Magnetic bracelets/ pendants?

[powerfade]

I had some store credits so I bought a Q-Link last June (2007).

Let's see...
I didn't know if I felt anything different other than being more tired. I figured that's how it got you to be more mellow on the golf course. I got used to it. (I bought one for my wife because she's in front of a PC all day. It made her too tired so she stopped wearing it).

Anyway, 4 days after buying it, I shot a 78 at a nice course (Classic Club in Palm Springs) from the tips, in the heat of early June. I hadn't broken 80 in two years prior.

Sure, I made swing changes leading up to that round and continued working on my game over the summer. I switched to cross handed putting, used the Swing Glove to cure a wrist-cupping issue, and practiced a lot. I broke 80 several more times in '07 and I reached my goal of single-digit index (8.7-8.4 last 4 months) from a 12 in June. I wore the Q-Link everyday since June. Do I give it credit? I don't know.

This past January during my holiday vacation I played a round at a somewhat difficult course that I frequent. I played horribly. The day before I played pretty good, but on that day I was real bad. When I got home I saw my Q-Link on my bathroom sink.

The one key to all this is that I have not blown up in anger on the golf course one time since I put this thing on.

It may be snake oil. It may be mental, or maybe I'm finally growing up and not getting pissed on the course. I can tell you one thing, I'm sure as hell not gonna take it off to find out.

[Guest]

I have worn Sabona and Trion z, Sabona too "clunky" and I wore the Trion Z for 2 Years I didn't know if it did anything at all, that is until it broke. Not sure if it's just in my head or for real, but I bought a new one and all those daily aches and pains seem to go away, Call me crazy!?

[Wisco-Kid]

This has to be the funniest pic I have seen in awhile! Thank you...

[fusioncal]

I bought the Trion:Z bracelet and necklace a couple of months ago. Found out when they arrived the bracelet is too small for me to wear so I gave it to my sister. Funny thing she said to me that everytime she wore them while asleep, she always had bad dreams. Well, at least I know it worked LOL

While for the necklace, I wear it when I sleep at night. I'm not really 100% sure about this, but my neck do feel relieved/comfortable (I got a bit problem with neck pain) in the morning when I wake up.

If in fact that these stuff are placebos, they sure are expensive.

[king]

Does it make any difference which wrist you wear the bracelet type on say the sore elbow or the non sore elbow arm?

It says on the website to wear it on the sore side.

Also I don't know if these work, but they look awesome! Just so you guys know you can get Trion:Z bracelets for free at the GolfWrx Trion:Z Contest if you post a picture of a player in the current weeks field of any tour wearing one.

[Bignose]

I can't believe this thread has gone on for so long and no one has posted a good refutation of these hunks of junk.

There is zero evidence that these things have any effect over placebo. That zero as in zilch, none, nada, not a single piece of objective evidence.

For a good review, see this article: http://www.quackwatch.org/04Consumer...QA/magnet.html

Here are two more (one even from a golf newsletter:)
http://chicagolandgolf.com/blog1/?p=41
http://csicop.org/si/2006-04/magnet-therapy.html

Please take note of the peer reviewed studies. In one, the people reported the exact same percentage of pain relief from the true Q-Ray bracelets and costume jewelry. In another, the people who wore an insole without magnetic properties reported the same relief of heel pain as the ones who did wear a magnetic insole.

There is zero scientific evidence. If you want to put your faith in ammagic trinket, just buy the costume jewelry. It will be 1/100th the price. And if you still feel a need to blow $200 or so, send it my way. I'll put it to good use! Or at least go buy a new wedge or a few boxes of balls you've wanted to try -- at least those have some chance of helping your golf game!

[Anders]

I was in a car accident last year and although i've basically made a full recovery from the whiplash, I still, on occasion, get neck and back pains from golf.

I've seen the Trion Z at the local shop. Do any of you guys have experience using a Trion Z barcelet to deal with neck and back pain. I'm not keen on wearing a neckless - would a bracelet do the trick, if it indeed does work (hope I didn't answer my own question there )

Thanks
Anders

[Bignose]

I was in a car accident last year and although i've basically made a full recovery from the whiplash, I still, on occasion, get neck and back pains from golf.

Anders, please don't take this as aggressive, but did you even read my post? Did you even look at the links showing that there is

zero scientific evidence that these things work above a placebo effect? Don't waste your money. You can get the exact same placebo effect by buying costume jewelry. Or, if you are insistent on needing magnetics, just go any buy a magnet. Don't waste the hundreds of dollars on these overpriced unscientific unproven items. They are exactly the same as if I told you that I experienced pain relief by massaging marinara sauce into my sore shoulder every day. Are you going to head to the grocery store now? I have the same amount of evidence to back up my marinara sauce story as the magnetic bracelet people -- namely none. If you want me write up a creative little story about the magical healing ions and positive energy flow from marinara sauce, I can. I can use a bunch of large scientific words incorrectly to make me sound smart. Would you buy a car if there was no proof that it worked? (i.e. you see an ad in the paper for a car -- don't you test drive it before you buy?) This is really the same thing -- scientists who have spent their life's work studying different ways to relieve pain and investigating the medicinal properties of different materials have found zero evidence that these things work. Shouldn't you only spend money on things that have at least some proof that they work?

[king]

Anders, please don't take this as aggressive, but did you even read my post? Did you even look at the links showing that there is

I hope the put this somewhere that everyone can read this scholars brilliant thoughts and that way no *******s will buy these stupid braclets!

youve gotta be kidding me dude calm down

[powerfade]

I can't believe this thread has gone on for so long and no one has posted a good refutation of these hunks of junk.

In my best Will Ferrell voice...

"Refutation". Is that even a word?

[powerfade]

Bignose - The Q-Link will help rid you of your hostilities toward those Trion-Z bracelets.

[Bignose]

Bignose - The Q-Link will help rid you of your hostilities toward those Trion-Z bracelets.

As a practicing scientist, my hostilities aren't towards the bracelets themselves. It is, however, against the people who are scamming you out of your money. It is, however, against the pitiful school system that rewards rote memorization rather than critical thinking skills. It is, however, against anyone who buys something, seeking a specific result or effect, and doesn't at least do 10 minutes of research to verify that it actually does what it claims.

It is just frustrating to see so many non-scientific things out there. From these bracelets to the manufacturers claiming their irons are the best ever because they go 5 yards further than the other brand though that is simply because they strengthened the loft several degrees (Nickent was doing this last year), all the way to the people who take horoscopes seriously and the Head On commercials. I'm really not all that angry about it. It was kind of funny to see a post right after my first one asking "does it work" though. It just goes to show that people just don't actually read the threads, though. There are a lot of people who just read the title and maybe the first 1 or 2 posts, and go from there.

[shredfit]

As a practicing scientist, my hostilities aren't towards the bracelets themselves. It is, however, against the people who are scamming you out of your money. It is, however, against the pitiful school system that rewards rote memorization rather than critical thinking skills. It is, however, against anyone who buys something, seeking a specific result or effect, and doesn't at least do 10 minutes of research to verify that it actually does what it claims.

Firstly, I do not own any of these magnetic or copper coil things... nor do I endorse getting any of them. However, I have had several open talks with physician friends(one is my golf league partner) about these products. Apparently, the general consensus IS that they DO work(by placebo effect only). My physician friends seem to hold the placebo effect in a different way than I used to think of it...(I majored in Biology is college). They seem to point to placebo effect clinical studies and treatments... not that I totally agree, but they say they have seen powerful placebo effect evidence.

[Bignose]

Firstly, I do not own any of these magnetic or copper coil things... nor do I endorse getting any of them.

shredfit, that's what I said in this thread. There is no discernible effect over placebo. And, since it is all placebo anyway -- why not buy a piece of costume jewelry? why spend $250 when you can get the exact same placebo effect for $10?

No one can deny that placebo effect is very real. There was a fascinating study that was just released this weak about the placebo effect. The researchers make up brochures and pens with the fake drug's logo on it -- to make it look just like the hot new drug. The kicker was that there were two sets of brochures made up, one listing the drug's price at 10 cents a pill, the other listing the drug's price at $2.50 a pill. Both pills were utterly fake -- placebo effect 100% -- but the more expensive pill had a significantly stronger placebo effect. That is, the people who took the pill and were told it cost $2.50 experienced significnatly greater pain relief than the people who took the exact same pill and were told it cost $0.10. Maybe it is the same thing here. People spend $250 on a bracelet and because they spent a lot of money on it, the placebo effect is stronger. But, that doesn't change the fact that it is all placebo effect. There has never been a study that shows that these have any effect above placebo. And, that means it is worthless. The FDA doesn't allow drug companies to sell pills that don't have any effects above placebo -- despite the fact that the placebo effect is quite real and people do get better. A drug is only allowed to be sold if it has a demonstrable effect. And these things should be held to the same standard. Anything would work -- a lucky coin, a favorite ball marker, a certain color tee, a favorite pair of socks, etc. Anything can have the placebo effect if someone wants it to. I just think that it is nuts to spend hundreds of dollars on something that has zero proven benefits.

[shredfit]

shredfit, that's what I said in this thread. There is no discernible effect over placebo. And, since it is all placebo anyway -- why not buy a piece of costume jewelry? why spend $250 when you can get the exact same placebo effect for $10?

I understand completely, what you are saying, and I don't really disagree with you...

However, the MD freinds I have still seem to think of the placebo effect slightly different than we do... (ie even seemingly, as a valid form of medical treatment under certain circumstances). My golf league partner(a MD) keeps citing a Mayo Clinic study(which he took part in)... Where cigarette smokers were given a quit smoking drug and half were given a placebo... Surprisingly, the placebo takers had slightly better results in quitting smoking than the real drug takers. They(my MD firends) also think that if the person knows that they are not getting the real deal(drug, bracelet, pendant, whatever)... it(the placebo effect) will NOT work... It's is also interesting that there seems to be a correlation between how much one spends on the placebo... and the intensity of the effect.

[mikelz]

I wouldn't wear one if you gave it to me.
There's no place in golf for jewelry - except John Cook's necklace.
Oh. If Paula Creamer gets a ruby in her navel, that would be fine with me.

Please insert IMHO in whatever spot it takes to not honk you off.

[Eore]

my dad got me a trion-z thingy. he wears his religiously, but for SOME REASONG still gets upset when he hits a bad shot. i wore mine twice, and it is now retired to the bottom of my golf bag.

[Bignose]

I understand completely, what you are saying, and I don't really disagree with you...

I think a lot of it also has to do with the magnitude of how much money these makers of the magnetic bracelets are asking for. If it wasn't several hundred dollars -- if it was only $10 or $15 -- I don't think I would care. $10 or $15 for a "good luck charm" seems fine to me. It is just that $250 is not an insignificant amount of money to the vast majority of people. Sure, golfers in general are going to be more affluent and in general $250 to them probably doesn't mean as much to the average person. Nevertheless, that is a lot of money to be spending on something with no proven value. In golf terms, the average golfer is going to get much, much more out of $250 of lessons or range balls than a magnetic bracelet. Even $250 of new wedges or new driver I think may be more worthwhile.

What makes me really angry is that the ads for these things attract a segment of the population that probably cannot afford $250. The poor in general tend to be the least educated and they are going to be the most likely to believe the outlandish claims of these manufacturers. This is where the real harm is done -- convincing people to whom $250 is a very significant amount of money to part with it for something completely unproven.