Application of PEMF Therapy

Two types of PEMF applications

Non-invasive PEMF therapy is provided via:

(1) Capacitative coupling.   Opposing electrodes are placed in direct contact with the skin on either side of the area of interest.

(2)  Inductive coupling.   A time-varying magnetic field of a PEMF induces an electric field, which produces an electric current in body tissue without direct skin contact. This is the more common application.

Treatment duration times

Longer term exposures to PEMFs are associated with more successful results. (Persinger, 1974)

Treatment times can vary from ~20 mins to up to 10 hours / day.   Depending on condition being treated and parameters being used.

Application methods for PEMF

Full body mat for complete body therapy

A full body mat allows you to relax during therapy.    An encouragement for regular sessions.

Field needs to switch polarity about every 2 minutes.   Prevents the body becoming immune to just one polarity.

Separate coils should be located at head/neck, torso/hips and legs/feet with EM field strengths increasing from the head towards the feet (Lower field strength coils have a lower number of wire turns). The head is sensitive, but the feet are tolerant of higher field strengths, since they are usually closer to the ground where the earth's geomagnetic field is greater. Wire mesh mats, E.g. on Bemer 3000, Medithera and QRS Quantron, boast a more uniform field via a single oval loop on their mats. However, since this yields the same field strength from head to feet, the electromagnetic field strength used is limited to what the head can tolerate.  Mat coils are better when made of tightly wound copper.

Treatment session length.    Treatment times on a PEMF therapy full body mat are typically less than 10 mins twice / day.

Wands, probes or pads

Usually have higher electromagnetic field strengths than a mat.   This allows deeper penetration into body tissues and the ability to focus therapy on specific areas of need.

PEMF devices available

Some PEMF devices available

References

Persinger MA (1974), ELF electric and magnetic field effects: ELF Electric and Magnetic Field Effects: The Patterns and the Problems. p. 275. Link