Transparency
Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) move through the body easily. Low-frequency PEMFs go into and through all parts of your body without being blocked or slowed down. It doesn’t matter if the tissue is muscle, bone, brain, blood vessels, or organs; they are all transparent to PEMFs. These fields pass equally well through air and body fluids.
PEMFs affect the body, but the body doesn’t change the PEMFs. As PEMFs move through, they stimulate different parts of your body based on how they can interact with the fields. According to Faraday's law, the stronger the PEMF, the stronger the effect it has on the body.
As PEMFs travel through, they do lose some intensity, not because the body absorbs them, but because of the natural behavior of electromagnetic fields. This means that the magnetic field is strongest close to the source and weaker the further away you get.
Very high-frequency PEMFs (at or above about 1 mHz) don’t pass all the way through the body because they have short wavelengths. These high frequencies are absorbed by the body and can cause heating of tissues. However, PEMFs below 1 mHz are not absorbed by the body and do not cause heating or damage.
Most PEMF systems used for therapy operate at much lower frequencies than 1 mHz. These extremely low-frequency (ELF) PEMFs pass completely through the body without being absorbed, providing stimulation effects that help with healing.
Resonance
Resonance originally comes from the study of sound, especially in musical instruments.
In physics, resonance is when a vibrating system or external force causes another system to vibrate at a specific frequency. This can happen with all types of vibrations or waves, including mechanical, acoustic, electromagnetic, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and electron spin resonance (ESR).
Resonant systems can create vibrations at a particular frequency, like musical instruments, or isolate specific frequencies from a mix of many, like filters. When systems resonate at the same frequency, small forces can produce large oscillations.
All the tissues in your body, especially the brain, have their own natural frequencies and can be influenced by external frequencies (good or bad). When external frequencies match the body's natural frequencies, they can cause the body's frequencies to sync up. This means that a small amount of PEMF energy, if it resonates with the body's molecules or cells, can produce a much stronger response.
All the tissues in your body, especially the brain, have their own natural frequencies and can be influenced by external frequencies (good or bad).
In healing, particularly in neurology, the use of resonance is known as entrainment.
Entrainment
Entrainment is when the natural frequency of something, like your brain in a certain brainwave state, syncs up with an external frequency, such as one from a PEMF device.
This idea was first discovered by a Dutch physicist named Christian Huygens in 1665. He noticed that when he set pendulum clocks in motion, they eventually synchronized on their own.
There are different types of entrainment, but we'll focus on brainwave entrainment. When the brain is exposed to a steady frequency, it tries to match its own brainwave frequency to that of the external stimulus.
This is called brainwave entrainment. Michael Hutchison's books "Mega Brain" and "Mega Brain Power" discuss this concept in detail. While there are studies on using PEMFs for brainwave entrainment, we'll keep it simple here.
When an electromagnetic field is applied to the body, it can make the brain follow the frequency of the pulses. This "frequency following" response can be seen in people with epilepsy.
For example, if a strobe light flashes at their seizure frequency, it can trigger a seizure because the brain syncs to the flashing light. This method is often used in clinical neurology to study seizure disorders with EEGs.
On the positive side, this same mechanism can be used to induce different brainwave states like focus, relaxation, meditation, or sleep. Brainwave entrainment can push the brain into a desired state by amplifying one frequency over others.
The brain doesn't just work at one frequency; it has a range of brainwave frequencies. The dominant frequency determines your mental state, and entrainment can temporarily shift this by boosting a specific frequency to be more prominent or by increasing the stimulated frequency as needed.
Summary
PEMF therapy involves the use of pulsed electromagnetic fields that easily pass through all types of body tissues without being blocked or slowed down. This includes muscles, bones, the brain, blood vessels, and organs. These fields can move through the body and air equally well. PEMFs affect the body by stimulating different parts based on how they interact with the fields.
According to Faraday's law, stronger PEMFs have a more significant impact. While very high-frequency PEMFs can be absorbed by the body and cause tissue heating, most therapeutic PEMF systems use extremely low frequencies that pass through the body without being absorbed, promoting healing effects.
Resonance, a concept from acoustics and physics, describes how vibrating systems or external forces can cause another system to vibrate at a specific frequency. This can happen with various types of waves, including mechanical and electromagnetic.
In the body, tissues and the brain have natural frequencies that can sync up with external frequencies, a process known as entrainment. Entrainment is particularly relevant in brainwave synchronization, where the brain matches its frequency to an external stimulus, such as a PEMF device.
This can be used positively to induce states like focus, relaxation, or sleep. The brain operates with a range of frequencies, and entrainment can temporarily shift the dominant frequency to achieve desired mental states.
References
Pawluk, W., MD & Layne, C. J. (2017). Power Tools for Health: How Pulsed Magnetic Fields (PEMFs) Help You. FriesenPress.
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