Pulsed Electro Magnetic Field therapy (PEMF) is pulsed energy waves directed towards damaged or injured areas of the body. These waves painlessly and quickly pass through the cells in the damaged region, increasing the spin of the electrons and therefore restoring health to the body.

This positive cellular effect lasts for as many as four days andsets the stage for long term healing.

Uses for this therapy include: pain and swelling for acute and chronic conditions, increases blood flow for enhanced organ function, and optimal immune function.

Pulsed Electro Magnetic Field Therapy Use Cases

Head and Neck

The American Osteopathic Association reports neck pain is the third most common chronic pain, afflicting more than one in four Americans at any given time.1

Fortunately, PEMF can often help with issues in this area of the body. Case in point: one study in Rheumatology International found that subjects with cervical osteoarthritis had pain levels which “decreased significantly” after PEMF. 2

Study participants also reported improvements in disability and range of motion, especially when compared to a control group who received sham PEMF treatments.

Back

PEMF also helps treat numerous back-related issues, even if they occur post-surgery. In fact, one study in Current Orthopaedic Practice found that PEMF prompted increased bone formation for 85 percent of the participants, all of whom endured failed posterior lumbar inter body fusion. 3

Seventy-seven percent achieved body-to-body fusion after being treated with PEMF. The researchers involved in this study also pointed out that PEMF “required no hospitalization, reduced morbidity, and avoided the risks associated with surgical intervention”—three more reasons why this remedy is a preferred treatment choice.

Joints

When it comes to joints, arthritis is often one of the biggest concerns. However, PEMF helps not only with arthritic symptoms, but also potentially the cause as one piece of research in the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology found that “the use of PEMF for arthritis cure has conclusively shown that PEMF not only alleviates the pain in the arthritis condition but it also affords chondroprotection, exerts anti-inflammatory action and helps in bone remodeling.” 4

Chronic Body Conditions

PEMF is even helpful when it comes to chronic conditions that affect your entire body.

For instance, one study published in Pain Research and Management found that, after seven days of twice-daily PEMF treatments, participants who struggled with fibromyalgia responded positively to the pulsed electromagnetic therapy, reporting less pain after treatment sessions. 5

Another study, this one in Chinese Medical Journal, concluded that “low frequency PEMFs relieves the pain of primary osteoporosis quickly and efficiently, enhances bone formation and increases BMD [bone mineral density] of secondary osteoporosis.” 6

PEMF has also shown positive effects with Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s, cancer, heart disease, depression, diabetes, endometriosis, epilepsy, headaches, glaucoma, hepatitis, kidney problems, lung disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, pancreatitis, Parkinson’s, sexual disorders, sleep disorders, spinal cord injury, stroke, Tourette’s, ulcers, urinary problems, and more.

1. Chronic Neck Pain . (2016). Osteopathic.org. Retrieved October 2016, osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-your-health/healthconditions-library/pain/Pages/chronic-neck-pain.aspx.

2. Sutbeyaz, S., Sezer, N., & Koseoglu, B. (2005).The effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields in the treatment of cervical osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial. Rheumatology International, 26(4), 320-324.doi:10.1007/s00296-005-0600-3

3. Treatment of Failed Posterior Lumbar InterbodyFusion (PLIF)…: Clinical Orthopaedics and RelatedResearch. (2016). LWW. Retrieved October 2016, journals.lww.com/corr/Abstract/1985/03000/Treatment_of_Failed_Posterior_Lumbar_Interbody.16.aspx

4. Ganesan, K. Low frequency pulsed electromagnetic field, a viable alternative therapy for arthritis. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. Vol. 47, December 2009, pg. 939-948

5. Alex W Thomas, S. (2007). A randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial using a low-frequency magnetic field in the treatment of musculoskeletal chronic pain. Pain Research &Management : The Journal Of The Canadian Pain Society, 12(4), 249. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2670735/

6. Huang, Li-qun et al. Clinical update of pulsed electromagnetic fields on osteoporosis. Chinese Medical Journal. 2008; 121(20):2095-2009.