How do balance necklaces work

An anecdote is effectively just an uncontrolled, unblinded study group of… one. Not the kind of thing which rocks the scientific community. So Power Balance products fall into the same category as physic reading, homeopathy and faith healing.

When the user has a positive experience, the product gets the credit. If the user does not, then they either believe that they need more of the product or that they would have been worse off without it. Not convinced? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect.

Mental Health. Can Balance Bracelets Work? Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph. About Wearing one Can it work? Benefits Takeaway Share on Pinterest.

What are balance bracelets? How do you wear one? But does it work? Why you are your own balance bracelet. The takeaway. Read this next. The Effect of Negative Ions. Medically reviewed by Elaine K.

Luo, M. Medically reviewed by Deborah Weatherspoon, Ph. Medically reviewed by Carissa Stephens, R. Start by watching this video made by doctors showing you the tricks used to sell the idea that these bands work:. People who wear these performance-enhancing accessories truly believe that they work, and the power of the mind is amazing. Research has shown that people can benefit from the placebo effect [ 7 , 8 ]. So, to some extent, these do work, but only because you believe they do.

Just remember to check if it can negatively affect your health or not first. Remember, a healthy dose of skepticism is always good. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Tourmaline, and specifically black tourmaline, is generally recognized as the most powerful of these though. While there are some quite beautiful looking mineral bracelet designs, look for the manufacturer to highlight that they use germanium or tourmaline at a minimum, and preferably black tourmaline, for there to be any ion generation.

Tourmaline, as a gemstone and in powdered form, is known to generate a weak electrical charge and far infrared radiation. Its ability to produce significant anions that the human body can utilize is less well-established. While powdered tourmaline, used in ionic bands and other products like ion-generating clothing and sheets, has been demonstrated to generate negative ions, it does seem to require pressure being applied to it, or for it to be heated in some way.

While testing a ionic bracelet with an ion counter does show a reasonable negative ion count in videos like this , could this reading be due to the tourmaline infused band being scrunched together? If so, would the mild pressure usually applied by wearing an ionizing bracelet be enough to generate many negatively-charged ions?

If it is rather the pyroelectric effect at work in ionic wristbands, is there really enough heat being generated in the powdered tourmaline within the silicon band just by wearing it around the wrist? More concerning is this information from a powdered tourmaline manufacturer that it produces both negatively-charged ions and positively-charged ions in roughly equal amounts.

If this is the case, then the beneficial properties of any negative ions produced could be largely countered by the extra positive ions. If negative ion wristband manufacturers want to be taken seriously, they would do well to produce much more proof of the claims they make. While the Ionic Balance and Power Ionics sites do state that their products have been tested with ion counters and list the results, there is no independent verification that I could find.