One of the most important effects that PEMF has on our body is its benefits to blood circulation.
Poor blood circulation, when left untreated, can lead to more serious diseases, such as heart disease or stroke, and even cause death.
PEMF therapy can help us improve and restore proper blood circulation in a noninvasive and safe way, be it in one targeted area or the whole body.
Moreover, through the improvement of blood circulation, PEMF therapy achieves many other benefits such as bone healing, soft tissue healing, nerve repair, and more.
In this article, we will explain in more detail what blood circulation is, why it is important that it be in working order, and how exactly PEMF can help.
What is Blood Circulation?
The blood circulatory system is in charge of delivering oxygen and nutrients to every cell in the body.
Its two main parts are the heart and the blood vessels that run throughout the body.
The arteries, which are the biggest blood vessels, carry the blood away from the heart; the veins carry it back to the heart.
The capillaries are the smallest blood vessels, and they deliver oxygen and nutrients to the cells.
We have two types of blood circulatory system in our body: The systemic, and the pulmonary circulation systems.
Systemic circulation provides the organs, tissues, and cells with the blood, oxygen, and nutrients they need.
The pulmonary circulation is the place where the fresh oxygen we breathe enters our blood and the carbon dioxide we excrete exits the blood.
Blood Circulation Related Issues
Since the blood circulatory system permeates our whole body, the diseases that it can have are numerous, and they can affect every part of our body.
Some of the most prevalent diseases today are related to blood circulation.
The ones that affect most people are:
- High blood pressure
- Atherosclerosis
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Stroke
- Abdominal aortic aneurism
- Peripheral artery disease
Another health condition that is common in people of all ages is poor circulation.
It usually affects the peripheral parts of our body, like our hands and feet.
Its symptoms are coldness, numbness, tingling, and so on.
It is usually not a serious problem, but it can indicate more serious issues.
Most blood circulation diseases that we mentioned are caused by poor lifestyle.
Lack of exercise, unhealthy eating habits, and smoking are the most common factors that can significantly contribute to these diseases.
However, genetics and other diseases can have an effect, as well.
Conventional Treatments
Treatment of blood circulatory diseases usually consists of a change of lifestyle, strong medication, and surgery.
People are advised to stop their unhealthy habits, change their diet, and eat more appropriately.
If that does not help, they receive medication such as clot-dissolving drugs, blood-thinners, alpha blockers, and so on.
In case even those do not help, surgery needs to be performed directly on the affected blood vessels to restore circulation.
However, PEMF offers a non-invasive treatment that can work alone to improve blood circulation, or can act as an addition to an existing treatment strategy to yield better results.
PEMF Therapy and Blood Circulation
Numerous studies have been done to date on the topic of PEMF and blood circulation, and the conclusions are almost unanimous – PEMF therapy undoubtedly has significant benefits to poor blood circulation.
PEMF achieves its positive effects in two main ways.
The first one is through vasodilatation, and the second is by affecting the red blood cells’ charge.
These effects can be achieved in only one part of the body where the circulation is poor, or can be achieved in a generalized way throughout the whole body.
By warming up the targeted area of the body, PEMF therapy causes vasodilatation.
Because of this, the volume of the blood vessel increases, allowing more blood to flow through the area.
Moreover, the pressure the blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels decreases and so in this way we can treat high blood pressure.
And PEMF changes the red blood cells’ charge.
This is important because, if not properly charged, they stick together and form clots.
By restoring their charge, they repel each other, and are able to flow through and reach different parts of the body much more easily with oxygen.
It is generally accepted that the best results are achieved by applying low settings (below 20 Hz) for a maximum of 60 minutes a day.
Study Spotlight – Microcirculatory Effects of PEMF
A study completed in 2004 named Microcirculatory effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields aimed to discover whether PEMF affected arteriolar microvessels.
The study was conducted by Smith TL, Wong-Gibbons D, and Maultsby J.
The study was completed on rats which were separated into two groups.
The first received real PEMF stimulation, and the other received placebo stimulation.
The sessions lasted for 2 or 60 minutes, during which the appropriate stimulation was delivered to the cremaster muscle.
The diameters of the blood vessels were measured before and after the therapy using intravital microscopy.
Results and Conclusions:
The results show that local PEMF stimulation demonstrated significant vasodilatation (p<0.001) in cremasteric arterioles of 24 rats.
The dilation after two minutes of stimulation measured 9%, and after 60 minutes the diameter increase was 8.7%.
There were 15 rats that received placebo stimulation, and none of them showed any significant increase in blood vessel diameter.
PEMF stimulation in the 24 rats did not cause changes in the arterial pressure, heart rate, or a change in the environmental temperature of the tissue.
Therefore, the scientists came to the conclusion that these results support the hypothesis that PEMF therapy can cause significant arteriolar vasodilatation.
Furthermore, during the study, it was ensured that environmental temperature and hemodynamics could not affect the reported effects on these microvessels.
The study was originally conducted to observe how PEMF stimulates and accelerates the healing of non-union fractures, and whether this process is achieved through vasodilatation and improved blood circulation.
This hypothesis was indisputably confirmed.
Other Benefits of PEMF Therapy
Apart from this incredibly important benefit of PEMF therapy on the blood circulatory system, PEMF has many other significant benefits.
These can be observed in different parts of the body, organs, and health conditions.
Covering all of them would not fit the format of this article; however, we’ll present you with some of the most important science-supported PEMF health benefits.
Range of Motion
People who suffer from cervical osteoarthritis typically develop a decreased range of motion, and in fact sometimes have a hard time remaining mobile at all.
The traditional medical approach has not yielded encouraging results for these patients; however, they now have new hope in the form of PEMF therapy.
A research published in Clinical Rheumatology was performed on patients who suffered from neck pain and muscle spasms, as a result of cervical osteoarthritis.
The results showed that their range of motion was significantly improved after PEMF stimulation of these areas. (1)
Nerve Repair
Sciatic nerve injury is a common health condition from which many people suffer.
Older people and people who do physical jobs are most commonly affected.
The treatment is usually long, painful, and uncertain; however, PEMF therapy avoids all of those negative aspects.
A study completed in 1993 and published in Bioelectromagnetics Society showed that rats with sciatic nerve injury recovered much more quickly when treated by PEMF stimulation.
Unfortunately, the mechanism of improvement is still unknown, but the results are clear. (2)
Diabetes
Because of an overall unhealthy lifestyle in the developed world, diabetes is becoming more and more common.
It is accompanied by many complications, one of which is diabetic polyneuropathy.
This is a health condition that causes numbness and weakness in both sides of the body.
In 2003, a study was published in Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology that observed the effects of PEMF therapy on this condition.
The results suggest that PEMF significantly reduced the symptoms of DPN, and improved nerve function.
It is, therefore, a hopeful treatment for diabetic patients. (3)
Bone Healing
Non-union fractures occur when a bone breaks and does not heal in the expected amount of time.
After that, surgery is usually performed to reconnect the bones properly.
However, as seen from the study we shared on blood circulation, PEMF can be used for to treat this condition as well.
Bangladesh Medical Research Council performed another study in 1999 to test the effects of PEMF on non-union fractures.
The results showed that it is possible to heal these fractures in a non-invasive way, without the need of surgery.
Eleven out of 13 patients in the study experienced successful healing after 14 weeks of therapy. (4)
Migraines
In 1999, researchers in the United States examined how PEMF could help patients suffering from frequent migraine attacks.
The effects of PEMF both on pain management and on frequency of migraine were observed.
The patients who participated in the study received PEMF treatment for one month.
All of the patients reported significant improvement after the first month of treatment. (5)
These results show that PEMF is an important tool with which to counteract the effects of migraines in a noninvasive and safe way.
This treatment will not harm your brain or your body in any way, unlike some other traditional forms of migraine treatment.
Depression
Depression is a serious health condition that affects more and more people every year.
At least 30% of patients who suffer from depression do not respond well to antidepressants.
When the drugs do not work, these patients’ only remaining option is psychotherapy.
However, PEMF has been proven to be successful in treating depression in patients who are resistant to medication, as a study completed on rats discovered.
The study showed substantially reduced levels of anxiety and fear in these rats, along with substantially increased levels of emotional stability, after the treatment. (6)
Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common chronic joint diseases nowadays.
Unfortunately, patients who suffer from RA struggle to find a solution that will alleviate their symptoms.
The most significant symptoms that accompany RA are pain, swelling, and inflammation.
In a 1998 study conducted in India, researchers came to the conclusion that PEMF can decrease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
The best results were achieved in seronegative patients, but all patients in the study experienced improvement to some degree. (7)
Pain
The most common way to handle pain today is by taking strong painkillers, which can also prove to be very harmful to our health.
However, studies show that PEMF is a viable option for those patients who are suffering from acute or chronic pain.
A study was conducted at the International Pain Research Institute in 1993 that showed PEMF leads to a significant decrease in pain when painful areas are stimulated.
This study focused on pelvic pain, but the implications of this study are much wider. (8)
Conclusion
PEMF therapy is a powerful tool that every person struggling with poor circulation or any complication thereof should have in their arsenal.
This is especially important today, when more and more people are suffering from diseases caused by poor circulation due to unhealthy life choices.
The benefits of PEMF on the blood circulatory system are significant and unmistakable.
Through its benefits on blood circulation, PEMF therapy has multiple positive effects on our general health and on many related illnesses, such as heart and blood vessel diseases.
Numerous studies prove this, as is the case with the 2004 study that we shared with you in this article.
They show that vasodilatation and the effects on red blood cells are the most important ways in which PEMF improves blood circulation and prevents serious health issues.
However, these are not the only benefits that PEMF has, as it positively affects both our mental and our general physical health.
Therefore, it is considered more and more to be an important health tool that should be included in every home and clinic, because its advantages cannot be overlooked.
Richard Hoover is a PEMF expert and content contributor to PEMF Advisor. With a bachelor’s degree in physics and multiple certifications in natural health programs, he is one of the best PEMF experts around.