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Have you tried PEMF therapy for pain relief yet?
As my long-time followers know, I am a huge fan of PEMF therapy and have been using it for close to 3 years, along with some other natural and alternative treatments.
Whether you are new to my blog and just hearing about this alternative form of pain relief, this post will provide some of the benefits, highlights of my almost three years of use, and some exciting news that will make it easier for everyone to include pemf therapy in their pain management plan.
Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission to fund my coffee-drinking habit if you use these links to make a purchase. You will not be charged extra, and you’ll keep me supplied with caffeine. It’s a win for everyone. I am not a medical professional, and nothing stated in this article should be mistaken for medical advice…
Benefits of PEMF Therapy
Before I share the various types of pain that PEMF therapy may relieve, I want to share what it is. PEMF uses low-level electromagnetic waves that target the source of the various types of pain and encourage recovery at a cellular level by speeding up your body’s natural healing processes.
PEMF therapy reduces inflammation that causes back, neck, knee, muscle, joint, and shoulder pain. Below I share which pains it is effective on and not with my chronic illnesses.
Obviously, the best benefit is PAIN RELIEF! But the benefits do not stop there. The following is what has made it easy for me to include in my daily pain management plan.
- Portable
- It works at the source of pain
- It doesn’t have to touch your skin or body.
- There are no known side effects.
With a working circumference of 12 inches, I can place it in my cross-body bag and run treatments without the worry of damaging or losing it while out. I also use the compression wrap that comes with it to wear on above my knees, around my waist to treat my lower spine or hold in place with a bandaid to treat my neck.
Who should not use PEMF therapy?
PEMF therapy is not recommended for anyone with active cancer, pregnancy, pacemakers (implants), and patients taking chemotherapy treatments. It is always recommended to check with your doctor or healthcare provider before trying any new medical device.
My Experience with PEMF Therapy for Pain Relief
I first tried PEMF therapy near the end of November 2016. At that time, I only used it a few times a day, several times a week. Yet, even with limited use, I began noticing the benefits of this therapy. I no longer spent days applying ice to my right knee after exercising. Instead, the swelling and pain were reduced with just 90 minutes of treatment. After a month of limited usage, I began noticing an increase in energy. While wonderful, the most remarkable relief occurred after March of 2017, when I began running daily treatments. For the first year, I ran 10 hours of treatments EVERY day. Since then, I still run daily treatments, except that some days I only run one or two and save all-day treatments for flare days.
As I share often, PEMF therapy is just one part of my pain management plan. While it is a major pain relief tool, I use it in conjunction with medical marijuana, heat, ice, massage therapy, and lifestyle changes. Everyone’s experience and combination of pain relief tools will differ. But to give you an idea, here is mine.
PEMF Therapy for Fibromyalgia Pain Relief
Relief from overall fibromyalgia pain is one of the first things I noticed. And it occurred before I began running daily treatments!! With limited use, I experienced relief from the widespread pain that had consumed my body since 2000. After just five weeks of treatment, I began exercising a few times a week. This is something that had been prevented by pain since 2003.
To this day, I can declare that fibromyalgia is no longer a daily pain. I still experience some levels of pain, especially from changes in pressure from heatwaves and storms. Another way it has improved my fibro life is with how it addressed nerve pain. Between the nerve pain caused by fibromyalgia, I also have permanent nerve damage from a surgical error between my pelvis and left thigh. Because of PEMF therapy, the nerve pain from both is no longer a daily occurrence.
Pain Relief From PEMF Therapy for Psoriatic Arthritis
The pain I experience from psoriatic arthritis is the worst in my spine. From my tailbone to my neck, my spine has always felt like a rusted rod with spikes that are scraping and cutting tendons and nerves.
The area I focused my treatments on when I began running then daily was my abdomen for endometriosis pain. Because the device was within the treatment range of 12 inches, it was also treating my spine!!! I will be honest: I had no idea that this was occurring until one day, after four months of daily treatments, I noticed that my lower back was PAIN-FREE!!!
After that revelation, I refocused my treatments on my lower back and neck. That summer, I was finally able to walk without feeling like the bones in my feet were crumbling or like my spine was about to break in two. It was amazing, especially since I was told by numerous physicians to never expect that sort of improvement.
I reduced treatments to my spine last fall because of an endometriosis flare that was made more painful by my device. The result is a return of spinal pain. Thankfully, my daily pain is still low, but barometric pressure changes from heatwaves and storms have been rough. Because of this, I am making changes to how I address my endometriosis flares that will make it possible to return to daily PEMF treatments ranging from 5-10 hours a day.
PEMF Therapy for Endometriosis
Reducing the pain I experience from endometriosis and a botched hysterectomy is a challenge. The pain I experience occurs from my pelvic floor all the way up through my diaphragm. Adhesions pull, twist, strangle, and rip apart from my rectum, pelvic floor, bladder, intestines, stomach, abdominal wall, and ribcage. NOTHING, I repeat, nothing is able to decrease this pain.
From 2003 and even after my hysterectomy in 2005, I experienced this pain in varying degrees and areas. The duration of each flare also varies. Some flares last a few days, while others last for several weeks or months.
At the time I first tried PEMF therapy with Oska Pulse for endometriosis pain, I was experiencing ripping from my left sidewall. And it helped! Between the spring of 2004 and the spring of 2017, my belly, inside and out, had felt bruised and sore all of the time. After just a few short weeks of daily treatment, I was able to lie on my stomach without pain.
While it helped at first, the degree it helped with my endo and adhesion flares has decreased.
Adjusting Treatment
Heat helps my endo and adhesion pain the most, while cannabis helps relax my muscles. Until this week, I have been using an electric heating pad. This has prevented my ability to run the amount of PEMF treatments for PsA and fibro because an electric heating pad can interfere with my device. I have swapped my heat source with a hot water bottle for use at home. While on the go, I bring along a recently purchased portable battery-operated heating pad. So, while away from home, I will have to alternate heat and PEMF, but at home, where I spend most of my time, I can return to full treatments.
The reason I share my experience is to demonstrate how use for chronic pain is not a one-time shot. It requires daily diligence and commitment. And that while it does not address all of my pain, it relieves the pain I experience from fibromyalgia and psoriatic arthritis so well that my only current uncontrollable pain is from endometriosis. I can’t imagine severely flaring from all of my chronic illnesses at the same time again and thanks to PEMF therapy, I don’t have to.
hi cynthia,
did u try biowavego ? do u know its difference from oska pulse? second question: is oska pulse approved by FDA ? FDA replied me that oska pulse is exempt device, so it does not have to show its safety and effectiveness. third question: do think oska pulse is better or the big OMI pad (the one u can get treamts while sleep) is better ? hope to hear from u soon
Hi! Thanks for reaching out. I have not personally tried BioWaveGo, but have had others tell me that it helps them. RE: Oska FDA. Your information is correct. With that said they have ran clinical trials with the device and have the results listed on their website. Oska Pulse versus OMI pad. I have not tried the latter. But I have tried a different device that could be worn 24 hours. The difference was that while effective, the 24hour device took longer to achieve the similar results I get from my Oska. I feel the reason for that is that the range for the other device wasn’t as large as Oska. With the OMI pad you get full body coverage, but how it would compare to Oska would be in the strength of the treatment. I hope this helps and feel free to ask any other questions.
I love my OSKA Pulse! I think I tried it after reading about it on your site.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I love knowing that it’s helping others.
Thank you so much for this article. I have fibromyalgia and had back surgery in 2014 and 2015 which left me with nerve damage in my lower spine that tears thru my legs and causes my feet to feel as tho I have stones inside of them when I walk. I also list to port, and after years of using a walker, I was almost bent all the forward. I recently started using an upwalker and have found some relief. Part of the problem with the listing to port is that my right side is atrophied, my muscles from my middle back all the way around my rib cage and up into my shoulder and down into my hip and groin just feel as tho they are pulling constantly and so painful some days I just stay in bed with an ice pack on one end and a heating pad on the other. I take opiate pain meds, and as an alternative my PM doc has recommended a pain pump that is target delivered with a non opiate med that I have already had a trial of and had the best 6 hrs I’ve had in 21 yrs! This is a big jump for me, requiring a surgical procedure and invasive regulation of the med. (It has to be injected thru my belly into a port every 3 months, I HATE needles!). I’m wondering if this therapy would be good for me instead of the surgery, or even in addition to? The targeted therapy will address the spine, but not my knee that’s almost close to replacing or the widespread pain of fibromyalgia. Hoping it will address the peripheral nerve pain and burning in my feet.
Thank you again. I’m sorry about the long post, it’s hard to ask the question with telling you the background.
~~K
I can’t give medical advice. With that said I personally would try pemf before opting for an invasive procedure. Just keep in mind that like mine, your pain has been a problem for a long time and it may take a few months before a significant reduction is felt. But if used daily with the recommended 6-10 hours a day, you will start noticing different levels of relief along the way. What it has done for my Fibromyalgia and nerve damage pain has blown me away.
“The pain ripping from my sidewall” I remember that pain, somethings you just don’t forget, I feel fortunate that I only feel pain now prior to a bowel movement but it does take me back to those day x
It’s definitely an unforgettable pain. Hugs!
I’ve read other Fibro bloggers review of this device and would really like to try it. Before the pandemic quarantine, I was spending about $60 a month on professional massage. I have a Reno massager that I can use on the front of my body (and hubby gets the back) and this helps. I’ve shied away due to the cost of the Oska Pulse. Do you think I could use this instead of professional massage? My lower back and rib cage have really been flaring up the past several months.
I wouldn’t say that it is a replacement for a massage, but when used daily it prevents the inflammation that creates the need for a massage. For example, the last two heatwaves I only ran one or two treatments on my spine a day because I was treating my abdomen (endometriosis pain) with a heating pad and suffered a severe migraine with each episode. This week I replaced the heating pad with a hot water bottle so I could run PEMF treatments all day long and even though we are experiencing 3 days above 100 degrees, no migraine or pain in or around my spine. My ribs also react to my endo pain and the only thing that relieves and reduces it is my Oska Pulse. Basically instead of my entire body reacting and freaking out over one area of pain, that one sources is all I am dealing with. With lower back and rib cage I would start with 6-10 hours a day and wear it on my lower back with the strap that comes with it. Let me know if you have any more questions, it has been a life saver and game changer for me. I just wish it was able to address my endo pain as well as it has my fibro and PsA.