Magnetic fields have been considered for treating many ailments over man's history. There have been many anecdotal unsupported claims for successful treatment of soft tissue injury although reports have been more substantive in the orthopaedic field. The widespread clinical and veterinary use of a light self-adhesive magnetic foil in Europe prompted this trial of experimental wound healing. One hundred and sixty Sprague-Dawley rats had a linear 2.5 cm incision or a circular 1 cm skin defect made over the mid-dorsal spine. Equal numbers were randomised to receive either a magnetic foil or a dummy (control) dressing. At three, seven, 10 or 14 days linear wounds were distracted using a tensiometer; open defects were measured, excised and assayed for collagen content; 14-day wounds were examined histologically. Although wound tensile strengths increased and open wounds decreased in size with increase of hydroxyproline, there were no statistically significant differences between treated or control animals. Although easy to apply the alternate magnetic foil (giving 400 Gauss at 7 mm) conferred no statistically significant effect on soft tissue healing.