Welcome to our homepage for PEMF therapy, here we will show what we learned from our macro-analysis of 335 PEMF therapy studies and how they help answer the following quick linked topics.
Quick links,
The process,
Disclaimer: the copyright of all referenced PEMF studies belong to the respective authors & their associates. Health Mat Review has assimilated a large number of these studies for a macro-analysis of their PEMF properties to give ourselves & our readers greater perspective of the current PEMF therapy knowledge base.
Table Of Contents
click any of the following topics to jump to that section on the page
What is the Best PEMF Therapy?
Earlier on, a few years ago I wrote a page specifically on this topic, What is the Best PEMF Therapy, and it is still relevant today.
On that page I took into consideration 56 of the most relevant PEMF research studies I could find, and set about to see what they showed was the most effective PEMF signal, or PEMF configuration.
The main takeaway from the investigation was that,
Almost every form of PEMF therapy, regardless of waveform, frequency and intensity was effective.
Meaning that,
There is no one best PEMF signal configuration.
Now having our much larger PEMF study database, we made the same investigation, and the results, perhaps unsurprisingly, remained the same.
On the following chart, we show the positive result studies indicated by green dots, and located via their intensity level along the left hand axis, and their frequency level along the bottom axis.
What we are seeing here are the PEMF intensity and frequency settings used in studies which provided positive results, all laid out next to each other in a graphical fashion.
Is there any pattern that we can see?
You’ll probably notice what appears like a line of dots around particular frequencies vertically or particular intensities horizontally.
This pattern however, is not only because there were many positive results coincidentally right at those numbers, but also because some studies evaluated more than one PEMF configuration but centered them around one frequency or intensity setting, resulting in the lines like we see on the chart.
The only other pattern we can see is a seemingly random distribution of where the research is finding positive results from PEMF.
Now considering the following chart, which indicates negative result studies with black dots, also located by their intensity on the vertical axis and frequency on the horizontal axis, are there any patterns to see?
We only notice the two same things as on the positive results chart, there are some line type patterns for the same reason as with the positive result studies, but otherwise a seemingly random distribution of intensity and frequency configurations.
This leads us again toward our earlier main takeaway from the investigation of the 56 PEMF studies I made years ago,
There is no one best PEMF signal configuration.
Also important to note, but not critical for the interpretation of the above two charts, is that studies which used extreme outlier values for frequency and intensity were excluded (just on these two charts) so that a log scale chart wasn’t required and we would be able to read the Gauss and Hertz values directly.
A log scale chart is needed when there is a huge range of difference between the lowest and highest numbers, in our case for intensity and frequency.
We made a log chart like this also, which includes all the extreme outlier values from the PEMF studies and you’ll notice that the vertical and horizontal axis are still in Gauss and Hz, but are now in a logarithmic scale.
I explain this chart in further detail on our PEMF mats page in the PEMF Flexibility section if you’re curious to read more, but see the chart here below.
The takeaways from this chart remain the same as with the non-logarithmic charts above.
There are no real patterns to be found except for the artificial ones created by studies centering their research around just one particular frequency or intensity and otherwise the distribution of results only appears as random.
So therefore, when it comes back to the question, what really is the most effective PEMF therapy?
We can say,
There is no one best PEMF therapy signal configuration.
And our takeaway therefore remains again unchanged from all those years ago,
The best PEMF device is the one that suits your needs and budget the best.
My suggestion if you’re looking for one, is that the best PEMF device for home is the Healthy Wave Multi-Wave PEMF Mat.
This is because it offers,
- Wide range of flexible settings within the effective PEMF frequency & intensity range bands
- 2 effective PEMF waveforms, the sine and square wave
- Operates fully within the safe range of the ICNIRP electromagnetic field safety chart & FDA registered
- 90 day full money back guarantee
See our review or the product page using the buttons below.
Benefits of PEMF therapy, What is it Good for?
PEMF Therapy is good for improving cellular functions, and as we have seen from our pool of studies PEMF can have benefits for:
In the 335 research papers many topics were studied with the majority finding positive results; meaning that this list of the benefits of PEMF isn’t quite comprehensive.
As stated earlier, positive results in the research studies don’t mean PEMF therapy can cure an ailment or disease, they simply show that PEMF can help the cells of the body to function more optimally in their normal cellular functions.
This is why the list of the benefits of PEMF is actually so long, because it’s the cells of the body which are causing the benefits, and the PEMF that is helping them to optimize their functions.
What topics did the 335 PEMF Studies investigate?
The PEMF studies in our database investigated all the topics noted on the PEMF Tags chart below.
The bullet list in the above section of potential benefits of PEMF is from the tags in this chart, which shows how many studies investigated a particular topic.
We can use this list of tags as an approximation list of the benefits of PEMF because as you saw in the Does PEMF Therapy Really Work section, over 80% of the studies discovered a positive benefit in the application of PEMF.
Research studies like the ones in our PEMF database can be incredibly specific about what they are investigating, therefore the list of tags in the above chart are general topic tags we added as an extra classification system.
This extra topical tag classification system provided us the PEMF Tag chart above, and allows better search function for our PEMF Study Explorer.
PEMF for Humans
PEMF therapy has been widely studied on humans as well as on animals, according to the studies from our database.
Not all studies will have been performed on actual people, but many on human cell cultures as well as animal cell cultures.
The chart below demonstrates the distribution of human category and animal category studies as well as 1 plant study which was included.
From the 335 studies of the database, and as seen in the chart above the breakdown was as follows, 234 studied humans or human cells, 100 studied animals or animal cells, and 1 studied effects of PEMF on a plant.
To view these studies visit our PEMF Study Explorer page.
Simply select the study Subject as “human” as indicated in the screenshot above and the search will filter to only these studies for you.
You can then layer on top of the filtered “human” PEMF studies search filters for the study category, waveform, and even frequency and intensity ranges.
Who can benefit from PEMF Therapy?
Everyone can benefit from PEMF because actually all it’s doing is optimizing your own cellular functions so it isn’t like it will “work” for some, and not for others.
Some people however might “feel” the PEMF more because there are those who are more electro-magnetically sensitive than others and they may even feel they need to use a PEMF device on a lower intensity setting.
This is one reason to test out a PEMF device before you buy, or, to buy one with multiple and lower levels of intensity so you can find one that suits you best.
Personally I’ve had PEMF help me with things like muscle recovery from sports, pain relief (specifically back pain for me), reducing inflammation (which goes hand in hand with pain relief), and using before bed for better sleep. (at home I use the Healthy Wave Pro PEMF Full Size Mat).
Despite all the positive results in PEMF research, none of them showed that PEMF was a cure for any disease, just that it helps the cells to function more optimally.
More about the 335 PEMF Therapy Studies in the Database
The objective of creating the PEMF study database was to gather as much information as we could about the current state of the research on PEMF instead of listening to any one “authority” on the topic.
There are only so many aspects of a PEMF study which can be included in a macro-style analysis, (like frequency, intensity, waveform), so in choosing studies to include in the database this was a main screening factor.
One more such aspect was the publishing year for each study which we have in the database.
It’s interesting to see that the number of PEMF studies done each year seems to follow a clear trend upwards, until the year 2020.
Hopefully the future will bring further clarity to the application of PEMF as a therapy with further research being conducted.
What information did these studies give us?
In addition to the publication year, the aspects we recorded of the PEMF studies in the database for the macro-analysis were waveform, frequency, intensity, keywords & a positive or negative result indicated.
Of the 335 studies, 77 defined the tested waveform, and the chart below will show how many included only the frequency, only the intensity, or both frequency and intensity in their write up.
Of the studies which may not have included these specifics of the PEMF they tested in their write ups, when relevant we still included as they may hold interest for those searching for PEMF studies on a particular keyword or category topic.
If you are interested in filtering or looking at the studies in the database via a particular keyword or category I will show you how in this next section.
PEMF Studies Search Explorer
Here I have made a screen shot of the search box on our PEMF Study Explorer page.
As you can see, provided is a number of dropdowns which you may use to specify what sorts of studies to show in the list below.
You could also use the simple check boxes to show only high or low frequency or intensity studies, instead of using the more specific frequency or intensity range finder drop down boxes.
Also provided is a simple text search for any type of keyword you may wish to enter, this will search through study title as well as study summary.
Where to Get PEMF Therapy
Now for perhaps a question some may be pondering, interested in PEMF therapy but not really sure where to go and get it or where to buy a device from.
Here we will show you PEMF therapy options for home including my top recommended PEMF product and our PEMF mats comparison page.
Or if you’re interested in finding a location to try out PEMF therapy for a service fee, we’ll show you our PEMF therapy directory we built to help people for this exact reason.
PEMF for Home
When it comes to PEMF therapy to use at home, I do have a favorite PEMF mat I recommend, this is the Healthy Wave Multi-Wave PEMF Mat.
Our #1 Recommended PEMF Product
I have a list of specific PEMF mat evaluation criteria which I review in detail on our Healthy Wave Multi-Wave Review page, but in short it is as follows for the Multi-Wave mat:
- PEMF Safety
- FDA registered
- Operates fully within the safe range of the ICNIRP chart
- Does not provide any PEMF settings which fall outside of the safe range
- Demonstrated in PEMF Research Studies
- Provides PEMF settings which allow for the effective replication of many PEMF signals used in positive result PEMF research
- These settings even allow almost exact replication of the PEMF used in the infamous Nasa Study
- PEMF Flexibility & Custom Settings
- 30 frequency settings all within the low frequency range band where we saw positive results in the Results Per Frequency Range section on this page
- 5 intensity settings all within the low intensity range bands where we saw positive results in the Results Per Intensity Range section on this page
- 2 waveforms options, sine and square, the most widely researched as seen in the Waveforms section on this page
- Does it work for you?
- Provides a 90 day full money back guarantee
- This includes for an open box and used (but like new) product, meaning you can actually try out the mat for more than a couple months to see if you like it
- Note the customer does need to pay the return shipping cost on a returned item
- Does the warranty back the product up?
- Includes a 5 year warranty guarantee on the PEMF controller (the most likely component to fail in any PEMF device)
- 2 year plus 3 month warranty on the mat itself plus extended 5 year warranty with 10-30% deductible past initial 2 year + 3 month period
If any of this interests you please read more on our Healthy Wave Multi-Wave review page as I go way into depth on each topic, or check out the product page on Healthy Wave’s website.
PEMF Mats for Home Compared
If you’re interested in seeing a few PEMF products compared against one another, including the Healthy Wave Multi-Wave mat, check out our PEMF Mats Review page.
On this page we look at all of my specific PEMF mat evaluation criteria and how they apply to each PEMF device being compared.
This includes the ICNIRP safety chart we looked at in above sections with the individual product PEMF operating ranges indicated.
PEMF Practitioners – Location Directory
If you’re looking to try out PEMF therapy before making any kind of purchase, you’ll need to find a local practitioner which offers PEMF as one of their on location services.
Try checking out our PEMF Therapy Directory page to see if there are any locations listed near you.
We built this directory with the intention of including locations that offer PEMF as a service as opposed to just allowing a product test before trying to sell you a device.
If you’re just looking for a risk free way to test out PEMF therapy because you aren’t convinced it will work for you, there are some full money back return policy periods to consider. For example the 90 days you have to reconsider with Healthy Wave PEMF mats.
How much does PEMF Therapy Cost?
Usually a PEMF therapy will be in the range of $50 to $100 per session.
It is entirely dependent on the practitioner location what the cost is, however it is something to keep in the back of your mind, with $50 to $100 per visit, PEMF therapy can add up quickly to the point where it may make more sense to purchase a device for everyday home use.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does PEMF Stand For?
The acronym PEMF stands for pulsed electro-magnetic field, or pulsing electro-magnetic field.
What is PEMF Therapy?
PEMF therapy is the application of a therapeutic, low intensity pulsed electro-magnetic field across the body which has been shown to help restore the voltage gradients of the body’s cells and aid them to function optimally.
What is PEMF Mat Therapy?
PEMF mat therapy is the application of a therapeutic, low intensity pulsed electro-magnetic field across the body using a mat which you lay upon. The mat produces the pulsing electro-magnetic field which has been shown to help restore the voltage gradients of the cells in the body and aid them to function optimally.
Does PEMF Therapy really work?
Yes, PEMF therapy works, at least according to the 80% positive results found from the 335 PEMF studies in our database; however, none of these 335 studies found PEMF to cure any disease. PEMF therapy works to help the cells of the body function optimally however it is not a miracle cure for anything in particular.
What does PEMF Therapy do?
PEMF therapy helps restore the voltage gradient of the cells in the human body to a correct polarity via its pulsing electro-magnetic field. The voltage gradient of a cell is important to its own function within the body and to its communication with neighboring cells in the body.
Who should NOT use PEMF therapy?
The main contraindication for the use of PEMF are for people who have pacemakers, insulin pumps or any other type of electronically controlled implant. It is possible that PEMF could interfere with the electronics of such a device. Always consult with your own physician or medical professional if you have any doubts and do not rely on advice from our website or any other website on any issue relating to your health.
What is PEMF therapy good for?
PEMF therapy can be good for: Bone healing, Pain relief, Inflammation, Brittle bones, Back pain, Cartilage growth, Arthritis, Blood flow / heart / cardio, Fractures, Tendons, Wound healing, Nerve damage, Chronic pain, and Skin healing. These topics were all among the categories where the PEMF research in our database found positive results.
How much does PEMF therapy cost?
A session of PEMF therapy at any practitioner location can run anywhere from $50 to $100 per session depending on the location.
How much does a PEMF Machine Cost?
Depending on the type of PEMF machine, smaller PEMF devices and mats can be as little as $350, larger PEMF mats can be had for $1000, still more advanced larger PEMF mats can be up to $2500 and then even up to $5000 or $6000 depending on the brand. Once you get into high intensity PEMF machine territory devices can go for anywhere from $8,000 even up to $25,000 per machine. Low intensity PEMF offers just as many benefits as the dramatically more expensive high intensity PEMF does according to the results we found from the PEMF studies in our database & describe in detail in the Results per Intensity section on this page.
Phew, that was a lot! if you made it this far down the page, then thank you for reading!
It took a lot of time, and thought to put this page together and that was only after we managed to build and classify the whole PEMF research database of 335 studies!
I really do hope its helped you, if it did, please share it with friends or family who would be interested.
Next up for more reading is check out my write up on the PEMF mat I recommend, the Multi-Wave mat for how you can replicate PEMF used in research studies at home:
Healthy Wave now has a high intensity PEMF machine. Have you reviewed it or commented on it’s safety? Thanks
Hi Russell,
I haven’t yet had the chance to do an in depth review on their new high intensity PEMF mat.
First glance though, at 12 gauss as it’s peak intensity it’s no where close to other “high intensity PEMF machines” which some go to 1000 Gauss or even some of the MagnaWave PEMF devices over 8000 Gauss.
Off the bat, the Healthy Wave high intensity PEMF mat is operating in an entirely different realm of intensity compared to things like MagnaWave, Earthpulse, Curatron type high intensity devices, in fact in comparison to those, the 12 Gauss peak on the Healthy Wave is still super low intensity PEMF.
I would almost classify their new high intensity PEMF mat as like, “the strongest of the low intensity PEMF devices”.
If we look at the ICNIRP chart like I have on this page or on my high intensity PEMF page you can see there is a range which is ideal to operate under with intensity vs frequency. With higher intensity, staying in the lower frequency range makes sure we’re within that recommended exposure range per the ICNIRP.
As some other readers have commented before, it is true that magnetic intensity drops off quickly as you move away from the source, what this means is that it would only be right at the surface of the mat that you would see the 12 Gauss peak intensity, the rest of your body would be receiving lower intensity.
Long story short I do need to get in depth on the new mat and test it and check the frequency range with the intensity levels up close, but I can say now just by glancing at that ICNIRP chart that if you were using the lower frequency ranges like up 10Hz then you’re still well within the safe operating range on the ICNIRP with this new higher intensity PEMF mat from Healthy Wave.
Hope that helps in the meantime till I can do something more in depth.
Thanks for leaving the comment!
Greg