Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field (PEMF) therapy uses technology to stimulate and exercise cells to help resolve cellular dysfunction and to support overall wellness. 

What is PEMF therapy?

PEMF therapy treats your cells like batteries. It’s common for them to slowly be drained of energy. By the end of a day, your body and mind may feel tired and depleted. That’s where PEMF technology can help. It  is used to generate energy in your cells without an invasive procedure. This amplifies your natural energy and encourages your body to function more effectively. Also known as low field magnetic stimulation, it uses electromagnetic fields to try to help cellular dysfunction.

How does PEMF therapy work?

PEMF therapy sends magnetic energy into the body. These energy waves work with your body’s natural magnetic field to improve healing. The magnetic fields help you to increase electrolytes and ions. This naturally influences electrical changes on a cellular level and influences cellular metabolism. It works with your body’s own recovery processes to help relieve chronic pain. Best of all, it’s entirely safe.

Ultimately, the human body requires electricity to sign signals throughout the body and to your brain. PEMF therapy effectively can realign the electricity in your cells. When a cell is stimulated, it allows positive charges to enter a cell in an open ION channel. The inside of this cell becomes positively charged, which will trigger other electrical currents, turning into pulses. This can positively influence movement, healing, and sending of signals. Any disruption in electrical currents can lead to dysfunction or illness. PEMF therapy helps restore this disruption in electrical current to the normal state, which promotes overall wellness.

Who do we recommend PEMF therapy to?

We recommend this to patients with pain or dysfunction in their:

• Ankles

• Back

• Elbows

• Hips

• Knees

• Shoulder

We also recommend this PEMF therapy to patients suffering from:

• Chronic inflammation in joints or the soft tissues

• Chronic fatigue symptoms or chronic fatigue syndrome

• Peripheral neuropathy

• Osteopenia or osteoporosis

• Poor wound healing

Benefits of PEMF therapy

Some of the most common benefits of this therapy include:

1. Enhances the body’s natural recovery process

2. Corrects cellular dysfunction throughout the body

3. Stimulates and exercises cells to recharge cells

4. Gives patients more energy naturally

5. Improves athletic performance

6. Reduces inflammation and pain

7. Helps you recover from an injury faster

Recharge your cells and reduce inflammation and pain with PEMF therapy

When you’re looking for ways to improve your health and reduce pain and discomfort, schedule an appointment with us to learn more about PEMF therapy.  To learn if you’re a good candidate for this therapy, call our office today.

PEMF Research

A great amount of research has been performed using PEMF for different aspects of healing in animal models, as well as clinical treatment of non-healing fractures, tendon tears, chronic ulcers, post-surgical pain, and acute or chronic pain. There are multiple possible benefits of a therapeutic magnetic field application to healing the body (Jerabek and Pawluk, 1996).  Studies have shown a decrease in:

• Pain,
• Swelling
• Inflammation

Magnetic field application studies have also shown to improve:

• Circulation
• Cellular metabolism
• Energy

Proposed mechanisms of PEMF therapy include activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to increase intracellular calcium and nitric oxide release (Pilla, 2015). Nitric oxide promotes blood vessel production and growth, which is helpful in healing injured tissues (Pilla, 2015).

PEMF has been examined in many painful conditions including: acute injury, arthritis and nerve issues. Researchers found improved healing of soft tissue injuries by decreasing swelling and healing hematoma, while low frequency PEMFs improved edema during treatment and high frequency PEMF improved edema up to several hours after the treatment session (Markov and Pilla, 1995).

In the different conditions investigated:

• Individuals with neck pain as a consequence of acute whiplash had significant improvement of pain compared to controls when treated with high frequency PEMF at 27.12 MHz (Foley-Nolen et al., 1992).
• Patients with low back arthritis had improvement of pain for approximately 90-95% of the time with PEMF of 35-40 mT applied (Mitbreit et al., 1996).
• A research team investigated 83 patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Participants were given treatment for 2 hours a day, 5 days/week for 6 weeks.  The study found significantly improved pain, stiffness, and function in the PEMF group (Thamsborg, 2005). There was no improvement in function for the control group at 2 weeks, and only mild improvement at 6 and 12 weeks. Unfortunately, there was no difference between the PEMF group vs. the control group with respect to pain, stiffness or function as the control group also had significant reduction of pain and stiffness.  While function did not improve in participants over 65 in PEMF group, when investigators only examined the patients under the age of 65, there was significant reduction in stiffness between the two groups.
• In another study on knee OA, a different device utilizing a sinusoidal signal at 6.8MHs in 34 patients with early knee OA found 60% reduction in pain in the first 5 days. These findings continued for 42 days during use of the device compared to no significant change in the sham (nonactive device) group (Nelson et al,. 2013).
• Other studies for diabetic peripheral neuropathy have shown equivocal results. Two randomized controlled studies did not find significant improvements of pain with PEMF therapy (Wrobel et al., 2008; Weintraub et al., 2009), while 2 studies did find significant improvement in pain in the PEMF group Cieslar et al., 1995; Graak et al., 2009).

As demonstrated by this brief review, all of the studies discussed employed different frequencies, waveforms and strength, which is not helpful in making a uniform recommendation for patients but is helpful to consider as a nondrug option for pain relief and healing as some patients report significant improvements.

References:

Cieslar G, Sieron A, Radelli J. (1995) The estimation of therapeutic effect of variable magnetic fields in patients with diabetic neuropathy including vibratory sensibility. Balneol Pol 37(1): 23–27.

Foley-Nolan D, Moore K, Codd M et al. (1992) Low energy high frequency pulsed electromagnetic therapy for acute whiplash injuries. A double blind randomized controlled study. Scand J Rehabil Med 24(1): 51–59.

Graak V, Chaudhary S, Bal BS et al. (April 2009) Evaluation of the efficacy of pulsed electromagnetic field in the management of patients with diabetic polyneuropathy. Int J Diabetes Dev Ctries 29(2): 56–61.

Jerabek J, Pawluck W. Magnetic Therapy in Eastern Europe: A Review of 30 years of Research. Chicago, IL: Advanced Magnetic Research of the Delaware Valley, 1996.

Markov, M ed. (2015) Electromagnetic field in Biology and Medicine. CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group Boca Rotan, Fl.

Markov MS, Pilla AA. (1995) Electromagnetic field stimulation of soft tissue: Pulsed radiofrequency treatment of post-operative pain and edema. Wounds 7(4): 143–151.

Mitbreit IM, Savchenko AG, Volkova LP et al. (1986) Low-frequency magnetic field in the complex treatment of patients with lumbar osteochondrosis. Ortop Travmatol Protez (10): 24–27.

Nelson FR, Zvirbulis R, Pilla AA. (August 2013) Non-invasive electromagnetic field therapy produces rapid and substantial pain reduction in early knee osteoarthritis: A randomized double-blind pilot study. Rheumatol Int 33(8): 2169–2173.

Pilla A.  (2015) “Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields: From Signalling to Healing” in Electromagnetic field in Biology and Medicine. Markov, M ed. CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group Boca Rotan, Fl.

Thamsborg G, Florescu A, Oturai P et al. (July 2005) Treatment of knee osteoarthritis with pulsed elec- tromagnetic fields: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Osteoarthr Cartil 13(7): 575–581.

Weintraub MI, Herrmann DN, Smith AG et al. (July 2009) Pulsed electromagnetic fields to reduce diabetic neuropathic pain and stimulate neuronal repair: A randomized controlled trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 90(7): 1102–1109.

Wróbel MP, Szymborska-Kajanek A, Wystrychowski G et al. (September 2008) Impact of low frequency pulsed magnetic fields on pain intensity, quality of life and sleep disturbances in patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy. Diabetes Metab 34(4 Pt 1): 349–354.