What Is Osteoporosis?
This is a health condition that causes bones to become weaker. As a result, bones are more fragile than they should be. Therefore, they can break with low impact. This condition can develop over several years. It can often be asymptomatic. In some cases, a patient can have no symptoms for their entire lifetime. It is often diagnosed after the patient has a fall or impact that results in a bone fracture. However, this does not mean that you need an injury to be diagnosed.
What Is PEMF Therapy?
PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) therapy improves your body’s natural healing process. Healthy cell membranes have both positive and negative charges. These charges are essential for exchanging ions. When cells become injured, their electromagnetic charge can reduce. Thusly, they are unable to exchange ions as they should. This is where PEMF therapy may be able to help improve your bone health. PEMF therapy helps to restore the electromagnetic charge in the cells. While enhancing their energy production.
PEMF Therapy as Treatment for Bone Fractures and Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a condition where bones are prone to fractures. Patients with this condition often have a reduced quality of life. Especially if they experience a serious bone fracture. A serious bone fracture can reduce the use of key bones.
PEMF therapy is a non-invasive method that uses pulsed low frequency and high intensity magnetic fields. PEMF therapy can stimulate the regeneration of bone fractures. While slowing down decreased bone density, as triggered by the condition.
The PEMF device generates pulsed electromagnetic fields that interact with the cells. These electromagnetic fields lead to an increased supply of the nutrients to the cells.
A primary benefit of PEMF therapy is that it can be used to target a specific area of the body. Alternatively, it can target the entire body too. The best thing about PEMF therapy is that it simply enhances your own body’s natural ability to heal itself, as well as being able to target whichever area you need it to.
Enhance Your Healing Process Naturally
If you are currently suffering from a bone fracture. You could choose to speed up your healing process through PEMF therapy. In 1979, the FDA approved PEMF therapy. Specifically, as a method of healing non-union fractures. There have since been a few research studies. These found that PEMF therapy can have a positive effect on the healing process of bones. At the cellular, tissue, and molecular levels.
In the 2000s, there were research studies that found PEMF devices could help stimulate the healing of some types of fractures. Shortly after, bone stem cells were the focus of PEMF research. The research found that electrical currents to cells could help the healing process of fractures.
Let’s consider the effect at the cellular and molecular level. PEMF therapy is effective by inducing pulses of electromagnetic fields into the injured bones. These safe pulses induce electrical currents into your tissues. Providing them with the energy they need to repair. They also stimulate stem cell growth. Which is vital for healing bones.
Now let’s consider the effect at the tissue level. PEMF therapy enhances bone growth. This is achieved by increasing bone-building tissue maturity. As a result, the patient is likely to experience stronger and higher density bone. However, there have not yet been enough studies on humans to determine if PEMF devices can enhance bone density. While PEMF therapy has demonstrated many times that it can help to reduce pain as well as improve the function of people with osteoporosis. We need more research when it comes to bone density and strength.
Another key benefit of PEMF therapy for healing fractures is its ability to increase blood flow around the fractured area. The increase in blood flow will directly help the healing process of the bone.
Research Study Cases
While there are only a few human trials around the use of PEMF devices to treat bone fractures. Here are a few important cases to consider.
A study attempted to look into the use of PEMF therapy for post-menopausal women who had osteoporosis. This was a small study where the women were treated for 40 minutes per day over a period of six months. Despite the study being short, it found that PEMF therapy was effective in treating postmenopausal women specifically.
In another study that was even shorter in duration. Individuals were treated for 60 minutes per day, three times a week, for three months. However, the results of this study showed no significant increase in bone density. But what it did show was that these individuals experienced an increase in bone formation markers.
Overall, there are a few trials and studies that have looked into the capabilities of PEMF therapy. While these results are contradictory, PEMF researchers are maintaining their optimism about the potential of PEMF therapy.
