January 20, 2006 --

Ben Swann-KFOX Morning News Anchor/Reporter

Almost everyone gets foot pain at sometime or another and it can last for weeks. What can you do about it? Some people say wearing magnetic insoles in your shoes helps. So doctors did a study to find out whether or not that is true. Here is what they discovered, found in this Health Watch Report.

During her lunch break, Sharon Ryg use to like getting in some exercise with a few laps around the office.

"I stopped walking because my feet hurt. It was mainly the heel of the foot, but it extended through the whole foot," said Ryg.

Dr. Mark Winemiller, a physical medicine specialist, says foot pain is very common.

"Foot pain is one of those things. Wear and tear, gravity happens. And we have to deal with it," said Ryg.

So he did a study to see if the type of magnetic insoles that you can buy at the drug store for about $15 to $25 a pair, help reduce foot pain.

As a study participant, Sharon was placed in one of two groups: one that wore magnetic insoles or one that wore identical but non-magnetized ones.

"What I had to do was wear the insoles that they put in my shoes for I believe it was eight weeks."

At the end of the eight weeks, Sharon's feet.

"Were probably 90 to 100 percent better," said Ryg.

But not because of the magnets. You see, Sharon wore non-magnetic insoles during the study. And her group had the same degree of pain relief as the group wearing the magnets.

"Therefore our conclusion was that the magnets didn't provide any additional benefits of pain relief," said Winemiller.

Sharon's foot pain likely improved on it's own and because of the cushioning of the insoles, not the magnets.

Dr. Winemiller says that while magnetic insoles do not seem to help foot pain, they are not harmful either. He says there is a lot to learn about the healing power of magnets, and there are many studies underway to do so.

If you would like more medical news, visit our health partners Web sites:

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center:http://www.mdanderson.org/

The Mayo Clinic:http://www.medicaledge.org

Baylor College of Medicine:http://public.bcm.tmc.edu/