Ionized bracelet

Ionized bracelets, or ionic bracelets, are a type of metal jewelry purported to affect the chi of the wearer, though no claims to effectiveness—or even the basis for such claims—have ever been substantiated by their manufacturers. The Q-Ray is the most well known brand, while the lesser known Bio-Ray, Rayma and Balance bracelets are also considered to be of the "ionized" family. Other alternative health bracelets, such as magnetic or copper therapy bracelets, are considered separate products.

The iRenew bracelet is a more recent offering, with an advertising campaign beginning in the summer of 2010.

Marketing claims

Western interest in the Q-Ray Ionized Bracelet rose as a result of an infomercial campaign by QT Inc. which ran from August 2000 through June 11, 2003. During this time many claims were made regarding the product's alleged effectiveness, most notably regarding relief from pain and arthritis due to manipulation of a body's chi.

These claims were the topic of a 2003 injunction by the Federal Trade Commission and later a high-profile court ruling in 2006. A major factor in these rulings was a November 2002 study by Mayo Clinic that demonstrated no significant effect by the Q-Ray bracelet on muscle pain relative to the placebo effect. The court was unable to find any basis for QT Inc.'s claims related to traditional Chinese medicine, concluding that it was "part of a scheme devised by [QT Inc.] to defraud [its] consumers" and that the "Defendants might as well have said: Beneficent creatures from the 17th dimension use this bracelet as a beacon to locate people who need pain relief and whisk them off to their home world every night to provide help in ways unknown to our science."

In a Marketplace interview, Charles Park, president of Q-Ray Canada, explains that the term "ionized" does not mean the bracelets themselves are ionized, but rather that the term comes from their secret "ionization process" which, he asserts, affects the bracelets in undisclosed ways.

Historic account

In October 1973, corporate websites claim, Manuel L. Polo began investigating the effects of different metals on humans, believing that some metals offered a benefit when worn. This led directly to his creation of the Bio-Ray (Biomagnetic Regulator), the first ionized bracelet. Years later in 1994, Andrew Park bought a Bio-Ray bracelet while visiting Barcelona, Spain. Believing that it had reduced his lower back pain, he was inspired to found QT Inc., which began manufacturing and selling Q-Ray bracelets in the United States by 1996.