Combination of multiple therapies is possible using Magnetic field therapies since they rarely interfere with other therapeutic strategies. It is important to fully understand the physical abnormalities and treatment objectives when combining multiple therapies. Basic nutritional support through supplements is always recommended but some conditions may be treated without the combined therapy approach.
It is essential to clarify at the beginning that it is rare for practitioners of a particular therapeutic system to understand other disciplines. Maslow’s popular quote, “When you only have a hammer, then every problem appears to be a nail” seems rather appropriate. This is a very situation where the figurative nails are square and round, but our holes are all circular. Therapeutic practitioners of a particular discipline, who practice only that discipline, even with excellence, are not likely to know anything extensive about other therapeutic systems. Hence, they are unable to provide a knowledgeable perspective on the therapeutic systems that they do not practice. Underneath is a list of complementary therapies.
Massage
Massages work directly on muscles, soft tissues near the surface and ligaments to alleviate tightness, spasms, and strains. It leads to the stimulation of acupuncture points and meridians, boosts circulation to tissues, and relaxes the muscles. Secondarily, massages work to saturate the body with endorphins. As several toxins and wastes are accumulated in the muscles, as well the great amount of tension and linked blockages of circulation, regular massages would help a lot of us to achieve and maintain better health.
Massage and magnetic field therapy can benefit each other greatly. Most effective results would likely be achieved by performing the magnetic therapy first, followed by a massage. Magnetic field therapy would help the person and the muscles to relax better before the massage takes place, hence involving less work on the massage therapist’s behalf to get deeper into the tissues for a much deeper massage. Massage rollers that have built in magnets are available. They allow the combined use of the two modalities to be able to be used simultaneously. They do not replace the direct massage itself, but can be expected to relieve the amount of physical effort of the therapist and lead to greater benefits derived from the same massage session, while the magnetic field component aids and improves circulation and increases muscle relaxation.
Frequent, especially daily, application of whole-body magnetic field therapy at home can decrease the requirement for massages by keeping the tissues detoxified and relaxed. This would ensure that the combined physical effects of stress are kept to a minimum. However, massage has a more direct physical effect on the muscles themselves than a magnetic therapy session, hence the combination of frequent local and whole body MFT and massages would slow down the aging of the body and aid in the prevention of these problems from developing or worsening.
We think that osteopathic, chiropractic or physical therapy manipulation along with massage have similar positions in terms of possible use of magnetic field and how to approach it as discussed above.
Acupuncture
Magnetic field therapy can be performed on a patient with acupuncture simultaneously. Magnetic fields can, as it has been discovered stimulate acupuncture meridians and points as well. Acupuncture needles have better action compared to magnetic fields in a temporary timeframe; needles with electric current flowing have even greater strength of action. On the other hand, acupressure, moxa and cupping do not usually have as much strength in their actions as magnetic fields. If acupuncture is the therapeutic approach that is called for and the patient is noncompliant with the needles then magnetic field therapy is a desirable alternative approach.
As magnetic fields will act directly on tissues and cells which they pass through compared to acupuncture, they can be used together to utilize the advantages of both. For instance, while dealing with spinal arthritis, a very painful condition of the joints, often several tissues are affected or involved. The MFT will act on edema of muscles, nerves and ligaments, and the same time relax muscles as well as initiate cellular repair of joints and soft tissues. Acupuncture relieves pain instantaneously but, the secondary effects of acupuncture like those on the immune system, several hormones and repair processes take greater time to occur and can rather easily be suppressed or reversed by other events or processes occurring in the body. This implies that with either therapeutic system, the primary effects can be expected to be more clear and efficacious than secondary effects which may not manifest.
If a patient requests to use both kinds of therapies together or on the same day, it is advisable to perform the PEMFs and then subsequently follow through with the acupuncture further in the day. The MFT will initiate any direct action on the tissues and bring balance to every cell, on the other hand the acupuncture starts off with systemic reactions. When the secondary therapeutic effects of both manifest, the overall therapeutic effect of either is a significantly more than one alone.
Infra-red
Infrared therapy is used to generate heat inside tissues by the application of infrared rays, which are of two kinds, Far infrared (FIR) and near infrared (IR). FIR/IR are also used to apply magnetic fields to the body in addition to generating heat. Infrared, either of FIR or IR does not have deep penetration, only a few inches, into the tissues and hence doesn’t act on deeper tissue, this happens due to the rays being dissipated while passing through layers of body tissues. The use of the word infrared implies near infrared unless mentioned otherwise. Local applicator devices usually produce infrared applications. Strictly speaking, frequencies that are below the FIR and the Electro Magnetic spectrum are technically considered as infrared. Therefore extremely low frequencies fall under the category of infrared radiation. This difference makes it essential that we know what frequency is being used actually and whether it is in the correct range of the FIR/IR system. By general usage, FIR/IR usually refers to frequencies that are near the reddish region of the Electro Magnetic spectrum.
FIR devices are either passive or some are active. Active infrared systems are run using alternating current lines while the passive systems that emit FIR signals passively than utilize either ceramic or fiber material. The active systems have the tendency to cause more dynamic effects in the body than the passive systems. The passive systems are intended and designed for private and home purposes. The active systems are meant to operate in practitioners’ offices. FIR systems have been built to cover larger areas, referring to entire body applications. They are usually sauna which are active FIR or passive blanket and clothing etc. Active far infrared, especially used on the whole body, when compared to a passive system will generate more heat in the body.
Many infrared systems usually make use of red colored diodes in their IR signals. To create current suitable for the diode, the alternating current can be modulated in a manner so as to generate ELFs and also the diode frequencies in the body. This would then ensure that such a device would be a dual system of treatment using both IR and ELF simultaneously. This kind of system would have the potential to have even more dynamic effects than simple infrared alone.
Most IR systems appear to be designed for local applications and are mostly used in practitioners’ offices. There exist a few systems that are home based, the most obvious use of course is found in baths.
AC FIR systems have a tendency to generate heat that increases temperatures not only in the local areas but is sufficient to raise the temperature of the entire body. This implies that FIR saunas do not just provide heat as part of therapy but also lead to PEMFs being applied on the body. Several systems utilize filters made of coils and ceramics which do raise the environmental temperature. The cumulative effect is synergistic which means greater than either effect’s level alone. Heat has been utilized as a physical therapeutic modality for thousands of years. In recent times, heat is being considered as a treatment strategy for the treatment of cancers and toxins. The combined application of heat and that generated by Far infrared can have dramatic effect on the benefits of the therapy.
PEMFs with very low frequencies generally pass through the body entirely without dissipation of signal by the influence of tissue, however higher frequency therapies, such as Far and near infrared will lose the strength of their signal due to the influence of tissue fluids.
FIR/IR, in any format, can be utilized alongside PEMFs to get the cumulative benefit. FIR/IR will have the potential to alleviate local musculoskeletal problems in a more dynamic and swift manner than many PEMFs, which are lower intensity systems. This implies that if anyone owned an entire body PEMF system, they could still utilize a Far Infrared sauna or a local infrared treatment device. For the situation where an acute arthritis or a musculoskeletal problem exists, it may be advisable to use FIR/IR to be used for the initial treatment sessions, followed up by long term PEMF treatment, especially if the root cause of the problem is or can possibly become chronic.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy has a fundamentally different basis of treatment than MFT. Homeopathy is based on the principles of similarity in resonance. For it to be efficacious, homeopathic remedies have cause resonation with symptoms shown by the patient being treated. Quinine is widely used to treat malaria, a possible explanation is the fact that symptoms caused by quinine match those caused by malaria. This can explain the reason why quinine, as it has been established, is effective in the treatment of malaria. PEMFs generate frequencies that can probably influence the frequencies involved in homeopathic remedies. Alternatively it can also be understood that the PEMF frequencies are resonating with the symptoms’ frequencies in the body, and in a way that produces therapeutic actions.
PEMF frequencies usually tend to be much lower than that of homeopathic remedies meaning that the PEMF frequencies have influence only on the homeopathic remedies by being a consequence of harmonic resonance, where their frequencies intersect. The probability of harmonic resonance is generally very low. As we do not know, for sure, if homeopathic remedies can be negated by PEMFs, it is advised that the patient use these modalities in separate sessions, especially when they are being performed on the same day. It would be preferred that the patient use the magnetic therapy first. In fact, performing several days of MFT may very well aid in establishing clarity before homeopathy may be applied.
It is highly probable that higher frequency electromagnetic fields, such as those from microwaves, cell phones, MRIs, etc. have greater likelihood to be an issue with homeopathic treatments. Homeopathic treatments can safely be performed in the presence of static magnets since they cannot interact harmonically with the therapy.
Laser
There are basically two kinds of laser therapy systems, one cause’s tissue destruction and the other causes enhancement of tissue healing. The latter one is usually referred to as the low-level laser. Any kind of laser has tissue effects, even the pointers used in classrooms. Low-level lasers are usually used in a similar fashion as the FIR/IR. The beams are highly focused and extremely narrow. Because of the high level of intensity they have the ability to penetrate the body deeply and will pass through the areas of the body that are relatively less dense. Thicker body parts like the abdomen or the lung can be passed by high energy, professional models that are more expensive. The various colors of the laser also have therapeutic benefits along with the light based therapy though they are generally red in color.
Compared to FIR/IR, lasers are mainly used for purposes related to a local area. Due to the high intensity, focus and frequency of a laser beam, comparatively PEMFs can be used in an area of treatment that is wider and can interact at lesser frequencies with the body. Lasers are not safe to use near certain body tissues and organs like the brain and the eyes. Generally, PEMFs don’t have such limitations, depending upon the chosen system. PEMFs with higher intensities and frequencies have to be used carefully around these organs.
Medical lasers, utilized by veterinarians and physicians, are generally destroy tissues and are utilized specially for this purpose, i.e., for the destruction of skin lesions, cardiac ablation procedures, retinopathy, gastrointestinal lesions, prostate reduction, vascular lesions etc. In these applications, they ensure careful control of the bleeding and to provide precision in the depth of the destruction of tissue.
Light therapy
Usually Light therapies are used to treat the whole body. Specific colors are intended for specific actions. This is true for most light therapies, except if used in the case of seasonal affective disorder.
Light therapy is either be passive or active. Passive therapy involves the intentionally donning strong colors, of carrying colored crystals, being inside rooms or in the environment of specially allocated colors. Active therapy includes OTT Light lamps and lights of specific colors, natural spectrum lighting and having colored crystals applied etc.
Passive therapy will mostly be unable to penetrate deep inside the tissues but Lighting systems have greater probability for deeper penetration, but are constrained due to the thickness of exposed tissue. There is huge loss of intensity due to the diffraction and absorption of light as it passes through the body.
Hence, ELF EMFs are not expected to cause any interference and can be used along with light therapy. Similar to other therapeutic strategies, practitioners of this therapy might not understand MFTs and may advise against them. Like most mono-modality specialists, it can be expected that they wish to see the effectiveness of their specialty of therapy acting without external influence.
Other resonance systems
There exist several therapeutic, resonance and energetic systems that can be utilized but have not been mentioned above. However if one understands the concept of resonance, along with basic knowledge on the effect of EMFs and knows the ailments which are being treated, then influence of MFTs may be figured out. Broadly, the therapy, which is meant to be used at home, is safe to use with almost all other systems.
Chelation
Chelation therapy either IV or oral, causes noticeable difference in the movement of electrolytes, minerals and metals across cell boundaries. This movement (especially if it’s calcium, sodium and potassium) can influence the magnetic field therapy. However there is not a lot of research available on the use of chelation and MFT together.
On the basis of some records that are available with these two modalities being used concurrently, the resulting side effects are temporary but significant hence, it is not advised that chelation and magnetic field therapy be performed on the same day. The possibility of a temporary negative effect increases with whole-body PEMF exposure. As of now, due to our negligible experience, we do not recommend whole body exposure on the same day as chelation until practitioners who make use of both therapies have sufficient data to guide us.
