Is Bemer the Same as PEMF?

Although all Bemer products are PEMF devices, not all PEMF devices are Bemer products.

Bemer is a company that produces PEMF therapy machines for personal use.

These machines are designed to offer PEMF therapy from the comfort of home, and utilize a control box and either a circular applicator or a wrap-around band to deliver those pulses to a designated area.

To fully understand the difference between Bemer and PEMF as a whole, an overview of PEMF therapy is in order.

What is PEMF, exactly?

The name stands for Pulsed Electromagnetic Field, and PEMF therapy is the therapeutic application of pulses of electromagnetic energy.

While it may seem far-fetched or strange, PEMF therapy operates under the same basic reasoning as acupuncture, magnet therapy, and other forms of healing that have existed for thousands of years: the body is made up of energy, and that energy can be manipulated to support healing.

While Traditional Chinese Medicine may not have had today’s body of research at the helm, and magnet therapy in ancient Rome may not have had dozens of scientific studies proving its efficacy, both tapped into something important about the human body—namely, that the body is comprised of signals that can become damaged or incapable of communicating properly, and health involves making sure those signals are restored.

Bemer therapy uses PEMF technology to target a specific issue with the body’s electrical signals, according to their literature.

Microcirculation is the primary target of Bemer therapy, which is said to play a significant role in sports performance and muscle function and recovery, with fringe benefits in the areas of sleep and mood.

Although the precise claims of Bemer therapy’s patented design remain the subject of some circumspection, the claims that PEMF therapy can aid in muscle recovery and stimulation and improve circulation are valid, as numerous research studies can attest.

Indeed, muscle stimulation is actually one of the first FDA-recognized treatment options for PEMF therapy.

Bemer also differs from most PEMF therapy in the waveform that it uses.

PEMF machines possess several different components, but one of the most variable components is the machine’s waveform, or the shape a pulse of energy takes on as it enters and leaves the body.

The three most common waveforms found in PEMF machines are the square, sine, and saw tooth waveforms (though this list is far from conclusive).

Bemer therapy deviates from standard PEMF therapy—and most PEMF therapy research—because it uses its own unique waveform, called the sinusoidal waveform, which reverses polarity during treatment, and creates a dramatic cascade from peek to valley.

The precise reason this waveform is said by Bemer to be superior to others is not clear, but it does follow the same basic patterning of a sine or saw tooth waveform: that of a dramatic peak and fall.

Although Bemer and PEMF are not synonymous, a Bemer machine is a PEMF machine.

There are many PEMF therapy companies in operation today, many of them with machines that offer the same basic provisions as Bemer, though price points may be lower or higher than those of the Bemer machines.