, practitioners and researchers are asking better questions about Q Magnets.

That is how progress often begins.

Not with hype.

Not with certainty.

But with careful observation, practical testing, and the willingness to keep asking:

Under what conditions does this help?

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

The Weekly Reframe

A short thought to carry into the week.
“You don’t stop exercising because you get old; you get old because you stop exercising.” — Dr Ross Walker, Cardiologist

Featured Article

How Rockefeller’s Flexner Report Suppressed Electric & Magnetic therapy

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The irrational and remarkable bias against the therapeutic use of static magnets

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Field. Dose. Placement. The science behind effective magnetic field therapy.

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Dianne Hermans, a physiotherapist with a keen interest in treating complex and chronic pain understood the power of Quadrapolar magnets and how to use them better than anyone, except maybe the neurologist who pioneered much of the early research.

So Dianne was in demand in Australia to conduct numerous in-services and training sessions for health professionals and rehabilitation groups.

One such group, was Chamelian Consultants, in Launceston Tasmania.

There something remarkable unfolded.

They documented what happened next.

They logged cases.

They estimated insurer savings.

And in March 2001, their Managing Director, Glenn Bromfield, summarised the results.

The original case summary can be viewed here:
Chameleon Consultants Rehabilitation Case Series (March 2001)

Read the full article here: Chameleon’s experience with : Neuromagnetic Therapy

This was 26 years ago.

Before Q Magnets existed as a brand.
Before “biohacking.”
Before social media testimonials.

Just rehabilitation clinicians applying a new tool and observing outcomes.

Case 1: Bill - Chronic Degenerative Back Pain

Bill was in his 60s. A former shearer. Immobilised by lower back pain for two years following degenerative changes and disc bulging.

He had physiotherapy. Stretching. Exercise programs. Some functional gains, but no meaningful return to work. Sleep was disrupted. Driving was difficult.

After Quadrapolar placement training, magnets were applied over his lower back.

The reported effect was dramatic.

Within 20 minutes, his pain began to fade

Over the following months:

• He returned to supervisory duties.

• He drove longer distances.

• He ceased pain and anti-inflammatory medication.

• His quality of life improved significantly.

Estimated savings:

• Approximately $300 per week in reduced wage compensation.

• Approximately $40 per week in medication.

• Roughly $17,000 annually

The cost of the devices was described as insignificant compared to the savings.

Case 2: Emma - Severe Period Pain

Emma, mid-20s, was experiencing severe menstrual pain. Endometriosis was suspected. Exploratory surgery was being considered.

After training, the therapist trialled different magnet placements during a symptomatic episode.

The effect was not immediate. Placement was refined.

Eventually, a configuration was found that allowed her to largely control symptoms when they occurred

Surgical intervention was avoided.

Estimated savings

Estimated savings were at least $1,000

More importantly: escalation was avoided.

Case 3: Robert - Post-Surgical Shoulder Pain

Robert, 46, had undergone shoulder tendon repair 18 months prior.

Despite conventional rehabilitation, he experienced persistent winter pain and was reluctant to increase medication.

After one trained session with six quadrapolar magnets strategically placed:

His pain and aching were significantly relieved

The insurer initially hesitated to fund the devices.

Estimated savings

They later recognised that ongoing medication would exceed the one-off device cost.

Estimated annual saving: $1,200

Case 4: Jason - Lumbar Disc Bulge with Radicular Pain

Jason was 32. Sole income earner. Four children. MRI-confirmed posterior disc bulge with severe referred leg pain.

Conventional therapy plateaued. He returned only to restricted duties. Medication use was substantial.

Then magnets were introduced alongside therapist training.

He progressed beyond the plateau. Returned to full-time general sales duties. Surgery may have been avoided

Estimated savings

Estimated savings:

• $30,000 in redeployment and medication.

• Potential $20,000 surgical avoidance.

What This Wasn’t

This was not a cure claim.

Bill still had degenerative changes.

Jason still had to manage behaviour and workload.

Robert still required strategic placement.

But something shifted.

• Pain became manageable.

• Function improved.

• Medication reliance reduced.

• Escalation slowed.

And importantly, therapist skill improved outcomes over time

That observation alone is profound.

Even in 2001 they were recognising that placement mattered.

What This Means Today

We now describe this framework as:

Field | Dose | Placement

1. The field gradient matters.

2. The size of the device matters.

3. Where you put it matters.

What Chameleon Consultants documented in 2001 was not hype.

It was early health-economics.

• Return to work metrics.

• Reduced insurer burden.

• Reduced medication costs.

• Surgery avoided.

Twenty-six years ago.

Before Q Magnets existed as a company.
Before Magnetic Fields were gaining credibility in modern medicine
Before social media.

Just clinicians applying physics to human biology.

A Quiet Lesson from 2001

Healthcare costs have not decreased.

Surgical rates have not decreased.

Medication reliance has not decreased.

But the principles remain.

• Non-invasive.

• Low risk.

• Placement dependent.

• Adjunctive.

The document from March 2001 concluded that Neuromagnetic Therapy was a legitimate pain controlling and healing-promoting therapy without side effects.

What has changed since then?

Not the Quadrapolar field, but there have been many enhancements:

1. The introduction of many different Q Magnet sizes, you can better target different anatomical structures such as the finger, elbow, shoulder and lower back.

2. Producing alternating poles within the one magnetic body, hence allowing for a more compact device with steeper field gradients.

3. The introduction of Hexapolar, Octapolar and Concentrics, thus further optimising placement

And our understanding of how to apply it properly.

And that continues to evolve.

Even today, acupuncturists are developing new ways to combine Q magnets with ancient acupuncture principles to enhance outcomes and provide for an improved patient experience. More on this to come in the coming months.

If you are a practitioner, insurer, or rehabilitation professional interested in understanding how magnetic field gradients can integrate into modern rehabilitation frameworks, please reach out. At the time, Dianne’s physiotherapy practice regularly treated third-party-funded patients, including motor accident and WorkCover clients. In principle, insurers did not fund magnets for these cases. Yet in a number of instances, the clinical progress and projected cost savings were significant enough that quadrapolar magnets were approved and paid for.

Some lessons are old.

Some data is forgotten.

But good physics does not expire.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans and the Q Magnets Team


PS: Two weeks ago, I mentioned about a MagnaBlog subscriber offer.

If you’d like to take advantage of this, use the discount coupon MB20 to apply a 20% discount to items in your shopping cart.

The MB20 Offer will last until next week’s MagnaBlog.

Featured Articles

Why magnet design matters? Learning from Cow Magnets

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Field, Dose and Placement in Magnetic Field Therapy

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Effects of Static Magnetic Fields on Nerve Conduction: What the Science Really Shows

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned from these events, it’s this:

The real divide in medicine isn’t between “believers” and “sceptics”.

It’s between those who are closed… and those who are open enough to explore.


At a recent medical acupuncture conference, something unexpected happened.

A doctor stopped at our stand. She had never come across static magnetic therapy before. No pre-formed position. No rehearsed scepticism. Just curiosity.

We spoke briefly. Mechanisms. Clinical observations. Field gradients. Placement.

And then she said something that stayed with me:

“A doctor’s position should be strong opinions, loosely held.”

What Does That Actually Mean?

It sounds simple. It isn’t.

It goes to the core of how medicine either evolves… or gets stuck.

Strong opinions → you need a working model
Loosely held → you must be willing to update it

Without strong opinions, you drift.
Without flexibility, you calcify.

Good clinicians operate in that narrow space between conviction and humility.

The Problem With “Settled” Thinking

In a previous MagnaBlog 👉 Why Is Magnetic Therapy Still Dismissed we explored why certain ideas are dismissed prematurely.

Not because they’ve been thoroughly disproven…
…but because they sit outside the current model.

History is full of examples:

When Being Right Looked Wrong

• Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was ridiculed for suggesting doctors wash their hands

• Dr. Barry Marshall drank bacteria to prove ulcers weren’t caused by stress

Both challenged prevailing assumptions.
Both were dismissed.
Both were eventually proven correct.

Modern Medicine Still Faces the Same Trap

We like to think those days are behind us. They’re not. They’ve just evolved.

Today, the resistance doesn’t always look like open hostility. It often shows up as:

• “There’s no evidence”

• “That’s not how biology works”

• “It’s been debunked”

But when you look closely, what’s often missing is not evidence…

…it’s a framework that can accommodate the evidence.

Where Magnetic Therapy Sits

Most therapy devices operate by delivering energy into tissue.

Static magnetic fields are different, they establish a persistent field environment, within which biological processes occur.

Because the body itself is an electrical system, many of these processes are sensitive to physical fields, particularly ion movement, membrane behaviour, and vascular regulation, which operate close to functional thresholds.

Within this environment, subtle shifts can occur:

• ion movement can be influenced

• membrane dynamics can change

• signalling thresholds may shift

On their own, these effects are small.

But biology doesn’t always respond in a linear way.

When systems are operating near thresholds, as they often are in pain and injury even small influences can alter outcomes.

Why This Creates Friction

If you approach magnetic therapy expecting:

• a dose-response curve like a drug

• a universal outcome

• a single mechanism

…it will look inconsistent.

But if you approach it as:

Field | Dose | Placement

…it starts to make more sense.

The Outcome That Matters

“Qmagnets are non-invasive easy to use and I believe I’d be in a wheelchair without them.” — Jan, 86

Daily movement felt manageable again

“The constant pain and aches just saps all your energy, so I can still garden drive and keep reasonably active”

“Walking and gardening are still part of my life”

• Felt more mobile and independent

• Less pain and fatigue

• Easy, non-invasive support

Still Walking. Still Gardening

• Less daily discomfort

• Able to keep walking and gardening

• Felt more independent

• Support she could rely on

• Energy to continue what she loves

Full Testimony

Back pain previous surgery, perhaps a lot of arthritis I had used the previous quadrupole magnets 30+ years ago so I knew that they worked. I now have several of the Q magnets plus the sleep Matt I use the magnets sometimes three on my back and occasionally on my knee. When position correctly the relief is almost instant without them, I would not be able to function.. walking Gardening would really be impossible.

Non-invasive easy to use and I believe I’d be in a wheelchair without them. The constant pain and aches just saps all your energy.

So I can still garden drive and keep reasonably active. — Jan, 86. From Sydney

Strong Opinions, Loosely Held. Applied

The doctor at the conference didn’t accept or reject magnetic therapy on the spot.

She did something far more useful:

She left the door open.

Because progress in medicine rarely comes from:

• blind acceptance

• rigid dismissal

It comes from structured curiosity.

A More Useful Question

Instead of asking:

“Does magnetic therapy work?”

A better question might be:

“Under what conditions might a magnetic field influence biological systems?”

That’s a very different mindset.

And it’s one that leads somewhere.

Final Thought

The most dangerous position in medicine isn’t skepticism.

It’s certainty.

Because certainty closes the loop.

And once the loop is closed… nothing new gets in.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Featured Articles

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Response to RACQ magazine “The Road Ahead” article on magnetic therapy.

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Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

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Not launching new products.
Not running promotions.

But doing something just as important:

Trying to make magnetic therapy easier to understand.

Because if we’re honest, this space can get confusing.

One article says magnets increase blood flow
Another says they don’t
Some claim strong effects
Others dismiss it entirely

And somewhere in the middle…

Most people are left wondering:

“So… do they actually work or not?”

Why So Many Answers Are “Yes, No… and Maybe”

One of the biggest shifts in our thinking has been this:

Many questions about magnetic therapy don’t have a single fixed answer.

They have a context-dependent answer.

Which means:

Yes, in some situations
No, in others
And sometimes… it depends

That might sound like a cop-out.

But it’s actually a more accurate reflection of how the body works.

1. Do Magnets Increase Blood Flow?

This is one of the common questions we get.

And it’s a perfect example of why things can seem contradictory.

Do magnets increase blood flow?

Yes… no… and sometimes.

Here’s what we see in the research:

• Some studies show increased microcirculation

• Some show no measurable change

• Others suggest different effects depending on the tissue state

So which one is correct?

All of them, in the right context.

Because magnetic fields don’t force the body in one direction.

They appear to interact with systems already in play, including:

• Nerve signalling

• Ion channel behaviour

• Local vascular tone

Which means the outcome depends on what’s happening in that tissue before the magnet is applied.

2. Why the Debate Exists

Most of the confusion comes from trying to simplify something that isn’t simple.

We tend to ask:

“Do magnets increase blood flow?”

When the better question is:

“Under what conditions might magnetic fields influence blood flow?”

It’s a bit like asking:

“Does exercise increase heart rate?”

• During exercise → yes

• At rest over time → it may actually lower it

• In different individuals → results vary

Magnetic therapy behaves in a similar way.

What We’ve Been Doing Differently

Instead of chasing one explanation like blood flow, we’ve been working on a more practical way to understand and apply magnetic therapy.

Field | Dose | Placement

Because what really matters is:

• The type of field

• How much reaches the target tissue

• Where it’s applied

When you look at it this way, the “yes / no / maybe” starts to make sense.

And more importantly…

It becomes useful.

Two Pages That Bring This Together

We’ve recently updated two key articles to reflect this clearer approach:

👉 Does Magnetic Therapy Work?

A practical overview of how to think about magnetic therapy without getting lost in complexity.

👉 Debunking Myths Around Blood Flow

A deeper dive into why the blood flow question has caused so much confusion and how to interpret it properly.

What Would You Like Us to Cover?

We don’t ask this often, but we should.

If there’s something you’ve been wondering about, or something that hasn’t been clearly explained…

Just reply and let us know.

It could be:

• A condition you’re dealing with

• A question about how to use magnets

• Something you’ve read that didn’t quite add up

We read every response, and it helps shape what we create next.

A Small Thank You (Coming Soon)

We know many of you have been following along for a long time.

So shortly, we’ll be putting together a subscriber-only offer.

No pressure, just something useful if you’ve been thinking about getting started or going a bit deeper with your current setup.

Final Thought

If there’s one thing this deeper dive has reinforced, it’s this:

Magnetic therapy isn’t about simple answers.
It’s about understanding the context.

And once that becomes clearer…

Everything else starts to fall into place.

But there’s also another side to this.

Not everyone wants to understand the “how”.

Some people just want to know:

Does it help?

And that’s completely fair.

Because in the end…

the real measure is the outcome.

The benefits.
The relief.
The day-to-day difference.

Or as the saying goes:

The proof is in the pudding.

And that’s where we know Q Magnets consistently perform.

If you haven’t already, the two updated articles above are a great place to start.

And if you have a question, just hit reply.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Featured Article

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There was a time, not that long ago, when patients with chronic pain underwent procedures that permanently destroyed nerves.

Cordotomies. Rhizotomies. Neurectomies.

In some cases, relief came. In many others, the pain returned - sometimes worse than before.

Today, those approaches are used sparingly, and often only as a last resort.

So it raises a reasonable question:

Why is a non-invasive, low-risk therapy like magnetic field treatment so often dismissed, sometimes outright, while far more extreme interventions were once considered acceptable?

This isn’t a criticism of doctors. It’s a question worth exploring.

A Brief Look Back at Pain Treatment

For decades, pain was treated as a simple wiring problem.

If pain signals travelled along nerves, then the logical solution was to interrupt those signals.

And so, medicine developed a range of ablative procedures:

• Cutting peripheral nerves (neurectomy)

• Severing nerve roots (rhizotomy)

• Interrupting spinal pathways (cordotomy)

These procedures were not reckless. They were based on the best available understanding at the time.

But over time, limitations became clear:

• Pain often returned

• New types of pain emerged

• The nervous system adapted

What changed wasn’t just the treatments, it was the understanding of pain itself.

The Shift from Destruction to Modulation

Modern pain science recognises that pain is not just a signal.

It is:

• Processed

• Amplified

• Modulated

• Influenced by multiple systems

This shift gave rise to:

• Multidisciplinary pain clinics

• Neuromodulation techniques

• Conservative and non-invasive approaches

The philosophy moved from:

“Cut the signal”
to
“Influence the system”

This is covered in a recent blog post – Why Pain Becomes Chronic and Why Early Treatment Matters.

Where Magnetic Field Therapy Fits In

Magnetic field therapy sits firmly within this modern paradigm.

Rather than destroying tissue or blocking nerves, it aims to interact with biological processes in a subtle and localised way.

At its core, it is a therapy that is:

• Simple

• Drug-free

• Non-addictive

• Non-invasive

• Painless

• Safe

• Localised in effect

• Able to be used at home

• Paid for by the individual

• Supported by a growing body of scientific research

And the devices themselves are remarkably straightforward:

• No maintenance required

• Long-lasting (often years to decades)

• No moving parts

• Low cost compared to many alternatives

• No energy consumption

• Minimal training required

And when not in use…
it can still hold a note on the fridge.

A Personal Observation from Clinical Practice

Over the years, we’ve seen patients, particularly those with complex conditions like trigeminal neuralgia, experience meaningful relief using Q Magnets.

In more than one case, patients were under the care of the same neurologist.

With their permission, we reached out to explore something simple:

an observational clinical trial

No demands. No disruption. Just curiosity and collaboration.

There was no response.

Why the Resistance?

This is where things become interesting.

The resistance is rarely about safety.
Magnetic field therapy has a strong safety profile.

It’s rarely about cost.
It’s often far less expensive than ongoing interventions.

More often, it comes down to:

1. Familiarity bias

Clinicians are trained in specific models. Therapies outside that framework can feel uncertain.

2. Evidence hierarchy

Even when supportive evidence exists, if it doesn’t fit conventional structures, it may be overlooked.

3. Mechanism uncertainty

If a therapy doesn’t have a clearly accepted mechanism, it’s harder to adopt, even if outcomes are positive.

4. Professional risk

Trying something new carries perceived reputational risk, even when the physical risk is low.

A Reasonable Question

None of this diminishes the role of modern medicine.

Doctors save lives.
They manage complex disease.
They operate under pressure, responsibility, and scrutiny.

But it does leave us with a fair and important question:

If a therapy is safe, simple, and shows promise -
why wouldn’t we at least be open to exploring it?

The Opportunity Ahead

Neuromagnetics is an emerging field.

It sits at the intersection of:

• physics

• biology

• clinical practice

And it offers something increasingly valuable:

A low-risk, accessible way to engage with complex biological systems.

The future of medicine is unlikely to be purely invasive or purely pharmaceutical.

It will be layered.

And therapies that are:

• safe

• scalable

• patient-controlled

will play an important role.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Featured Product: QF28-3

👉 View Product: https://qmagnets.com/product/QF28-3/

The QF28-3 is one of our most widely used devices, particularly among health professionals seeking a simple, reliable adjunct for pain management.

Designed with a low-profile form factor, it sits comfortably against the body and can be worn throughout the day without interfering with normal movement.

At its core is a quadrapolar neodymium magnet, combined with a flux-focusing plate and housed in medical-grade plastic, engineered to deliver a concentrated, dynamic magnetic field to a localised area.

Why it’s widely used

• Comfortable and discreet

• Still powerful enough for larger joints

• Suitable for extended wear

• No power source required

• Simple to apply and reposition

• Durable and long-lasting

Common application areas

• Lower back

• Neck

• Shoulders

• Knees

• Localised soft tissue injuries

Whether used during daily activity or at rest, the QF28-3 is designed to provide a practical, low-risk option for those looking to support recovery and manage pain without drugs or invasive procedures.

• “LIFE CHANGING”

• “no more pain”

• “I can always tell if I put it in the wrong way”

“Now I just pop a magnet in my compression bandage… and no more pain.”

Featured Articles

Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

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Unlocking the Science of Magnetic Field Therapy: Myths, Facts, and Breakthroughs

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When Pain Is a Signal Worth Listening To

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Muscles repair. Ligaments strengthen. Inflammation subsides.

Yet many people experience pain long after tissues should have recovered.

Modern pain science now recognises that this often occurs because the nervous system itself becomes sensitized.

Understanding how this process unfolds helps explain why early treatment of injury can make such a profound difference.

Pain Does Not Always Reflect Tissue Damage

For decades pain was thought to be a direct signal from injured tissue.

Research in neuroscience now shows that pain is produced by the nervous system interpreting signals from the body.

When these signals continue for long enough, the nervous system can become increasingly responsive.

This process is sometimes called the pain chronification cascade.

The Pain Chronification Cascade

Researchers describe several stages that can occur after injury.

Stage 1 — Injury and inflammation

Chemical signals released by injured tissue activate nearby nerves.

Pain at this stage is protective.

Stage 2 — Peripheral sensitization

Over the following days, nerve cells may increase the number of ion channels in their membranes.

These channels regulate electrical activity in nerves.

When their number increases, nerves become more excitable.

Even minor stimulation can begin triggering pain signals.

Stage 3 — Central sensitization

If strong nerve signals continue to reach the spinal cord, neurons there may also become more responsive.

This can lead to:

• exaggerated pain responses
• pain from normally harmless stimuli
• pain spreading beyond the original injury

Stage 4 — Brain adaptation

With time, networks in the brain involved in attention, emotion, and threat detection may reinforce these signals.

At this point pain becomes harder to reverse.

Why Early Treatment Matters

Because sensitization develops progressively, early intervention may help prevent this cascade from escalating.

Reducing the intensity and duration of nerve signalling soon after injury may limit how strongly the nervous system adapts.

Magnetic Field Gradients and Nerve Excitability

Laboratory studies have explored whether static magnetic field gradients can influence neural activity.

Experiments on sensory neurons have shown that certain magnetic fields may temporarily alter nerve firing behaviour.

Because nerve signalling depends on ion movement across the cell membrane, magnetic fields interacting with electrically active tissues may influence this process.

Field | Dose | Placement

In practical magnetic therapy applications, outcomes depend on three variables:

Field
Strength and gradient of the magnetic field

Dose
Magnet size, depth of penetration and duration of exposure

Placement
Location relative to affected nerves or tissues

Understanding these factors helps explain why results can vary and why correct application matters.

The Bigger Picture

Chronic pain rarely develops overnight.

It often reflects a gradual interaction between:

• tissue injury
• peripheral nerve sensitization
• spinal cord amplification
• brain processing of pain signals

Understanding this process helps explain why early management of injury may influence long-term outcomes, and why many people like to keep their Q Magnets close at hand when minor injuries occur.

For a more comprehensive discussion on this topic, please see our recent blog post…

Why Pain Becomes Chronic And Why Early Treatment Matters

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Featured Article

Central Sensitization

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Some tools are built for performance.

Some are built for recovery.

Very few stay with you for life.

This week we received an unexpected LinkedIn reply from former Swiss speed skiing world record holder Silvano Meli.

Along with the message, he graciously sent a photo holding the same Q Magnet he first used almost 20 years ago.

Silvano’s original story from 2009 when using Q magnets after an horrific accident was remarkable. : https://qmagnets.com/silvano-meli-former-swiss-ski-world-record-holder/

The magnet in the photo is one of the original versions we produced in 2008, before the current plastic housing.

Two decades later, it is still in use.

But Silvano’s story didn’t begin with ageing joints.

It began with survival.

Recovery After Catastrophic Injury

Silvano first started using Q magnets in 2009.

Five years earlier he had been involved in a helicopter accident that left him with severe injuries:

• Cervical fractures
• Multiple rib fractures
• Cranial trauma
• Chronic lower back pain

Recovery was long and uncertain.

When he began using Q Magnets on his lower back, he later reported:

“After 1 week my pains decreased and after 3 weeks they totally disappeared.”

That was almost 20 years ago.

Almost Two Decades Later

Today, like many former athletes, Silvano faces a different challenge:

Osteoarthritis in the hands and knees.

Yet the same magnets he started using more than two decades ago are still part of his routine.

He wrote on LinkedIn:

“When I apply the magnets, I notice a rapid and effective response. They help me maintain good joint mobility and significantly reduce pain. In my case, they have effectively replaced regular anti-inflammatory medication.”

After almost 20 years of personal use, his conclusion is simple:

“I remain very satisfied.”

Where Silvano First Discovered Q Magnets

Interestingly, Silvano did not discover Q Magnets on his own.

They were recommended to him by Andrew Johns, dual Olympian and former European and World Cup Champion triathlete.

Andrew began using the magnets during the later years of his professional career and wrote:

“They keep my back from locking up, and keep my hips free, which for me is the key to running fast and uninhibited.”

For Andrew, the magnets helped him:

• stay injury-free
• maintain mobility
• keep his body aligned
• extend his competitive career

But he also recognised something broader:

“I would recommend Q magnets to everyone who wants to get the best out of their body, whether you’re an Olympic athlete or just a busy parent.”
— Andrew Johns

A Tool You Grow Old With

Andrew used Q Magnets to stay competitive at the highest level of sport.

Silvano first used them during recovery from catastrophic injury.

Today he uses the same magnets to manage the realities of ageing joints.

Different stages of life.

The same tool.

Sometimes the most useful health technologies are not the newest ones.

They are the ones that still work 20 years later.

If you have been using Q magnets for 10 or even 20 years, we would love to hear your story.

Please email cs@qmagnets.com

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans
and the Q Magnets Team

Featured Article

Silvano Meli; former Swiss ski world record holder

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Q Magnets keep aging dual Olympian at peak performance

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Professional triathlete – Q Magnets help align hips and pelvis

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Why are some of Australia’s top sporting champions using magnetic therapy?

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Few people truly understand the mechanics.
Many have strong opinions.

Some are convinced it’s transformative.
Others dismiss it outright.

Meanwhile, quietly, over the past 60 years - alongside the development of nuclear magnetic resonance and MRI - serious research into static magnetic fields has been conducted, contributing to discoveries recognised by multiple Nobel Prizes.

That history alone should prompt a more careful question:

Does static magnetic field exposure itself produce measurable biological effects?

A large research program led at Semmelweis University sought to answer exactly that.

Across microbial studies, animal pain models, and human trials, three themes emerged.

1. Not All Magnetic Fields Behave the Same

Uniform static fields often produced little or inconsistent biological response.

In contrast, inhomogeneous fields with strong spatial gradients showed measurable effects, including increased pain thresholds in both animal models and human volunteers.

Structure matters.

Biology does not respond to slogans.
It responds to physics.

2. There Is a Physiologic “Window”

When researchers adjusted field parameters, intensity, geometry, gradient, and exposure duration, analgesic effects improved.

Too weak? Minimal effect.
Wrong configuration? Minimal effect.
Optimized? Measurable response.

That is not mysticism.
That is dose-response science.

3. The Body Mediates the Effect

Across inflammatory and pain models, the magnetic exposure did not “force” healing.

Instead, results suggested modulation of the organism’s own pain and inflammatory pathways.

The body did the work.

The field acted as the stimulus.

That distinction is important.

A Note on Credibility

The research program behind these findings was led by physicist Dr. János F. László and colleagues at Semmelweis University in Budapest.

In his book From Microbe to Man, which synthesised years of in vitro, in vivo, and human investigations into static magnetic fields, both Neuromagnetics Australia Pty Ltd. and James Hermans were acknowledged among contributors who supported and influenced the work.

The Book is Available Here

We mention this not as a claim of ownership, but as context.

For years, we’ve spoken about a “window of effectiveness.”

The research suggests that idea was not a guess.

Field | Dose | Placement.

Biology responds to physics.

Plants respond to physics.
Animals respond to physics.
Humans respond to physics.

The real question is not whether magnets “work.”

The question is whether the field is engineered correctly.

Until next time, stay curious and stay well,

James Hermans and the Q Magnets Team

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