It is absolutely vital for any one who is currently using or contemplating using
magnets to thoroughly understand how magnetic strength is measured and what is
the appropriate strength of magnet to use in healing purposes. Magnets are
perfectly safe and do not have adverse side effects so users should not worry
about overdosing on magnetic strength, however it is possible to under dose on
strength. A minimum strength per magnet is required to ensure that the
magnetic
field is powerful enough to penetrate through the skin and into the blood
stream. I shall be discussing this further in a few minutes.
There are 2 scientists from the 18th and 19th centuries that are responsible for
the magnetic measurement system that is used today.
Firstly the most renowned is Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). Gauss was
Germany’s greatest mathematician of the time, he started to study magnetism in
1836 and by 1841 he had devised the world’s first magnetic telegraph. His work
revolved around locating the earths magnetic poles (north and south) , once this
was achieved
He wrote a calculations table that allows people, to this day, to calculate the
strength of a magnet.
The first unit of magnetic measurement was called gauss, named after the great
man. The unit gauss has been replaced in industry with a more up to date
measurement the Tesla. However in medicine magnets are still rated in gauss as
the gauss measurement allows for a more precise calculation of lower strengths,
than those used in industry.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a Croatian scientist who, after emigrating to the
USA, worked closely with Thomas Edison. After parting company with Thomas Edison
, Tesla went on to invent alternating current (AC).
Tesla has numerous inventions to his credit and his work has led to many of the
modern day technology. Tesla was also the man who re invented the
magnetic
measurement system. The new SI (international system of units ) measurement of
magnetic flux (strength) was named after Tesla.
The new measurement of magnetism the Tesla is a much larger unit than that of
gauss. It is predominantly used in industry, where very high strength magnets
are used. Tesla is not an appropriate measuring system for medical magnets as
the calculation of strength has to be converted to milli tesla (1 thousandth of
a tesla)
However medicine has been encouraged to adopt the SI system of measurement so
it becoming more common to find magnetic strengths listed in tesla units.
There is an easy way to convert tesla to gauss and the table below shows the
most common gauss ratings and their tesla equivalent.
Gauss
Tesla
10,000
1 Tesla
3,000
300 milli Tesla
2,000
200 milli Tesla
1,700
170 milli Tesla
1,000
100 milli Tesla
800
80 milli Tesla
To work out the gauss rating of a magnet that is measured in tesla just multiply
the tesla value by 1000, for example 2 tesla would equal 20,000 gauss. If the
value is written in milli tesla then simply multiply the value by 10 to work out
the gauss rating, for example 525 m tesla is equal to 5,250 gauss.
If a magnet is measured in gauss and you want to know the tesla value simply
divide the gauss rating by 1000, for example 35,000 gauss is equal to 3.5 tesla.
If the gauss rating is under 10,000 then the conversion of gauss to tesla will
be in milli tesla (1 thousandths of a tesla) simply divide the gauss rating by
10, for example 1,200 gauss is equal to 120 m tesla.
Regardless of whether a magnet is measured in gauss or tesla it is vitally
important that you know the strength of all the magnets that you use. If you
don’t know the strength of the magnet don’t use it. If a magnet does not have a
minimum of 800 gauss/80 milli tesla then it will not penetrate into the skin.
Germany’s greatest mathematician of the time, he started to study magnetism in
1836 and by 1841 he had devised the world’s first magnetic telegraph. His work
revolved around locating the earths magnetic poles (north and south) , once this
was achieved 
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a Croatian scientist who, after emigrating to the
USA, worked closely with Thomas Edison. After parting company with Thomas Edison
, Tesla went on to invent alternating current (AC). 