Will Magnetic Mattress Pads Affect Titanium Heart Stents?

If you have heart stents and you sleep on a magnetic mattress, then you probably should talk to your doctor about your sleeping habits. Magnetic mattress pads have become popular in the last 40 years or so, and many people credit them with all sorts of health benefits from easing arthritis pain to improved healing abilities. However, the magnets can negatively affect any type of metal or electromagnetic medical implant.

Function

• Heart stents are used to prop open arteries that have recently been cleared during an angioplasty. They may release medications over time to help the arteries and the heart function more effectively and heal faster. Stents work like a scaffold for the arteries to support them.
  Magnetic mattress pads contain magnets that are sewn into the padding. People who use these mattresses believe that they can help with everything from epilepsy to nicotine addiction. However, these hypotheses have not been conclusively proven. Because stents are made of metal and the mattress is filled with magnets, it is a concern for many doctors and patients that sleeping on magnetic mattresses could interfere with the placement and long-term function of the stents.

Significance

• Titanium heart stents are not actually made of titanium. They are made of stainless steel and coated with titanium to prevent the body's immune system from attacking the stents. Because the metal under the titanium is stainless steel, which is moderately attracted to magnets, your magnetic mattress could be interacting with your "titanium" stents.

Considerations

• There are several things to consider when you are deciding if you should try magnet therapy and you have stents. Stents and magnets do not present the same problems that, for example, pacemakers and magnets do because they are not electromagnetic, and titanium stents are coated with titanium, which lessons the magnetic pull further, but they still can be influenced by the presence of strong magnets. Particularly since you will be sleeping on the mattress for extended periods of time, you probably should avoid magnetic mattresses and seek other more localized methods of magnetic therapy.

Misconceptions

• Many people believe that magnets attract all metals. In reality, magnets are not attractive to all metals, and titanium is one of the least attracted to magnets. However, stainless steel is pulled much more strongly, and since your stents are likely only coated with titanium, they still may experience some significant force. However, if you wore a magnetic bracelet, for example, instead of exposing your entire body to lots of strong magnets, then you might not subject your stents to the same type of stress.

Effects

• In the long run, sleeping on a magnetic mattress will definitely affect your titanium heart stents; it is just a question of how much your actions affect them. You might cause them to function less effectively, which would cause your arteries to be more likely to clog much sooner. On the other hand, you might actually end up with a stent that became partially dislodged, which might necessitate more surgery.

Warning

• If you have any type of metal implant at all, even if it is just screws in your knee, check with your doctor before beginning any type of magnetic therapy. Not only can constant exposure to magnets disable some types of metal devices, it can also seriously injure you in the process if the magnets cause your the metal to shift. In some cases, such as titanium heart stents, you may still be able to try some types of magnetic therapy, but there will likely be very specific guidelines about the strength of the magnets and the duration of the exposure.