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The Intensity Debate: High vs Low-intensity PEMF Devices

High vs Low-intensity PEMF Devices

Researching information about PEMF and PEMF systems in the market can be very confusing. It was for me nearly six years ago and since then, many more systems have come onto the market. There are lots of opinions from manufacturers and so-called experts. All, including myself, have their bias.

My background: I was a pre-med major at university for four years with a minor in psychology. I graduated with a B.S. in Psychology and General Science. I decided not to go into the medical field simply to treat symptoms with drugs, so a Master’s in parapsychology was the direction I took. 

The first four years of university were filled with lots of prerequisite chemistry and physics courses, which came in handy once I started researching PEMF systems and the field in general. There is a lot of physics involved if you start to dig into the fine details.

I’ve been doing individual PEMF treatments directly with people for the last five and a half years. So, I’ve been in the trenches and not behind the desk like someone involved with just the manufacturing or selling of a PEMF system. 

There are many people out there selling systems with little grounding in the direct experience of treating people with PEMF. I have seen how PEMF can help people in many different ways. I do also rent and sell PEMF systems manufactured by Swiss Bionic Solutions. Predominately, I’m a practitioner, trainer of practitioners and an educator of PEMF in order to help people.

High vs Low-intensity PEMF DevicesI have a distinct bias towards low-intensity and low-frequency PEMF systems. My bias centres around what I call a natural or homeopathic approach to health using PEMF. I believe and have also seen that if you match or resonate with the cell’s low frequencies and intensities, then this is the safest and best approach to healing.

Healing takes time. Those looking for a quick fix may tend to prefer high-intensity systems, which can definitely help out with pain fairly quickly. According to Dr James Oschman, author of the seminal work, Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, high-intensity PEMF systems numb the neural receptors. This is a masking agent just like a drug to a degree. Still, it works and has far fewer consequences and side effects than pain-killing drugs.

Electromagnetic Waves

I have previously written about high-intensity versus low-intensity systems. One important fact about intensity is that the strength of the electromagnetic wave controls how much charge or voltage is created in the body. The higher the intensity, the higher the voltage that’s created in the body and the corresponding opposite with lowering the intensity of the electromagnetic field.

As previously stated, I believe and feel that it’s best to match or resonate with the cells’ particular voltage. There are two cell voltages stated in the research and literature. One is 70 mV (millivolts) and the other is 25 mV. One is “In vivo” or 25 mV, which means it was measured on a living organism, while the other voltage (70 mV) “in vitro” means the cells’ voltage is measured in a laboratory dish or test tube.

Both voltages are very low voltages, but it is the ‘spark of life’ as stated by Michael Levin. 25 mV is 25 one-thousandths of a volt. This is sixty times less than the voltage of a AA battery. You don’t feel any type of tingle at all when you hold both ends of a AA battery between your fingers… let alone something sixty times weaker.

High-intensity PEMF devices induce voltages and currents high enough to contract muscles. The minimum voltage needed to induce muscles to contract is approximately 3 volts. This is 120 times the average voltage of a cell in the body. High-intensity systems go way beyond this level.

Let me ask you this, would you charge your car battery with a 12-volt charger or would you use (120 x 12 V) 1,440 volts? What do you think would happen to the battery? If it was a pharmaceutical drug, they would call the results of the damage to the battery just a side effect.

The Earth’s Electromagnetic Field

High vs Low-intensity PEMF Devices

Another aspect of intensity to consider is the strength of the electromagnetic field in relation to the earth’s natural intensity. Depending on your latitude, the earth’s natural magnetic field intensity ranges from 0.65 gauss close to the North or South Poles going down to 0.25 gauss at the equator.  

Some high-intensity PEMF devices go up to 10,000 gauss, which is 15,000 to 40,000 times stronger than the earth’s magnetic field depending on where you live. Common sense and past experience stop me in my tracks in regards to applying that strong a field on myself or anyone for that matter. 

These intense field strengths are approaching the level of an MRI machine. When you have an MRI, everyone gets out of the room before it’s turned on. There’s a reason for that and it’s safety.

In both cases regarding the voltage or magnetic field strength, more is not better. It’s about resonance and coherence with the cells to harmonise with them, not bang them with a big hammer. For a detailed and researched view on this matter click here.

Biological Windows – Proof that Less is More

“Small is Powerful, Less is More.”- Dr. Ross Adey High vs Low-intensity PEMF Devices

In the mid-1960s, Dr Ross Adey came up with the term “biological window,” which is also called the Adey Window. The Adey window describes the narrow parameters under which a very weak and nonthermal electromagnetic wave has a positive physiological effect on a human cell.

To measure the physiological effect, Adey observed the calcium output of a rabbit’s brain cells. He showed that this effect could only be triggered using very low magnetic field intensities and at a specific low frequency (16 Hz). Starting up at super-low intensities, there was no positive reaction until the intensity reached a certain level within a narrow range. Once the intensity got to a certain level, the cell shut down and became unresponsive.

Since Dr Adey’s initial research, the medical literature has shown strong scientific consensus that biological windows exist and are a very important factor in delivering PEMF treatments for a positive cellular response. Less is more when it comes to PEMF intensity.

If you would like to learn more about PEMF systems and how they can help you, please click below to book a treatment today!

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