Sponsored by Pulsed Energy Technologies LLC
As a chiropractor you are always trying to implement the power of science in your practice.
By doing so you are not only increase patient outcomes but building trust in your practice. Including PEMF therapy is a good way to help treat your patients while incorporating a science based modality.
The history of PEMF
Regeneration Devices Ltd. shares that PEMF as a means for improved health began in the late 1800s when the great innovator Nikola Tesla discovered that it was harmless to pass electrical current through the human body—thus the reason magnetic field strength is measured in Tesla (T). Tesla also found that this was completely possible without making contact.
These early devices were much more rudimentary than those available today, with one PEMF blog reporting that they “were often large round solenoid coils of wire that would surround the patient while they would stand or lie on a bed.” While the pain relief was pretty instantaneous, medical practitioners at the time preferred surgery and drugs, choosing those options instead.
This didn’t stop other innovators such as George Lakhovsky, Antoine Priore, Robert Becker, and Abraham Liboff, all of whom conducted further research on the PEMF therapy process in subsequent years, thus realizing more of this therapeutic remedy’s potential to provide patients with a variety of benefits.
The most obvious benefit is that this process is that the user “feels’ the Pulse, as well as its noninvasive, which means no surgery, and it also doesn’t involve taking drugs which often have unintended negative consequences. But it also effectively helps individuals overcome their pain, and research confirms it.
Finding relief
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) reports that pain relievers such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine are being prescribed at a rate “which is more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills.” The problem with being able to obtain these types of medication with such relative ease, says the ASAM, is that it contributes to increased rates of addiction and overdose deaths.
This is just one reason why many people are looking for more natural ways to help them deal with the discomfort they feel due to an injury or as a result of a pain-related health condition. One such treatment option that IS NOT new, but most people haven’t heard of, is PEMF or Pulsed Electro Magnetic Field Therapy.
What is PEMF?
PEMF is used to positively impact energy within damaged or injured cell. It does this by directing repeating electromagnetic pulses toward the affected cells, stimulating a healthier response.
The way PEMF works is simple. A device which emits these electromagnetic pulses through a coil applicator. This applicator is placed on or near the area which is injured or somehow damaged. Energy is then induced from the device to the impacted cells, thus providing the patient with a number of different benefits.
PEMF and pain relief
For example, one study published in Pain Research and Management involved 32 male and female patients at St. Joseph’s Health Care Centre in London, Ontario who were experiencing chronic musculoskeletal pain, approximately one-half of which had the pain afflicting condition fibromyalgia. These subjects were then split into two groups: one group which would receive PEMF and one which would receive a sham treatment.
After seven days, each person was assessed in regard to his or her pain. Individuals who received PEMF therapy lowered their pain scores by an average of two points whereas those who were engaged in sham treatments only showed a 0.4-point decline.
Participants with fibromyalgia had the most sizeable pain response, lowering their scores by 2.8, “which approached statistical significance” according to the researchers.
PEMF provides additional benefits to the bone
Although PEMF is shown to be effective when it comes to reducing pain, it has other benefits as well. A notable one is an improved healing response by the bone.
For instance, a 2012 study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research involved 44 patients with fractured tibias that were either taking longer than normal to heal or not healing at all. After undergoing PEMF therapy, 77.3 percent of the fractures finally healed.
This was regardless of the age of the fracture, fracture type, and whether the individual had other issues that could possibly complicate the healing process, such as whether they smoked or had diabetes. Based on these results, researchers concluded that “PEMF stimulation is an effective non-invasive method for addressing non-infected tibial union abnormalities.”
Additionally, in 2015, researchers from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Physical Therapy from Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongquing Medical University in China discovered that 12 weeks of PEMF therapy provided another advantage. It prevented bone loss and improved lipid metabolism disorders.
While this particular study was conducted on rats, it’s promising that the same positive results could potentially be found in humans as well. So promising in fact, that the Engineering Directorate at Johnson Space Center has made the study of PEMF a priority for helping astronauts reduce bone loss and muscle atrophy, as well as supplementing the body’s natural healing processes while engaged in space exploration.
Incorporating PEMF in your practice
Incorporating PEMF therapy in your practice is a great way to offer patients another treatment modality that is relatively low in cost, yet still very effective. Plus, in true chiropractic tradition, it’s 100 percent all natural as it essentially works with the body to help it heal itself.
What is even better are the amount of patients the technology can treat. As it is only contraindicated for pacemakers (and other electronic implants), pregnancy and under the age of 18 (without written consent), the sheer volume of potential patients that are eligible for treatment make this a valued treatment option that more and more practitioners are investigating.
Getting patients on board
For patients interested in trying PEMF, one common question is how it will make them feel.
Professional athlete Igor Olshansky, former defensive end for the San Diego Chargers, shares how he used PEMF after training or practice and that it made him “feel better, more energized.”
Users of PEMF can actually feel the magnetic wave of energy entering their body; it seeks out or finds areas of the body with previous injury or issue and the user can feel this entire process.
Olshansky also explains how PEMF helped alleviate his aches and pains, enabling him to practice proper technique so as not to compromise himself and increase his risk of injury, providing just one more benefit of engaging in PEMF therapy.
What’s old is new
While you may have not thought a technology from the 1800s could find its way into your practice, PEMF is a great way to benefit your practice. This type of therapy helps to increase patient outcomes by providing pain relief and healing injuries while being relatively low cost to you. Including PEMF therapy in your practice boosts your bottom line while effectively treating your patients.
About Pulsed Energy Technologies LLC
The mission of Pulsed Energy Technologies, LLC is to manufacture and distribute the highest quality products possible. We pledge to provide our customers the upmost commitment in creating a quality product, maintaining top level customer service, satisfaction and results. Our family of employees believe that the technology we produce, positively impacts many across the world. Our Pulsed Energy Technologies team is committed to leading the way within the worldwide pain management category, by developing PEMF (Pulsed Electro Magnetic Field) Therapy products that use non invasive, drug free methods of creating muscle stimulation, mild therapeutic heat, and long term pain relief, that helps users return to a normal, active lifestyle.