The History of PEMF: Thousands
of Years in the Making
Pulsed electromagnetic field – PEMF therapy – is not as well-known as other alternative modalities such as chiropractic, massage, and physical therapy. Therefore, many people assume that it’s a relatively new remedy, leaving it wide open for speculation about the potential benefits it can provide. However, the practice of using magnetism to improve well being has actually been around for quite a long time.
Thousands of years to be exact.
The use of magnetic therapy can actually be found as early as 2000 B.C., when the Chinese book, The Yellow Emperor’s Book of Internal Medicine, noted that “magnetic stones” were used for various health issues.
Centuries later, during the Middle Ages, use of these types of stones was again recorded, this time referring to them as “lodestones” which were placed upon the patient’s body in an effort to achieve greater health. Then, in the late 1800s, science increased our understanding of electrons and electromagnetism, prompting healthcare professionals to consider using magnetism and electricity for a number of different ailments, ranging from an inability to sleep to physical convulsions.
In fact, magnetic therapy was deemed so powerful, and became so popular, that magnet-based products such as boots, girdles, and caps were sold through the mail. Thomas F. Valone’s 2003 presentation to the Whole Person Healing Conference & Tesla Energy Science Conference shed some light on PEMF’s early beginnings even more. At the conference, Valone spoke about how it was Nikola Tesla who would majorly impact PEMF’s use. Forever.
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Nikola Tesla and PEMF
It was two years short of the 20th century when Tesla's ideas were published in "The Electrical Engineer", and he read them aloud to the members of the American Electro-therapeutic Association in Buffalo, NY.
Tesla made this assertion after having used coils as big as three-foot in diameter to help ailments without making any type of physical contact with their bodies. And it is because of this breakthrough device and its related findings that magnetic field strength today is measured in Tesla (T). While this was all new and extremely hopeful information, especially for that period of time, it wouldn’t be until more than two decades later that PEMF as we know it today would begin to really take form.
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The Electrical Engineer. Vol. XXVI. November 17, 1898 No. 550.
“One of the early observed and remarkable features of the high frequency currents, and one which was chiefly of interest to the physician, was their apparent harmlessness which made it possible to pass relatively great amounts of electrical energy through the body of a person without causing pain or serious discomfort.”
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Generations of Research
It was 1922 when Alexander Gurvich, a Russian doctor, and his wife discovered that our body’s cells can communicate certain bits of information with each other—even if they are physically separated by a plate of quartz glass.
Three years later, this concept was taken one step further when Georges Lakhovsky shared his ideology and theories that the reinforcement of cell oscillation with radio waves increased their ability to fight off damage or disease. It did this by making them stronger and more resilient, Lakhovsky ascertained. Over the course of the next several decades, many researchers including Royal Raymond Rife, Antoine Priore, Robert Becker, and Abraham Liboff, would each identify and research various pieces of information which, together helped create PEMF as we know it today.
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PEMF Today
Although electromagnetic therapy techniques essentially started with Tesla’s three-foot coils, engaging in PEMF therapy today is simpler on the patient and doctor alike. Nevertheless, PEMF devices are available in all shapes and sizes, even offering options for home use for patients who want to continue their sessions between office visits . However, if it weren’t for the ideas, curiosities, and ahead-of-their time findings of individuals such as Tesla, Gurvich, and Lakhovsky, PEMF therapy would not be where it is today.
Todays modern machines bring quality of life to home users, and increased patient satisfaction at doctors offices around the world. Our clinical machines can provide session times as short as 15 minutes, making them ideal for use in an office or even home setting. We are proud to manufacture the PER 2000 in Los Angeles, CA., and to maintain the quality of our products by upholding to ISO:13485 standards and IES Compliance during that process.
What Conditions Can PEMF Help With?
Some devices offer relief limited in nature. Take dental braces, for instance. These are devices designed for one reason and one reason only: to align and straighten your teeth, thereby improving the health of your mouth. To apply them anywhere else on your body would serve no beneficial purpose whatsoever. The same is true with foot orthotics. They were created to correct foot and leg defects due to trauma or disease, or any type of issue that occurs as a result of bio-mechanical inadequacies. However, if you wear them on your hands, this would do you absolutely no good. But this is where a PEMF device is different; PEMF therapy is one of the few modalities that offer many different health-related benefits — from head to toe.
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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.
Fortunately, PEMF can often help with issues in this area of the body . One study in "Rheumatology International" found that subjects with cervical osteoarthritis had pain levels which “decreased significantly” after PEMF.
Study participants also reported improvements in disability and range of motion, especially when compared to a control group who received sham PEMF sessions.
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Back
PEMF also helps numerous back-related issues, even if they occur post-surgery. In fact, one study in "Current Orthopedic Practice" found that PEMF prompted increased bone formation for 85 percent of the participants, all of whom endured failed posterior lumbar inter body fusion.
Seventy-seven percent achieved body-to-body fusion after being helped 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 session of choice.
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Joints
When it comes to joints, arthritis is often one of the biggest concerns. PEMF helps not only with arthritic symptoms, but can assist in reversing the cause. 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 chondro-protection, exerts anti-inflammatory action, and helps in [healthy] bone remodeling.”
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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 sessions, participants who struggled with fibromyalgia responded positively to the pulsed electromagnetic therapy, reporting less pain after sessions.
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.”
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.
Is PEMF safe?
When it comes to choosing an option, one of the first questions most patients ask is: “Is it safe?” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Patient safety is a serious global public health issue.” They back this statement by reporting that even hospitalized patients are at risk, with one out of every ten harmed while in what is supposed to be one of the safest medical environments. Safety is also a major concern and consideration for patients who are interested in PEMF therapy.
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A Safe Option
For instance, in the May-June 2008 issue of The Spine Journal, a clinical study was published involving 323 patients with a compressed cervical nerve root and symptomatic radiculopathy, leading into anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
Post-surgery, approximately half of the participants engaged in PEMF therapy while the other half served as a control. After evaluating the patients’ statuses at one, two, three, six, and twelve month intervals, the researchers concluded that, “There were no differences in the incidence of adverse events in the two groups, indicating that the use of PEMF stimulation is safe in this clinical setting.” It’s important to note that, although PEMF was deemed safe in this study, there was still one major difference between the group who participated in this therapy and the group that did not.
The difference was seen in the positive effects that PEMF offered.
Notably, the researchers found that the PEMF group had an 83.6 percent fusion rate at six months’ post-op compared to the control group’s 68.6 percent. Additionally, fusion rates for the PEMF group were still higher at the 12-month point, with a 92.8 percent success rate for their group versus only 86.7 percent for the control.
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Safety Matters
Another study, in "Bio-electromagnetics", looked at 11 different trials involving PEMF to determine its level of therapeutic effect as well as whether or not it was safe. Some of these studies involved PEMF’s effects on osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, or pain perception,while the rest focused on how PEMF impacted skin ulcers, fatigue related to multiple sclerosis, heart rate variability, and overall well-being.
While the researchers ultimately recommended that more research be conducted on this particular method to be able to clearly say that it is effective for a variety of different health conditions, they also noted that “Acute adverse effects have not been reported.” This was after reviewing 11 PEMF studies in total, each of which had anywhere from 12 to 71 participants.
The list could go on and on as there are several more studies that have focused on the same thing, too many to mention to be honest. However, there is one common theme among all of them and that is that PEMF is a safe option. That makes this one concern that can be crossed off your patient’s list.
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Contraindications
There are very few contraindications to PEMF. They include any persons who have a pacemaker, or an electrical implant that operates off of a battery. It is also recommended to refrain from PEMF during pregnancy.