All of the bones in our body support nearly all of our weight and safeguard our internal organs. While they are quite strong, they are not insuperable. Broken bones take a lot of time to heal, but sometimes they don’t heal all the way.
Nonunion fractures are bone fractures that never completely heal after a certain period of time. Reconstructive surgery is usually the only therapy available in cases such as this, but PEMF therapy can also help. What PEMF therapy does is accelerate the healing process, thus making it more effective. Likewise, it can help with osteoporosis too.
In 2001, a study conducted by the University of Siena, Italy was performed regarding the effects PEMF and bone health had on patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis. In the study, bone formation and remodeling were observed.
The focus of the study was to examine the effects of PEMF therapy on biochemical indicators of bone turnover and bone mineral density with women who have postmenopausal osteoporosis. Doctors Nicola Giordano, Simone Geraci, Emilio Battisti, and Marco Fortunato used single-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled methods with 40 outpatients.
Half of the patients received a 100 Hz PEMF stimulation (n=20), while the other half only received placebo treatment. The study lasted 90 days with PEMF patients receiving treatment for an hour a day, three times a week. Bone mineral density was measured at the beginning and the end of the study, while bone metabolism biochemical indicators were measured during the beginning and end of the study and after a 1-month follow-up. After the study was completed, the results did not show any substantial increase in bone mineral density for either of the two groups.
But the group that received the real 100 Hz PEMF stimulation saw considerable increases to their serum procollagen II type I C-terminal propeptide and serum osteocalcin during treatment. After thirty days, the parameters returned to normal, suggesting that PEMF therapy can stimulate osteogenesis for a short period of time.
While it’s not completely clear how this phenomenon happens, one of the theories presented states that it stimulates osteoblastic movement in women who have postmenopausal osteoporosis. Nevertheless, because the parameters dropped after a month of treatment, it can be concluded that daily stimulations of PEMF for at least an hour at 100 Hz frequency will produce the best results.
So how else can PEMF therapy help? Don’t worry.
We’ll learn more about PEMF and bone health in this informative article.
What is Bone Health?
Many factors help to determine the health of our bones. If we don’t pay attention to our health, however, certain diseases can arise which could weaken our bones, causing further problems down the road. The most common bone disease is osteoporosis. It causes bones to become more fragile and frail, making them more susceptible to breakage.
The most common injuries in people who have osteoporosis include breaks in the hips, spine, and wrists. But breaks can happen anywhere with osteoporosis, leaving all of the bones in our body at risk. Bones, just like any other cells in our body, are alive. Bone cells, just like skin cells, die, and new cells replace the old ones. This is a well-balanced process that keeps our bones strong and healthy.
Imbalances in our body prevent new cells from replacing the old cells. So when old cells die, there are no new cells to replace them with. This is when osteoporosis occurs. It is imperative to understand the risks associated with osteoporosis and how to prevent it so that your body can remain in good physical shape.
Risk Factors of Osteoporosis
So, what are the risk factors for osteoporosis? There are many of them. Some relate to our lifestyle, but others relate to unexpected circumstances in our body that we cannot control.
Here is a list of the most important risk factors:
- Eating habits
- Little to no physical activity
- Obesity
- Cigarette smoking
- Alcohol consumption
- Certain medications
- Old age
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Your family history
The good news is that we can control some of these factors, which can prevent us from getting osteoporosis. The bad news is that we cannot change our age, ethnicity, gender, or genes. They are what they are and we have no control over these kinds of factors. One such example includes elderly people, women, Asians, and people with a family history of osteoporosis. Anyone in this group has a higher risk of developing the disease and should go to a physician for regular physicals and bone check-ups.
Preventing Osteoporosis
The best way to lower your risk of osteoporosis is to change some of your habits by doing the following:
- Eating foods that are rich in calcium and vitamin D and spending more time in the sun
- Exercising more
- Quitting smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages
- Learning more about bone health
- Avoiding risks of falling if you are in a risk group for developing osteoporosis
PEMF therapy can also prevent osteoporosis and treat other types of bone conditions like nonunion fractures. When we can learn how to use PEMF therapy as well as some of these prevention strategies to our advantage, we can make our bones much stronger, which in turn will make us healthier overall.
How PEMF Therapy Improves Bone Health
According to studies, PEMF therapy not only improves bone health but can prevent fractures and help fractures heal when they do happen. PEMF therapy helps fractures heal by improving blood flow to the injured area, which enables the body to generate new, healthy bone cells. PEMF therapy can even increase substances in our body that are responsible for keeping our bones healthy.
More and more clinics are beginning to recognize PEMF therapy as a form of treatment and are including it along with their daily regimens for their patients. Furthermore, science-based evidence shows that daily use of PEMF therapy in the correct settings for the right amount of time can reduce risk factors for osteoporosis, especially for those who are in high-risk groups.