Healing With PEMF Therapy

When Walt Whitman wrote about 'the body electric', it wasn't just a poetic figure of speech. Our bodies are electric, with each cell carrying both positive and negative charges. Over time, those charges can wane due to aging or injury and when that happens it causes inflammation, pain, and a host of other health issues.

Enter Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy, also known as PEMF. This treatment uses low frequency electromagnetic waves to restore cells, boosting their charge like you would a battery. Non-invasive, gentle and generally well-tolerated, PEMF has helped people find relief from joint pain, broken bones, and depression. 

Magnetic Medicine

One of the earliest uses of PEMF was in veterinary medicine—saving the lives of thousands of injured racehorses. A career spent running the turf is tough on the legs, and racehorses are notorious for developing injuries ranging from tendonitis to broken bones. In many cases, the damage is severe, and the horse is euthanized. 

Happily, PEMF provided another option by helping fractures heal, reducing inflammation, and easing pain. It's also been used to successfully treat back pain in horses.

With PEMF showing great results with horses and other animals, the therapy made the leap from veterinary medicine to human. First approved by the FDA in the 1970s to treat fractures, it's now widely used to help people overcome a range of health problems.

Pain-Relief and Healing

Got muscular or skeletal pain? Get PEMF. Study after study has shown this type of treatment is extremely effective for all kinds of joint-related pain, whether back ache, pain after surgery, or chronic arthritic pain.

PEMF eases pain and promotes healing through two main mechanisms—reducing inflammation, which improves tissues regeneration, and improving circulation. It basically gives your cells a gentle jolt to encourage them to communicate better and repair damage, which makes it especially effective for treating wounds.

PEMF for Better Mental Health

Interestingly, PEMF appears to work just as well on the brain as the skeletal system.

Studies show that stimulating brain wave activity with PEMF can alleviate anxiety, panic disorders and PTSD. It's also been hailed as a potential treatment for depression.

Much as PEMF increases circulation to the joints, it also promotes blood flow and tissue regeneration in the brain—pointing to its use as a possible treatment for head injuries and cognitive diseases such as dementia and Alzheimers.

Given the strong link between sleep and mental health, it's also encouraging that PEMF is proven to reduce insomnia. In one study, 70 per cent of the trial participants given magnetic-field therapy for their sleep disorders reported getting better rest after treatment.

What Does PEMF Therapy Entail?

PEMF devices have flooded the medicine market in recent years as the therapy becomes more popular. You can now try a PEMF mat, a PEMF handheld device, wearable PEMF cuffs, even PEMF pillows.

Chandelle MacMillan offers PEMF services at her Honu Health and Wellness practice, using the NES MiHealth portable PEMF device which can be applied to whichever part of the body needs healing. She explains—

“The NES MiHealth is a powerful hand-held biofeedback device that is non-invasive and effective for reducing stress, and re-educating energy flow and muscles. It's very relaxing and similar in feel to acupuncture. It is in essence electro-acupuncture sans needles. It tends to relax people quickly and brings stress down as well. If it's being used on the body for an injury it can feel a bit like pins and needles to stimulate blood flow.”

MacMillan uses PEMF primarily to relax and de-stress her clients, often in combination with acupuncture.

“I use it to optimize the flow of the acupuncture points. I work with the whole person and we find that if there is stress in the acupuncture meridians, that usually correlates to stress throughout the body. This can be experienced either physically, mentally, or emotionally. Most people respond quite well and can see results quickly.”

When it comes to choosing the right PEMF device for you, Chandelle says give it some thought and then don't be afraid to give it a trial run, adding—“Try whatever you are most drawn to. Thoroughly research the different types of PEMF used by different practitioners, and their approach to wellness, and just try. See what works for your particular situation, that is all you can do.”

PEMF is not advised for anyone with implants, pace makers or similar medical devices. If you're unsure, check with a naturopath before adding PEMF to your health regime.

There are a number of PEMF practitioners in the Which Doctor network, offering various forms of the treatment. Browse our services to book a consultation and find what works for you.

Catherine Morris

Writer

Catherine Morris is an award-winning journalist with a bad case of wanderlust and a passion for all things health and wellness. Originally from Northern Ireland, she worked as a news and feature writer for media outlets in the UK, South Africa, France and the Caribbean before settling in Canada. Catherine now lives in Alberta with her husband and rescue mutt and spends her time happily exploring the great outdoors with both.