In 2019, an elite gymnast by the name of James Hall sustained an injury after falling during his performance at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. His injury is fairly common to elite athletes, which meant two things: familiarity with the injury, and an acute understanding of how long such injuries typically take to heal. Concerned for his recovery, Hall accepted a promotional PEMF device, and began using it to rehabilitate his shoulder. Despite the typical healing time extending far past Hall’s experience, he was happy to report that his shoulder experienced a dramatic recovery—a recovery he attributes to the consistent use of a PEMF machine used to directly target his shoulder.
For the uninitiated, PEMF therapy is a type of therapy that uses electromagnetic fields of energy to impart energy to the body’s cells. This energy can then be used to help the body speed up its own natural healing processes. While many rehabilitation efforts focus on stretching and reconditioning muscles, PEMF therapy as an intervention focuses on repairing the body at a cellular level, and has been used to intervene in injuries as minor as small surgical wounds and as substantial as bone and cartilage damage in humans and animals as large and notoriously difficult to heal as horses.
Prior to Hall’s 2019 injury, he had been exposed to PEMF therapy. Hall had been a regular user of a PEMF mat, a subset of PEMF therapy machines, to assist in muscle recovery and general health during his training exercises or his gymnast career. Hall unequivocally encouraged readers to utilize the healing effects of PEMF therapy. He was reported as saying that PEMF machines were able to significantly speed his healing time, and allowed him to more quickly regain his ability to compete and train.
As anyone with a physically demanding job or intense sports training schedule can attest, injuries can cause a great deal of distress. From pain and discomfort to loss of income, ongoing injuries and long-standing recovery periods are best left in the past, in favor of a more effective way to heal. PEMF therapy acted as that effective healing method for James Hall. The director of one PEMF therapy company targeted high-intensity machines as the ideal healing tools for people like James, who have an acute injury, as low-intensity machines are often used for chronic conditions rather than acute ones.
Although PEMF therapy has not yet enjoyed widespread recognition, increasing numbers of elite athletes and rehabilitation clinics are turning to the technology to improve healing times, improve training efforts, and decrease the amount of time athletes and workers spend outside of training and working. From local clinics to home machines, PEMF therapy has enjoyed a steady increase in popularity in recent years among western medicine practitioners and alternative therapy practitioners, alike. If clients like Hall are to be believed, PEMF therapy is an up-and-comer in the field of rehabilitation and therapy, and may prove a valuable addition to the repertoire of elite athletes and others with acute injuries.
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.