What’s the difference between “Permanent” or “Static” magnets and Pulsed Electromagnets?
Permanent magnets are those horseshoe or bar magnets that you may have seen in a physics class back in high school. They can be all shapes and sizes and they are magnets that have a North Pole and a South Pole and they don’t change. The poles are fixed like those of the earth. The earth’s magnetic field is useful for determining direction using a compass and experimenters have determined that many bird brains are sensitive to magnetic fields and use them unwittingly to help them migrate in the right direction or find their home as in the case of the Homing Pigeon.
Experiments have been done with humans as well. I recall reading about an experiment where people wearing blindfolds were taken by bus to a location away from their starting point. Some wore caps with high-intensity permanent magnets which would distort the earth’s magnetic field and others, in the control group, wore identical caps with a metal bar (placebo) inside. I don’t recall the percentages, but the people with the placebo/metal bar did a better job of pointing to their starting point when they were taken off the bus and asked to point to where they thought their starting point was. The people with magnets in their caps did not do as well.
All this seems to point to the fact that we are sensitive to magnetic fields but it’s the CHANGING Magnetic Fields (PEMF) that our cells really react to. Yes a static magnet in all likelihood will cause our cells to orient themselves in a certain direction ONCE but since the field is not changing then nothing is going to change.
I talk to customers all the time that tell me that they wear magnets on their wrist or in a belt or necklace. These people have been persuaded to believe that the permanent magnet they are wearing is benefiting them. Every legitimate experiment where these magic bean magnets were replaced with non-magnets leads to the same conclusion. Permanent magnets do not heal or reduce pain, of course, they do make money for the people selling them. I’m sure this statement will inflame the believers and for that, I apologize.
The only person who benefits when you wear a static magnet is the person who sold it to you.
Let’s be clear, it is only changing magnetic fields that influence cell behavior by inducing electrical changes around and within the cell. Yes, you could spin a permanent magnet very quickly and that would induce electrical changes in our cells but such a system would be unwieldy and impractical. Magnetic fields are created when one passes an electrical current through a wire, and when we coil that wire into normally a donut shape we increase the concentration of the magnetic field created. Once the coil exists then we can pass a varying electrical current through the wire of the coil.
- We can vary the frequency of the applied current (cycles per second or Hz)
. - We can vary the amount of current in the wire thereby adjusting the strength or intensity of the field.
. - We can vary timing and pulse shape or waveform.
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- In the Curatron 2000 Family we create a square wave gated sine wave.
(WAVEFORM DETAILS >> SEE HERE) - In the Curatron FLASH, we create high-intensity impulses.
(FLASH WAVEFORM DETAILS SEE HERE)
- In the Curatron 2000 Family we create a square wave gated sine wave.
With a permanent magnet, to obtain any electrical induction at all, permanent magnets have to be mechanically moved, and as mentioned above, this is impractical. Static magnetic fields do not cause any electrical induction unless they are moved. That’s how electrical generators work, spin a magnet inside a coil and electrical currents are generated in the coil.
It is pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) that influence cell behavior by inducing electrical changes around and within the cell. This results in improved blood supply, increases the oxygen pressure, activating and regenerating cells and increased calcium transport which can stimulate the repair of cartilage.
In order to obtain a real therapeutic effect, the induced field strength has to be sufficient to penetrate deep inside the body. From what I have read, this condition can only be met if the electromagnetic flux generated by each individual coil must be in excess of 100 Gauss (10 milli-Tesla). This technology has undergone many scientific clinical trials worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of people have experienced the benefits of pulsed electromagnetic field technology.
How about people with Pacemakers? Are they able to have PEMF treatment or is it dangerous and not advisable?
I think you are overlooking the effect of movement on the magnet…a necklace or wrist magnet IS changing it’s position in small amounts regularly so there is some sort of changing magnetic field going on surely?
The size of the typical magnet is minuscule and even if its field is changing, it will only impact the area near the magnet. The changing field due to movement will be entirely random and not repeatable. PEMF systems generally treat large areas and penetrate the entire region or body. I truly believe that small permanent magnets simply benefit the person who sold it and I guess they also benefit the gullible folks who benefit from the placebo effect, who believe they are being helped. I have yet to find or read a peer-reviewed article where the conclusion is that permanent magnets help in any way.
Agreed that the effect is tiny compared to a PEMF device, just making the point that the fields are changing subtly…..but measurably…so some sort of effect directly under the magnet is plausible…small but constant.
Separately…being gullible and benefiting from the placebo effect are very different things. The most skeptical person can benefit from placebo, it’s nothing to do with gullibility …or intelligence…or cop on or any of those things. Placebo is not based on what one thinks but on what one believes (a much deeper ‘thing’). In my experience gullible people think they are getting say a good deal on a crap product…but they don’t really believe it at a deep level.
I don’t want to argue the semantics of the word gullible and the placebo effect. Our minds can become a remarkable healing device and some of us are skeptics and others aren’t.
When I first started selling PEMF devices about seventeen years ago, I was quite skeptical and really did wonder if I was about to be pushing snake oil. Now, after years of experience, hundreds of happy customers, and reading many papers on the use of PEMF, I have become a proponent of PEMF technology for many uses. It is not a panacea but at times it can seem to be one.
There are those that believe that low intensity (less than 10 Gauss) systems can be beneficial, I don’t happen to be one of them. I also see no value in the use of permanent magnets. I know that there are those that do and if weren’t for the placebo effect, they would not be selling any at all.
These are interesting, thought-provoking discussions. I think it would be more helpful to focus on objective results in the clinical trials mentioned in the article. Or personal testimonials of benefits received are potentially more valuable to readers than broad-brush generalities which leave the reader with little factual food for thought. I own a Curatron 2000 and can report subjectively that I can feel the energy from the device. What I don’t know– and am curious about– is what benefit my body derives from the magnetic pulse energy fields affecting my cells and organs. Since there are several choices/settings on the device, which alter the magnetic field force in different ways, a more comprehensive understanding of these different settings would be helpful.
Fair comment…and more power to you on the PEMF journey. I look forward to owning one some day.
I guess the reason I was ‘pushing’ you back was because you called a lot of us gullible.
Hope to connect with you in the not too distant future re a curatron.
All the best
Mr. McWilliams, as my mother said many times. “I could not fail to disagree with you less.”
To this day, I’m not sure what she meant, and I’m sure that she didn’t either, but I agree with you, it’s important to get on track. I posted this article knowing that it would create some controversy and like you, I feel the energy from my Curatron as well. I will endeavor to work on a PEMF-SCHOOL article with your suggestions in mind.
With a permanent magnet, to obtain any electrical induction at all, permanent magnets have to be mechanically moved, and as mentioned above, this is impractical.
Does the MagneTech – Pulsed Magnetic Therapy device over come this?
I am not familiar with the MagneTech device. All of the Curatron devices are fully electronic and do not rely on any moving magnets. If the MagneTech device is electronic then I would imagine it overcomes this issue as well.