A friend who I used to work with got into the MLM of Nikken and wanted to sell me on becoming a distributor - NO WAY! She knows I have fractured vertibrae and ruptured disk in lumbar, DDD, DJD and am in constant pain. She offered to LEND me a back brace w/ magnet to try out. I tried it out for about a month... on and off, magnet and no magnet. To my amazement, this magnet "worked". I really needed to PROVE the magnet worked before I would part with the $200+ to buy one.

Well, I did pay for it and it seems to work great for sciatica and gives me much less pain which allows me to stand longer than the 5 minutes I can without excrutiating pain. I can't understand how it works, but can't deny that it does. I did pay for it, but it was a chore fighting off their evangelical style salesmanship trying to win me over as a distributor. When they realized I wouldn't give in to their sales pressure, they took the money and gave me a new belt and magnet.

I did not opt to buy a cheaper priced system because the one I tried worked. I still take pain meds and NSAIDs, but the extra relief found with the Nikken belt was worth the high pricetag for ME. I understand the magnetic thing doesn't work for everyone. If you can find a Nikken distributor in your area, ask if you can "try before you buy". I definately don't recommend you pay for it, unless you KNOW it has an effect for you. The prices for their magnetic therapy products are outrageously high compared to those in catalogs and drugstores.

I can't speak for any other magnet, because I never tried another. I've been thinking of buying the Dr. Levine magnet kit for $20 - just to see if it works at all. $20 isn't a lot to speculate with - but $200 wow!

I highly recommend Nikken brand products. They make a lower back magnet that attaches to my corsett with velcro. It helps but it provide enough relief to get rid of my TENS unit or prescription meds. The Nikken line is very extensive and also pretty expensive. I have their magnetic shoe insoles ($70) for my bone spurs and they do help a lot for that.

They also make mattresses and mattress pads but they run about $600 for the pad and $1300+ for a mattress. Some people swear by them but it has my experience that anyone with severe debilitating chronic pain usually gets results similar to mine.