On this page you’ll find an in depth Comparison Table of the 7 Most Popular PEMF Mats & Devices, our 5 Evaluation Criteria for PEMF Devices reviewed including PEMF Safety, PEMF Research, PEMF Flexibility, Return & Warranty Policies, FAQs and questions other people asked me in the Ask a Question section.
Quick links,
Comparison Table
Healthy Wave Multi-Wave PEMF Mat
Price Range
Therapies Included
Product Options
Return Policy
Warranty
Score
Healthy Wave PRO PEMF Mat
Price Range
Therapies Included
Product Options
Return Policy
Warranty
Score
OMI PEMF Mat
Price Range
Therapies Included
Product Options
Bemer Mat
Important note: Evo line is NOT compatible with Pro/Classic line applicators which are still available (more details on the review page)
Price Range
Therapies Included
Product Options
EarthPulse Pro Basic
Price Range
Therapies Included
Product Options
MagnaWave PEMF Devices
Price Range
Therapies Included
Product Options
Table of Contents
On this page
How We Evaluate & Review PEMF Devices
Our 5 criteria to help you choose the best PEMF device for you.
Is the range of the PEMF intensity & frequency known to be safe? Especially for extended exposures? What do the experts say?
Are there PEMF research studies which show positive health benefits within the operating frequency, intensity and waveform of the PEMF device?
Is the PEMF device flexible with frequency, intensity and waveform allowing people to find their own preferred PEMF settings? No two people are exactly alike, does the device offer that flexibility?
PEMF products are expensive, what kind of return policy is there? Are you out of luck if you don’t find it helps after a month or two? Or are you covered in case it’s not the right fit.
Most PEMF devices are pretty expensive, so does the warranty match up? Especially when it comes to the PEMF device controller, the most likely component to fail.
What is PEMF Therapy & What is a PEMF mat or device?
While the dictionary doesn’t yet have a definition, we know that PEMF therapy is the application of a pulsing magnetic field across the body or specific area of the body being treated.
Sparing the jargon, in essence the idea is that the pulsing magnetic field in a way charges the cells of your body and aligns polarity across the cell membranes facilitating better function.
PEMF devices come in all shapes and sizes, some with smaller applicators designed to treat one area, some, like a PEMF mat, designed to provide full body PEMF therapy coverage.
How do we classify different PEMF therapies, mats, and devices?
While there is no official classification system, we do know that PEMF, a pulsing electromagnetic field, is defined primarily by 3 factors: frequency, intensity and waveform shape.
Every PEMF therapy from every device will have these 3 attributes, because this is how we quantify and describe a pulsing magnetic field.
We can therefore classify the PEMF therapy of a PEMF device or mat as, for example, low frequency or high frequency, low intensity or high intensity, or by what waveform it uses.
Using terms like high or low for frequency and intensity is arbitrary, but we tend to consider from 0 up to 50 Hz as low frequency and from 0 to 10 Gauss as low intensity; anything higher leaning towards the high frequency, high intensity range.
PEMF waveforms can come in any shape but what we do know from recording the waveform types of the 335 PEMF research studies we reviewed is that the most common tested waveform is the sine wave with the square wave in close second.
Who can benefit from a PEMF mat?
This is the question most of us are asking, myself included, does PEMF therapy really work and is a PEMF mat going to help me?
Finding only unsatisfying answers to this question online, let’s again refer to our own review of the PEMF literature to find some answers.
From the 335 PEMF studies we compiled into our database and reviewed there were quite a number of topics covered, primarily using human cell cultures, but also animal tests.
From these some of the most commonly researched topics were: bone healing, pain relief, cancer, brittle bones, inflammation, back pain, cartilage growth, arthritis, and cardio/blood flow.
Across the board most studies actually found positive results regardless of the topic, in the 80% plus positive findings range.
Keep in mind however, that these positive findings don’t mean that PEMF therapy can cure pain or cancer or any other ailment; all a positive finding from a PEMF study means is that they did find an improvement over the baseline without PEMF therapy.
What we’ve learned is that although PEMF isn’t a cure all it certainly has been demonstrated to add benefit across a wide range of pain and other health issues.
Check out our in depth page on PEMF mat benefits where I discuss the 5 most often felt benefits, my own PEMF mat experience and summarize the PEMF benefits we saw in our research database.
My PEMF Evaluation Review Criteria
As I showed above, there are 5 main criteria I use to evaluate PEMF devices which I developed over the years of building this website and compiling a PEMF research database for our readers.
These criteria are as follows, and now lets go into the details of each.
- PEMF Safety
- PEMF Research
- PEMF Flexibility
- Return Policies
- Warranty Policies
PEMF Safety
FDA Registration and Guidelines for Electro-magnetic Field Exposure
When it comes to safety of using a PEMF mat or device there are 2 things to consider,
- FDA Registration
- ICNIRP Guidelines for Electro-Magnetic Field Exposure
FDA registration means that a device was registered with the FDA, and they have found it to be similar enough to an existing product that they can verify it is safe.
Registration isn’t the same as “FDA Approval”, which is for example what new pharmaceutical drugs undergo, but still means the FDA considers the product as safe for use.
In our modern world everyone is surrounded by electronics of some kind, and they all give off an electromagnetic field, also known as EMF.
Because of this the ICNIRP, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, was founded in 1992 for the purpose of finding consensus on safe levels of electromagnetic field exposure.
Non-ionizing refers to electromagnetic radiation/fields with frequencies too low to ionize atoms or molecules, meaning too low to heat up body tissue, and PEMF falls into this category.
On the ICNIRP website, if you dig through their literature you’ll find a chart depicting intensity and frequency and what range is safe for public and occupational exposure.
We can actually draw on this chart the operating ranges of different PEMF devices to be able to visualize their operating ranges; this is what I’ve done for you in the following images for each device.
Healthy Wave Multi-Wave PEMF Mat Safety
- FDA Registered
In the chart from the ICNIRP above, it can be seen that magnetic intensity (PEMF intensity) is on the left hand vertical axis, and the horizontal axis is magnetic field frequency (PEMF frequency).
This chart shows the intensity in Tesla, but more commonly used when speaking of PEMF is Gauss, there’s no difference it’s just like kilometers to miles and I show the conversion on the chart for you.
The green and red line, I’ve added these colors as an overlay, however according to the ICNIRP recommendations, anything under these lines is what is considered safe for general public exposure, and anything above is “not” considered safe.
It can be seen that the Healthy Wave Multi-Wave Mat allows 30 different frequencies adjusted from 1 up to 30 Hz, and 10 intensity levels from very low intensity (0.3 Gauss), up to a maximum of 3 Gauss.
The Multi-Wave Mat was probably designed with the ICNIRP standards for electromagnetic field safety in mind because as a single device it encompasses a wide range of PEMF frequency and intensity options while as you can see, keeping the entire range within the safe area.
This is one aspect I particularly like about the Multi-Wave (and all Healthy Wave PEMF mats including the Pro mat), that no matter what PEMF setting you select of the many options, it’s always operating within the safe range.
Healthy Wave 5 Therapy PRO PEMF Mat Safety
- FDA Registered
Here I’m showing you the operating range for the PEMF of the Healthy Wave 5 Therapy PRO PEMF mat.
You can see that it spans from left to right, from 1 Hz up to 30 Hz maximum frequency via 30 frequency settings, and maintains a constant 3 Gauss intensity across this range.
Like the Healthy Wave Multi-Wave PEMF mat, the 5 Therapy PRO mat maintains its PEMF operating range within the ICNIRP guidelines for safe electromagnetic field exposure at all times.
The difference here is that the 5 Therapy PRO PEMF mat only operates at 3 Gauss intensity, while the Multi-Wave you can adjust from 0.3 Gauss to 3 Gauss via 10 levels of intensity.
Differences that I can’t show on the ICNIRP chart are that the Multi-Wave mat allows you to select to use either a Square Wave or Sine Wave for the PEMF signal, and specify a PEMF pulse drop off rate, while the 5 Therapy mat uses only a Sine Wave, with no adjustable pulse drop off rate.
OMI PEMF Mat Safety
- FDA Registered
On the above chart I’ve indicated the operating range of the OMI PEMF mat and devices.
Like the Healthy Wave 5 Therapy PRO PEMF mat, the OMI mat operates at a single intensity which is 2.2 Gauss. Some of their other devices like the medallion and face pillow operate at 1.9 Gauss instead of 2.2, but in each case the intensity is constant and cannot be adjusted.
There are 2 frequencies I’ve indicated at the top of the chart, 8 Hz, and 99 Hz. The OMI PEMF mat can operate from 1 up to 99 Hz, through 99 frequency settings, while the OMI pad and medallion applicator operate at only a single, non-adjustable frequency of 8 Hz.
Typically frequencies from 1 to 30 Hz are considered the most natural as they are the range of the magnetic field of the Earth, however because of the low intensity of the OMI PEMF devices, the higher frequency operating range of 1 to 99 Hz still stays within the safe area of the ICNIRP chart.
Bemer Mat PEMF Safety
- FDA Registered
As with the Healthy Wave Mats and OMI, one nice thing about the Bemer mat PEMF is that all of it falls within the safe range of the ICNIRP’s chart.
Depending on which package you purchase from Bemer, you may or may not have included with the mat a point applicator (like a small pad).
The point applicator delivers the same PEMF “Bemer” signal (waveform & frequency) as the mat, but the intensity will spike up from 1 to 1.5 Gauss periodically during the session. Contrast this to the Bemer mat applicator which operates through 10 levels of intensity with the lowest setting at 0.035 Gauss, and the highest at 0.35 Gauss as shown on the chart above.
I’ve also indicated on the chart the 2 operating frequencies which the Bemer operates at, 10 Hz, and 33 Hz. The point applicators and the Bemer mat applicator both operate at only these two frequencies. You’ll see I only had to add in the 33 Hz in blue to the chart, because the 10 Hz was already indicated on the chart along the bottom axis (along with 100, 1000, and so on).
Higher Dose PEMF Mat Safety
- No FDA Registration Found
Unlike the other PEMF devices reviewed so far in our safety evaluation, it doesn’t appear that the Higher Dose PEMF mat is registered with the FDA. I wasn’t able to find any mention of this on their website or in the FDA search tool.
Now to examine the Higher Dose PEMF mat’s operation range on the ICNIRP chart as above, you’ll notice another difference to the other PEMF devices. This is that we don’t know the operating intensity of the Higher Dose PEMF.
The only information provided about the Higher Dose mat’s PEMF is that it has 4 operating frequencies, 3 Hz, 7.8 Hz, 10 Hz, and 23 Hz, as I’ve indicated on the chart.
I searched high and low for the intensity information on the Higher Dose website and around the web and couldn’t find any information on it.
If I had to guess, I would say that the intensity won’t be that high because to generate high intensity you need either a beefier controller, or bigger applicator coil, or both, and based on the look of the controller and that the applicator coil has to fit flat within the mat, high intensity is unlikely.
As I mentioned at the top of this page, there are 3 main defining characteristics of PEMF and these are frequency, intensity, and waveform; I would expect any PEMF brand to provide this information.
EarthPulse PEMF Safety
- No FDA Registration Found
The first thing we notice about the EarthPulse operating range is that opposed to the range of the Healthy Wave, OMI & Bemer PEMF mats, it operates at a dramatically higher intensity.
This higher operating intensity puts it into the risk range of the ICNIRP chart as can be seen in the blue rectangle, providing a range from 1 up to 14.4 Hz for frequencies and intensity of 2200 Gauss up to 3000 Gauss depending on the EarthPulse model.
It is worth noting that the intention of the EarthPulse is to place the device under your mattress; as you move further away from a PEMF device applicator the intensity of the PEMF drops off quickly. EarthPulse says that if you’re using the device under your mattress, that the intensity above the mattress will only be between 0.05 Gauss and 14 Gauss. Of course this all depends on mattress thickness, softness, anything that changes distance from the applicator.
It would be difficult to determine exactly what the intensity of the resulting PEMF field would be in any case, considering if you roll over you’ll be closer or further to the applicator again.
Sometimes arguments are made that high intensity PEMF is more effective or better for certain applications, but as I’ll show you in the next section there doesn’t appear to be any substantial evidence that high intensity PEMF offers more benefits than low intensity.
MagnaWave PEMF Safety
- Not FDA Registered as noted on MagnaWave disclaimer webpage
MagnaWave offers a range of PEMF devices which as seen on the ICNIRP chart above all operate within a high intensity range, and above the recommended EMF exposure range from the ICNIRP (mostly in the risk range).
The lowest intensity would be using the lowest intensity setting on the Spiro Pulse model at 125 Gauss, up to the highest intensity they offer at 8300 Gauss from the Julian model.
All of the MagnaWave devices offer variable frequency from 1 Hz to 50 Hz through 50 frequency settings and most have variable intensity settings as well, 5, 10, or 20 intensity level settings, all which operate within the yellow range as I show on the chart.
Unlike the EarthPulse, the MagnaWave is not intended to be used underneath your mattress during sleep, but to be applied either via their mat applicator (sold separately) or, more often, using loop coil applicators directly to the area to be treated. This means that the applied intensity won’t drop off like it does when using the EarthPulse from a distance.
Like mentioned in the EarthPulse section, some brands make an argument that higher intensity is more effective, but from the study of the research we did as I’ll show you in the next section, this doesn’t appear to be the case.
PEMF Research
Intensities & Frequencies Demonstrated in PEMF Studies
Not a lot is known yet about PEMF therapy, it isn’t yet adopted by mainstream medicine and there is really little to no consensus around what is and isn’t safe and or effective.
The best information available is the freely available research studies on the PubMed website; so starting there we took on a database project to compare all the PEMF studies together.
Filtering study by study we found all that we could that provided what intensity and frequency were tested, and this gave us 335 PEMF research studies to compare on these factors.
We then classified the results of each study at each intensity and frequency as either positive, negative, or neutral and the results are as follows.
PEMF Study Results per Intensity Range
The first thing you likely notice on the chart above is the large green bar right across the middle.
The length of the bars refers to the number of PEMF research studies which used an intensity within the PEMF intensity range indicated on the left (in Gauss).
You’ll see along the bottom axis the numbers 25, 50, 75, 100, and 125 indicating the number of research studies falling into the respective intensity ranges as indicated on the vertical axis.
We can see that the results are mostly positive and usually there are a few neutral and a few negative results in each intensity category also.
From this sample of 335 studies and the charted results above, there are two main takeaways.
- One is that, PEMF studies are largely yielding positive results, which is encouraging for anyone looking to use it as a beneficial therapy.
- The second takeaway I see, is that the majority of studies have been performed at lower intensities, which can be observed in that the longest green bars are all in the intensity ranges of 50 Gauss and below, all the way down to 0-1 Gauss range.
I will note again that there is still a lot not known about PEMF, but from what we can observe in the chart above, it doesn’t seem to indicate that high intensity PEMF is more effective than a lower intensity PEMF therapy.
PEMF Study Results per Frequency Range
Like with the intensity chart above, the first thing you likely notice on this frequency chart is the longest green bar right at the top, in the lowest frequency category.
The range with the greatest number of studies, over 200 studies, is in this 0 to 50 Hz PEMF category, with the next largest in the 50 to 100 Hz range.
Above these lower range frequencies we can see that there are far less studies performed; this may speak to a couple factors,
- one being that PEMF research is still in early stages, and
- two, that the researchers may expect to find better results at lower frequencies.
For the sake of context I will note here that some of the studies in the 50,000 Hz plus range may not have been specifically looking at PEMF therapy, but at the EMFs from for example cell phone transmissions or other types of EMF exposure. They fit the requirement of being an electromagnetic field and including intensity and frequency, so I included those studies as they too can help us understand our exposure to PEMF and EMFs.
PEMF Flexibility
Is the PEMF device flexible with custom settings for frequency, intensity & waveform?
Now having looked at the intensity and frequency individually from our PEMF research database, we can try putting both of them on one chart.
In the chart below we’ve put a dot for each PEMF study from our database, green if it was positive, gray if neutral, and black if negative.
The vertical location of a dot is based on how high or low the PEMF intensity of the study was, while the horizontal location of a dot is based on how high or low the PEMF frequency was.
This isn’t quite as easy to do, because as you noticed in the section above, the difference between the lowest frequency and highest, and lowest intensity and highest, is different by a number of order of magnitudes (ie. 10 times, 100 times, 1000 times or more greater). This makes it difficult to fit them all onto one graph.
The way we accommodate this is by using something called a logarithmic scale.
Logarithmic scale means that the graph you see below isn’t linear, each line is 10 times greater than the line next to it as you move from left to right and from bottom to top. If you’re curious Wikipedia has a good explanation of log scale.
Don’t worry if log scale doesn’t quite make sense right now, you can see all the takeaways there are to find still by simply by looking at the chart.
What can we take away from the seemingly random placements of green dots all over a graph where just 2 lines difference means a frequency or intensity difference of 100 times?
It seems to only really indicate one thing,
- PEMF research studies from our database indicate positive results from a very wide range of frequencies and intensities
This seems to be the only clear indication we can see from our results graph above; what it means when it comes to a PEMF mat is that unless you already know the best frequency or intensity for you, then pick a PEMF mat that will provide you a range of frequency and intensity options to try for yourself.
Not to mention that the chart above doesn’t take into account different waveforms used in the studies also, however they were for the majority the most commonly tested, the sine wave.
That’s why PEMF Flexibility and Custom Settings is one of our PEMF mat evaluation criteria, along with checking each device’s PEMF Safety as per the section above.
Return Policies
Does the product work for you?
There’s no worse feeling than making a big purchase and then finding out after a few days that you’re really not as happy with it as you thought you’d be.
That’s why this section is included in my PEMF device evaluation criteria, does the product work for you?
I’ve gathered the return policy details of each PEMF mat & device here and put into a visual chart as well as included further details in the table for you to compare directly to one another.
Return Policy Comparisons
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Warranty Policies
Does the warranty back the product up?
PEMF mats and devices need two components, the applicator like the mat, and the controller which creates the PEMF signal.
The applicator is a simple construction of a metal coil, usually copper, the controller is a complex electronic device which uses transistors and diodes to rapidly turn on and off the PEMF signal.
You’ll notice all PEMF controllers get warm, even hot, during usage because of the on/off switching of transistors.
It’s because of this demanding operation that between a PEMF applicator, and a PEMF controller, the PEMF controller is the component most likely to fail over time in any PEMF set up.
I’ve compiled the details of each brands warranty and put it on an easy to read chart, however many products do include extended warranties with additional limited coverage, see the table below the chart for those details.
Warranty Policy Comparisons
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Where to find PEMF Therapy?
If you’re looking for somewhere local to try out PEMF therapy, try checking our PEMF directory.
We built the directory with the emphasis that the locations included offer PEMF therapy as a service at their location, meaning you can pay for a single session and don’t need to buy a device.
You may find after only a few sessions that you would be better off purchasing your own device however as they can add up quickly, usually in the $50-$100 range per session.
Some PEMF devices come with excellent money back guarantees, which is one way to try PEMF for yourself risk free. Such as the Healthy Wave PEMF mats with 90 days to reconsider (as long as the product is not damaged in any way).
Where to find Bemer Therapy?
While building our PEMF directory, it seemed to make a lot of sense to try and build a directory for Bemer therapy as well.
Normally you may be able to try Bemer therapy with one of their IBMs, independent Bemer distributors, but usually they will want you to purchase a device afterward.
Our Bemer therapy directory is focused on locations like chiropractic, massage, etc. where you may go and pay for a Bemer therapy session without any pressure to buy a device afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a PEMF mat?
A PEMF mat is a PEMF device, they both achieve the same objective of providing pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, PEMF therapy, and the PEMF mat applies the field via a mat you lay upon (as opposed to a device which may use a spot applicator of some type).
What is the best PEMF mat?
Based upon my 5 point PEMF Evaluation Criteria, the Healthy Wave Multi-Wave Mat is the best PEMF mat for the main reasons of PEMF safety, demonstrated in PEMF research, flexibility in PEMF settings and having the best, 90 day, return policy.
What does a PEMF mat do?
A PEMF mat generates PEMF therapy (a pulsing electromagnetic field) via magnetic coils in the mat and a signal from the PEMF controller. The PEMF therapy that the PEMF mat generates is known to be beneficial for many purposes including circulation, energy levels, general wellness, inflammation, pain reduction & more.
How much does a PEMF mat cost?
Depending on the size of the PEMF mat and the brand, PEMF mats can be anywhere from $499 USD up to $6,000 USD. Price isn’t always an indication of quality or performance however, consider, our number one recommended PEMF mat is $2,499 USD and even includes infrared in addition to the best PEMF therapy.
How often can I use my PEMF mat?
Typically the full benefits of PEMF therapy can be realized within 20 minutes on a PEMF mat, however as long as the PEMF frequency and intensity is within the safe range you may use your PEMF mat as many times (or for as long as you like) every day. See our section on PEMF Safety on this page to see what we consider the safe range for intensity and frequency for an extended duration.
What are the benefits of a PEMF mat?
Known benefits of a PEMF mat from the PEMF therapy it applies can include improved circulation, reduced inflammation, pain management, improved cell recovery, improved bone regeneration among others including energy levels and wellness in general. PEMF therapy however is NOT a cure for any disease or ailment and you should be skeptical of anyone saying their PEMF product is a cure all.
How does a PEMF mat work?
A PEMF mat works by generating its PEMF therapy via coils in the mat which receive electric impulses known as the PEMF signal from the mat controller. It’s these electric impulses from the controller which when put through the coils of the mat generate a pulsing electromagnetic field.
Can you sleep on a PEMF mat?
Yes you can sleep on a PEMF mat, however when using PEMF therapy for extended periods of time it’s important to be aware of how high the frequency and intensity of the PEMF is. See our section on PEMF Safety for our thoughts on this.
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 so I really do hope its helped you, if it did, please share it with friends or family who would be interested.
Next stop to learn more head over to the review of our top rated PEMF mat the Healthy Wave Multi-Wave Mat!
Can you legally use HSA funds to purchase one of these PEMF devices? I would think so but have not been able to find an answer. thanks. Matt
Great question Matt.
I know you can use HSA funds for a Healthy Wave Mat purchase, but not for every PEMF mat, typically they need to include infrared heat to be eligible but you would need to check on a brand by brand, device by device basis.
Hope that helps a bit!
Greg
I have one of your mat’s, but wanted to know if you have one specifically for knees?
Hi Lynne,
You might be referring to a Healthy Wave mat, but just to clarify, healthmatreview.com, is a review website only.
That being said I do recommend the Healthy Wave mats, and I indeed own and use one myself.
For the knees, there is one type of battery operated infrared heat only knee wrap, however, what I would recommend is one particular soft, medium size, infrared PEMF mat.
This one is one of my favorites because it’s fully flexible so you can wrap it around a leg, your back while on the couch, or a knee, and because it’s smaller its easy to just turn on and use on the couch.
It isn’t form fitted to a knee, but if you’re laying and your leg is straight it can easily be wrapped around, with infrared heat and PEMF.
This is the flexible infrared PEMF medium size mat I’m referring to here, Healthy Wave Soft Red Light, PEMF Therapy & Amethyst Infrared Heat Pad 36″x18.
Hope this helps a little! 🙂
Greg