The PEMF Podcast - Episode 104

How PEMF Affects Blood Flow & Circulation - What the Research Shows

About This Episode

Blood flow is fundamental to healing, recovery and everyday health, but can PEMF actually influence the way blood moves around the body?

 

In this episode of The PEMF Podcast, Andy Smith and Joshua Roberts explore the research into PEMF, blood vessels and circulation, including nitric oxide, vasodilation, vascular function and microcirculation.

 

They look at human studies involving metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure and diabetic foot ulcers, as well as early research into angiogenesis – the formation of new blood vessels. They also explain why PEMF does not simply force more blood around the body and may instead help support the normal signals that regulate vascular tone.

 

Finally, Andy and Joshua discuss tissue oxygenation, nutrient delivery, full-body versus localised application, intensity, frequency and why consistency may matter more than searching for one perfect “circulation setting”.

What You’ll Learn

• How blood vessels regulate circulation throughout the body
• What nitric oxide does and why it matters for blood flow
• How PEMF may influence nitric oxide and vasodilation
• Why PEMF does not simply make every blood vessel wider
• What the research shows about PEMF and microcirculation
• Why impaired circulation may respond differently from healthy circulation
• What angiogenesis is and how PEMF may influence new blood vessel formation
• How circulation affects oxygen and nutrient delivery
• Why full-body PEMF may be useful even for a localised injury
• Whether high-intensity PEMF is necessary for circulation
• Why there is no single proven frequency for blood flow
• How long and how consistently PEMF may need to be used

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Meet Our Host - Andy Smith

Andy Smith is the host of The PEMF Podcast and the founder of NewMed and CELLER8. After discovering PEMF through his own personal health journey, Andy founded NewMed in 2014 with a mission to make the technology easier to understand through honest, practical education. For full transparency, Andy later developed CELLER8 after nearly a decade of working with different PEMF systems. However, both NewMed and The PEMF Podcast have always been guided by the same principle: education before promotion. Through conversations with researchers, clinicians, engineers and industry leaders, Andy aims to explore PEMF fairly, separate genuine evidence from marketing hype, and help people make more informed decisions.

 

NewMed: https://www.newmedltd.co.uk/

CELLER8 - Worldwide: https://celler8.com/

CELLER8 - US & Canada: https://celler8.us/

Meet The Co-host - Joshua Roberts

Josh Roberts is the producer and creative mind behind The PEMF Podcast. Having worked in the PEMF industry for over three years, Josh saw early on how much conflicting information surrounded the technology and wanted to create a space where people could learn about it in a clear, engaging way. That idea became the foundation for The PEMF Podcast, turning complex science into honest, accessible conversations about wellness, recovery, and longevity. Behind the scenes, Josh handles research, editing, and guest coordination, and occasionally joins Andy on-air for condition-focused episodes. A curious learner and lifelong wellness enthusiast, he also manages the CELLER8 and NewMed websites, ensuring every piece of information shared is accurate, engaging, and easy to understand.

Episode Chapters

00:00 – Introduction to PEMF and Circulation

Andy and Joshua introduce blood vessels, circulation and the different ways PEMF may influence blood flow.

 

03:16 – Nitric Oxide and Vasodilation

What nitric oxide does, how blood vessels widen and the proposed calcium-calmodulin pathway connecting PEMF with vascular signalling.

 

05:22 – What Does the Human Research Show?

Studies involving metabolic syndrome and hypertension explore nitric oxide, blood pressure and how effectively blood vessels respond when more blood is needed.

 

08:27 – PEMF and Microcirculation

Why the body's smallest vessels matter for oxygen and nutrient delivery and what studies involving diabetic foot ulcers and diabetes have found.

 

11:28 – Does PEMF Improve Circulation for Everyone?

Why the strongest effects may occur when circulation is already impaired and why PEMF may act more like a regulator than a simple blood-flow booster.

 

12:48 – Can PEMF Support New Blood Vessel Formation?

The research into angiogenesis, VEGF, FGF2 and the development of new capillaries during healing and tissue repair.

 

15:33 – Oxygen and Nutrient Delivery

How improved circulation could create a better environment for oxygen, nutrients, immune cells and other materials to reach the tissues that need them.

 

17:02 – PEMF and the Blood Itself

Andy revisits Episode 79 and the observations made when looking at red blood cells before and after PEMF under a dark-field microscope.

 

19:15 – Where Might These Effects Be Relevant?

Why circulation is discussed in areas including wound healing, diabetes, blood pressure, bone repair, injury recovery and muscle recovery.

 

20:37 – Full-Body vs Localised PEMF

Why Andy generally prefers full-body application for circulation, with a localised applicator added when a specific injury or area also needs attention.

 

22:48 – Stacking PEMF With Other Therapies

How supporting circulation first may complement modalities such as red light therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

 

24:47 – Intensity, Frequency and Session Length

Why low- to medium-intensity PEMF may be enough for circulation, why there is no single magic frequency and why regular use matters for longer-term changes.

Featured Links

PEMF for Blood Flow & Circulation

Our complete guide explores how PEMF may influence circulation, including nitric oxide, vasodilation, microcirculation, tissue oxygenation and angiogenesis. It also takes a closer look at the studies discussed in this episode and the practical considerations around intensity, frequency, application and treatment duration.

Read Our Guide

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The Transcript

Andy Smith 00:00 
A quick disclaimer before we begin. The PEMF Podcast does not contain any medical advice, and the content provided is for informational purposes only. If you have any health concerns, please visit a healthcare professional.

 

Welcome back to the PEMF Podcast. In a previous episode, we looked at how PEMF may affect the blood itself, but today we're gonna focus on the system that actually transports it, in other words, our blood vessels and circulation.

 

Joshua Roberts 00:28 
We'll look at how PEMF influences nitric oxide, vasodilation, microcirculation, and even the formation of new blood vessels.

 

Andy Smith 00:36 
We'll also break down what the human research shows, where these effects may most be relevant, and how to apply PEMF when supporting blood flow and circulation.

 

Joshua Roberts 00:46 
But just quickly before we begin this episode, if you have watched our podcast for a while, you may notice we are in our brand-new podcast room again, and we have finally set up our new cameras. The color on the camera is a little bit off for the moment. We haven't calibrated them correctly yet, so hopefully it isn't too noticeable, but it'll be fixed by the next episode. But if you are new, uh, or if you haven't already, please do make sure to like, subscribe, and follow us on whatever audio platform you're listening from. It really just does help us make more of these episodes. If you haven't checked it out already, we have just launched our brand-new website. We cover all different uses of PEMF. Um, we cover how to stack PEMF for our therapies, all the brands and products we recommend. And if you have any questions about PEMF or products, please do reach out to us on there. And while you're there, do make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to never miss what's going on with the podcast or generally what's going on with PEMF. So kinda getting into this episode now, can PEMF affect blood flow, blood vessels, and circulation?

 

Andy Smith 01:40 
Yeah, the research suggests PEMF may influence several of the processes the body uses to control circulation. These will include things like the signals that tell blood vessels to widen or narrow, the health and responsiveness of the vessel lining, and the movement of blood through the small vessels. When we're talking about widening and narrowing of the blood vessels, we can say that in terms of vasodilation, vasoconstriction. For example, jumping in an ice bath is gonna give you vasoconstriction. Using PEMF therapy helps vasodilation, so it's like widening of the, of the blood vessels. But also PEMF, we're gonna be looking at how that's studied for effects on blood pressure, things like tissue o- org- um, oxygenation, sorry, and the longer term formation of new blood vessels. However, circulation is not one single process, and PEMF does not simply force more blood around the body. It doesn't work like that. Its effects may depend on the health of the blood vessels that need tissue and different types of PEMF signal being used. So throughout this episode, we're going to look at each of these areas separately and see what the research shows individually.

 

Joshua Roberts 02:45 
Yeah, exactly. There's quite a few different areas where PEMF can affect blood flow and circulation, so we'll break each of those down separately. But if this is someone's first episode or just needs a refresh, what is PEMF in under 30 seconds?

 

Andy Smith 02:58 
Yeah, wrapping this up into one sentence really, PEMF therapy stands for pulsed electromagnetic field therapy. It's a non-invasive, drug-free, and natural treatment that uses pulsed electromagnetic fields to stimulate the body's natural healing processes to create the ultimate or optimal environment in the body to heal.

 

Joshua Roberts 03:16 
When it comes to PEMF, nitric oxide is a big topic. So can you explain what nitric oxide is and what effect it has kind of on blood flow?

 

Andy Smith 03:24 
So nitric oxide is a signaling molecule naturally produced by the cells lining of the blood vessels. This lining is known as the endothelium, science word for today. These cells continually monitor what is happening in the blood and surrounding tissue, including whether an area needs more blood during exercise, healing, or recovery. When nitric oxide is released, it tells the muscle surrounding the blood vessels to relax. As the muscle relaxes, the v- the vessel widens and blood can travel through more easily. This widening is known, as I mentioned earlier, as vasodilation. But even a small change in the widening of the blood vessels can make a meaningful difference to how easily the blood flows through it. Nitric oxide therefore helps the body direct blood towards the tissues that need it rather than simply increasing circulation everywhere.

 

Joshua Roberts 04:15 
Yeah, exactly. Like everything with PEMF, it's not about pushing everything to the extreme or to its max. It's all about regulation and kinda returning everything to its more optimal level. So how might PEMF now affect nitric oxide production and blood vessel function?

 

Andy Smith 04:30 
One proposed pathway begins with calcium, and that acts as an important messenger inside our cells. So some of the research has suggested that PEMF may influence how calcium moves within the cells and how it interacts with a protein called calmodulin. Another science word. Together, calcium and calmodulin can activate the enzymes responsible for producing nitric oxide. So put this simply, PEMF may influence calcium signaling, which can encourage nitric oxide production to help blood vessels to relax. There was one study we found at, where the PEMF widened small blood vessels in the brain and increased microvascular blood flow and tissue oxygenation. So when the researchers blocked nitric oxide production, PEMF no longer produced those effects, so that suggests that the nitric oxide played an important role in the response.

 

Joshua Roberts 05:22 
And has there been similar effects found in people?

 

Andy Smith 05:26 
Yes, we did actually find one double-blind study that involved people with metabolic syndrome. 12 weeks PEMF increased circulating nitric oxide while the sham treatment did not. The greatest blood pressure improvements were seen in participants who already had hypertension, and study mentioned hypertension. Hypertension in normal terms is high blood pressure. So we found that one. There was another 12-week study involving people with high blood pressure. Found that PEMF improved how effectively an artery widens when more blood is needed. So the blood pressure also improved, although circulating nitric oxide didn't change, um, very significant in that study. So this suggests that the PEMF may support the over-responsiveness of the blood vessels rather than its effects depending on only increasing the amount of nitric oxide found in the blood.

 

Joshua Roberts 06:18 
And does that mean that no matter what, the PEMF will increase blood vessel size and blood flow in people?

 

Andy Smith 06:25 
No, not necessarily, and this is where vascular tone becomes important. Vascular tone describes a normal level of tension within our blood vessel walls. Blood vessels are constantly adjusting to this tension. They widen when a tissue requires more blood, and they narrow when they, when it's requiring less blood, uh, or when the body needs to maintain blood pressure. The goal is not to keep every blood vessel as wide as possible, so it's not like every time you apply PEMF therapy, it's going to act as a vasodilator. Healthy circulation depends on vessels being able to respond appropriately. And the research that was produced, uh, it produced different results depending on the participants, the tissue being studied, and the PEMF signal used. So some studies have found vasodilation or improved vascular function, while others have found little changes. Nitric oxide findings in human studies have also been quite mixed. This raises the possibility the PEMF acts more as a regulator than a simple switch. Rather than forcing blood vessels to open, PEMF may support the natural signals that help them adjust the blood flow accordingly, the condition of the vessel and the needs of the surrounding tissue. This is also quite a common question that we get with blood being thinned by PEMF therapy, because we get a lot of customers that are effectively on blood thinners, on medication that helps to, you know, thin the blood. And PEMF naturally, a lot of the studies will say and a lot of the, um, marketing materials will say that PEMF thins blood, but it doesn't. It's the same as this. It becomes a regulator when it's talking about blood. So it's not that if you're on blood thinning tablets, PEMF is gonna turn your blood into water. It's not that case. Um, it's gonna help with the regulatory side of it. But obviously, with everything with medications, we always recommend people not to come off their medication or anything when they're using PEMF therapy. Stick to the doctor's orders. Get them to regulate-- uh, get them to monitor your medications more thoroughly, maybe when you first start PEMF therapy.

 

Joshua Roberts 08:27 
And yeah, that's a great point to cover. As, as you say, that's one that comes up quite a lot, especially when people are new to PEMF or just kinda interested in starting to use PEMF who are using medication to thin their blood already. Um, now kind of moving on to our, our next subject, which is microcirculation. Microcirculation is a big thing that's spoken a lot, I'd say, in kind of the PEMF world when it comes to blood flow and circulation and everything like that. Um, so what is microcirculation and why is it so important?

 

Andy Smith 08:59 
Microcirculation describes blood moving through the body's smallest blood vessels, including the small arteries, capillaries, and small veins. Larger blood vessels carry blood around the body, but the microcirculation is where oxygen and nutrients are actually delivered from the blood into the surrounding tissue. It's also where carbon dioxide and other waste products move from the tissue back into the blood so they can be carried away. This makes microcirculation particularly important during healing recovery when damaged tissue needs a reliable supply of oxygen, nutrients, immune cells, and things like all the different building materials.

 

Joshua Roberts 09:37 
And what does the research suggest that PEMF can do to microcirculation?

 

Andy Smith 09:42 
One small double-blind study involved thirteen people with chronic diabetic foot ulcers that hadn't been healing properly. And when we looked at these studies, I wouldn't put that into Google if I was you for the images. They received either active or inactive PEMF, sixty minutes across fourteen sessions over three weeks. The active treatment used twelve hertz at twelve gauss. And in the PEMF group, the capillaries became fourteen percent wider, allowing more space for blood to pass through, while the speed of the blood moving through them increased by twenty-eight percent. Together, these changes show that PEMF improved two important parts of microcirculation. One being the size of the tiny blood vessels, and then two, how quickly the blood moved through them. The wounds also reduced in size by eighteen percent in the PEMF grou- group, compared to ten percent in the control group, group. Sorry, I can't say group. Although the study was very small, the improved healing occurred alongside directly measured improvements in the microcirculation.

 

Joshua Roberts 10:46 
Was there any other studies?

 

Andy Smith 10:48 
So there was another randomized study involving people with diabetes and healthy participants, which used twelve hertz at five gauss for thirty minutes. The PEMF significantly increased blood flow viscosity in the smallest observable vein compared to the sham treatment. Viscosity, for anyone who doesn't know, is about separating the blood cells and that blood then traveling round the body and the capillaries a lot more effectively. And this provides further evidence that PEMF can help blood move more effectively through some of the body's smallest vessels, although not every measure of skin circulation improved in that particular study.

 

Joshua Roberts 11:28 
And kind of similar to the last question on the last section, does PEMF improve microcirculation for everyone?

 

Andy Smith 11:35 
I would say not in every case, because when we were looking at the studies for this, this episode, there was one study we found which included fifteen healthy people, and w- and they applied, uh, nine PEMF treatments over three weeks and measured blood flow in the treated and untreated legs. Although blood flow and oxygen-related measurements increased during the sessions, so that was a positive, there was no beneficial difference between PEMF-treated leg and the untreated leg when it came specifically to the microcirculation. This may suggest that the PEMF has a greater effect when microcirculation is already impaired rather than continuing increasing blood flow in someone whose circulation is effectively working normal, like in the healthy participants. The response is also likely to depend on the PEMF signal, the area being treated, and how circulation is measured, measured in these different studies. So but overall, the human research suggests PEMF may influence width of small vessels and the speed in which the blood moves through them, but the strongest results have generally been found where circulation or tissue healing was already impaired, things like the ulcers in the legs or less healthy participants.

 

Joshua Roberts 12:48 
Yeah, exactly. Similar to the last section, PEMF isn't blindly just kind of pushing microcirculation to the max. It's helping regulate and bring it back to its optimal, as you say, especially with people who are, have it impaired for any reason or are just unwell, um, and have bad microcirculation. So we've spoken about what PEMF can do to kind of existing blood vessels and blood flow. What can it do to maybe create new blood flow or new blood vessels?

 

Andy Smith 13:19 
Yes, there is some evidence, and this process is called angiogenesis, so another little scientific word for this episode. It happens when the new capillaries grow from blood vessels already present within the tissue. This is particularly important during healing because damaged tissue may need a greater supply of blood, oxygen, and nutrients during that phase. To begin this process, the body releases signals such as VEGF and FGF2, which encourage the cells lining our blood vessels to grow, move, and form new vessels. There is some research that suggests PEMF may influence some of these signals and support the activity of the cells involved in building new blood vessels. This means PEMF may influence circulation in two ways, helping existing vessels respond and carry more blood while potentially supporting the development of new vessels over a longer period.

 

Joshua Roberts 14:12 
And is there any research to support that PEMF can help with this process and help with the formation of new blood vessels?

 

Andy Smith 14:19 
In one study, diabetic rats had the blood supply to one of their hand limbs reduced, creating an area of poor circulation for rats. After 14 and 28 days, blood flow was significantly greater in the PEMF-treated animals than in the untreated group. When researchers examined the tissue, they also found a greater density of new blood vessels. The effect appeared to involve increased FGF2 signaling, which helps the blood vessel's cells to grow and form new vessels, as we just mentioned, and another study involving rats recovering from a heart attack found that PEMF increased a number of capillaries around the damaged part of the heart. It also increased VEGF and supported cells which travel through the blood and help repair or form blood vessels. Researchers also tested human endothelial cells in the laboratory and found that PEMF encouraged them to organize into tube-like structures, which is an early stage of forming new blood vessels, so earlier stage of angiogenesis. This is promising, but most of the direct evidence for PEMF and angiogenesis comes, uh, well, currently comes from animal and laboratory studies, obviously due to the complexity of it.

 

Joshua Roberts 15:33 
Yeah. Hopefully we'll see some human studies related to that soon. Um, and once they do come out, we will make sure to post them either on our website or on our Instagram as well, which if you aren't following, make sure to follow. Uh, it's also linked down below. Um, but if PEMF can improve blood flow and circulation, is it also helping improve the delivery of nutrients and oxygen as well?

 

Andy Smith 15:54 
Essentially yes, because blood is the delivery system the body uses to carry oxygen, nutrients, hormones, immune cells, and other materials into our tissues. This exchange happens mainly within the capillaries. Oxygen and nutrients move out of the blood and into the surrounding cells while carbon dioxide and other waste products move back into the blood to be carried away as essentially waste materials. If PEMF helps small vessels widen or allows blood to travel through them more effectively, this could create a better opportunity for that exchange to take place. In the animal study mentioned earlier, PEMF increased microvascular blood flow and tissue oxygenation in the brain. These effects continued for up to three hours after the PEMF session. A small control study involving 18 cyclists also found that local PEMF influenced how quickly the muscles extracted the use... and sorry, extracted and used oxygen during the exercise. Overall, PEMF may help create a more supportive environment for oxygen and nutrients to reach the tissue, particularly in areas where circulation has already been impaired, as we mentioned before.

 

Joshua Roberts 17:02 
Yeah, exactly. That's great and not to kind of overlap too much with our blood episode, uh, which we did before, which I think we mentioned at the start. If you haven't already, go back and watch that one. Really good episode. Went through dry and live blood analysis, um, and yeah, really broke down what it meant. Um, but we did mention one thing in there about the blood cells and how they stack and unstack. Could this also be playing a role in kind of PEMF's ability to carry oxygen and nutrients around the body?

 

Andy Smith 17:32 
Okay, yeah. So we've done a whole episode on this so I don't want to dwell on it too much. But if you flick back to episode 79, check that out if you wanna learn about this a bit in more detail. But just to summarize, uh, what we did here was we looked at, uh, blood under a dark field microscope and actually, um, in the examples I used my blood, but we also used Billie's blood, who is from the Wellness Way podcast. So we looked at different examples of blood before PEMF treatment and then after treat- after 10 minutes using, uh, actually the Cellurate PEMF device, but we've seen this effect with multiple other PEMF devices. And what we witnessed under a dark room microscope is that the blood in the first sample will be stacked, traveling around with, like, more like coins. It's actually known as, like, the Rouleaux effect, and the blood in this example doesn't carry around the o- around the body as, body as effectively. You imagine it's all stuck together. You apply a PEMF device for 10 minutes, and you see what happens to the blood cells thereafter, and we'll put some images up. But the blood cell actually separates. They travel around the body a lot more freely, and you can imagine that the surface area of the blood cells is also available for oxygen delivery if they are to permeate the cells. So, you know, the visual of the blood samples cannot exactly prove that there was an improved oxygen delivery inside the body. But if the red blood cells are s- less stacked and are able to move more freely, it could theoretically help them to travel around the smallest vessels and expose more of their surface area for an oxygen exchange.

 

Joshua Roberts 19:15 
And as I said before, we'll link episode 79 underneath this episode, so you can go back and watch it after this one. I definitely recommend it. As I say, it is a really good episode, covers kind of the other side of PEMF and blood that we haven't covered in this one. Um, but where might PEMFs effects on blood and circulation be kind of most relevant?

 

Andy Smith 19:36 
Well, based on the research, PEMF may be most relevant where circulation or the ability of blood vessels to respond is already impaired. Some of the strongest human findings have come from people with diabetes, slow-healing wounds, metabolic syndrome, or hypertension. In these situations, the smallest blood vessels may not widen or carry blood as effectively as they should, reducing the supply of oxygen and nutrients reaching the tissue, probably why the reason why that issue is there in the first place. However, it's not limited to just that. Improved blood flow is also relevant during injury recovery and healing, where damaged tissue needs to be like a... needs a reliable s- supply of oxygen, nutrients, immune cells, and building materials. This may help explain why blood flow is also discussed within PEMF research into bone repair, wound healing, and muscle recovery. So effectively, it's the beginning part of the puzzle with most issues.

 

Joshua Roberts 20:37 
And how should we actually apply PEMF for circulation and blood flow?

 

Andy Smith 20:41 
So for circulation, a full-body mat is likely to be the best starting point because it exposes a much larger area of the body to one session. This makes it suitable for someone looking to support general blood flow and vascular function throughout the body. Full-body mat could still be beneficial when the main concern is localized. So just to explain that, like, if you can improve circulation across your entire body, that is also gonna help in a localized issue. So even if somebody's just, you know, buying a PEMF device or trying to apply a PEMF device for the knee because they n- have knee arthritis or they've injured their knee or something, you don't necessarily only want to apply PEMF in that area. My go-to or my example is always to apply a full-body mat. You wanna add a localized device on as well, then that's beneficial. So even through the, ev- sorry, even though the damage is only in one area, the oxygen, nutrients, immune cells, and materials needed for repair must be transported there through the wider circulatory system, just to kind of emphasize that. Supporting the whole body may therefore help create a better overall environment for blood and nutrients to reach the in- those injured areas. But adding a localized applicator can then be placed directly over or around the injury to provide more concentrated PEMF exposure to the tissue itself. However, if you've only have y- you know, the option for a localized applicator, this can be placed around the injury, um, to provide more concentrated PEMF. So you are still gonna get benefits using one or the other. Um, we would recommend, you know, if you're trying to treat a localized injury, go for both. Um, but actually using a full-body mat on its own is still gonna give you the benefits for that area. So golden rule, both if you can. Um, if you're going to do one only, I would still say a full-body mat is preferable, my preferable choice over just a localized controller or la- an applicator on its own. Just gonna get you that results a little bit quicker.

 

Joshua Roberts 22:47 
Yeah.

 

Andy Smith 22:48 
And just to add to this point, actually, when you were talking about application, um, I do a lot of, um, talks and a lot of speaking, a lot of, um, presentations around the area of stacking PEMF therapy with other modalities, and it's really important here when we're talking about circulation and blood flow. Because for me, PEMF therapy is the foundation of any therapy, and just to give you a very quick summary of that, if you can apply a PEMF device before, during, or after another, uh, modality, then l- nine times out of 10 you're gonna get more from that modality. So give you a quick example. PEMF therapy and red light therapy work really well synergistically, and you don't end up adding more time on, so you can apply a PEMF device and a red light device in most cases at the same time. However, you're gonna emphasize the benefits of the red light because of the benefits you're getting from the circulation from the PEMF therapy. Just one more example, when we're talking about HBOT, hyper- hyperbaric oxygen therapy, just 'cause this is one that you can visualize in your head. If you imagine somebody going into a HBOT with the blood that's all stacked, yes, they're gonna get benefits, but there's not gonna be as much surface area on those cells to apply oxygen delivery to unless you've done a PEMF session 10 minutes before. So say for example, somebody comes in About to do a HBOT or a hyperbaric oxygen therapy session, they come in and lay on a PEMF mat for 10 minutes, then they go into the HBOT. And the foundations that the PEMF mat have built on the circulation and in the blood flow and everything to do with this episode we've been talking about, now you apply the HBOT for the next hour and a half, and the, the results are tenfold. You know, it's, it's all about setting up the body and creating that environment to then follow on with another therapy, and then you're gonna get more benefits out of it.

 

Joshua Roberts 24:47 
And probably one question that some people have been waiting for when it comes to the application of PEMF for blood flow is what intensity should we use? So what is kind of the best or most optimal intensity, um, we should use for blood flow and circulation?

 

Andy Smith 25:02 
Yeah, when we're talking about intensity, um, you do not need an extremely high PEMF device, high intensity PEMF device to simply reach the blood vessels or influence circulation. Human microcirculation studies have reported measurable changes using relatively low intensities, including 5 gauss and 12 gauss. This suggests that low to medium in- intensity PEMF devices can be enough to influence blood flow viscosity, capillary domin- diameter, and vascular signaling. And actually, I think from a lot of my research and from what I've done in the past, you know, uh, a low to medium intensity device could actually arguably be better than a high intensity device when it comes specifically to circulation. Uh, for regular home use, a medium intensity system providing anything from about 10 to 100 gauss should offer more than enough intensity for this type of application. When we actually look at high intensity PEMF, it has a really good place when it comes to short-term pain relief. Um, but there isn't currently any major evidence that we could find showing that higher intensity automatically produces any kind of a greater improvement when it comes to circulation. So, you know, for me and what I've seen under a dark field microscope, low to medium dev- intensity devices are actually a best- the best suited PEMF device when it comes specifically to circulation.

 

Joshua Roberts 26:23 
And kind of to go hand in hand with that question, what is the optimal or the, the best frequency for blood flow and circulation for PEMF?

 

Andy Smith 26:32 
Yeah, the argument with frequency and which one's best, you know, it's very difficult for, um, anybody to come to a conclusion, and I'll explain that because there isn't really a single frequency proven that's best for circulation when we're talking about this episode specifically. Uh, when we look back at the, you know, the studies we did, you know, two human microcirculation studies, they used between 12 hertz, um, you know, but that does not make 12 hertz a magic circulation frequency because there was different studies that produced vascular effects using different frequencies, intensities, waveforms, and session lengths. Uh, rather than searching for one perfect frequency, a practical approach is best to choose when we're setting up settings that also suits the time of day. So, you know, we've mentioned this a lot on this, on this ep- uh, on these podcasts, sorry, before, but looking at the frequencies betwe- between about 12 and 30 hertz can be used to complement more of an alert brainwave state, and that can be used earlier time of day. In the evening, lower the frequencies less than, you know, 12, less than 8 hertz, is gonna complement a more calmer, more relaxed state. So we're actually looking at the brain states rather than looking for a specific circulation frequency. Um, again, you know, applying PEMF at different frequencies, we tend to get good effects with this range. And so why not prioritize the circadian rhythm when we're applying a PEMF device? So we're trying to apply the right frequency at the right time of day.

 

Joshua Roberts 28:08 
And yeah, exactly, just like any condition with PEMF or any application of PEMF, there isn't one best frequency. I don't think we've ever done a condition episode where we found the best frequency. I don't think unanimously there is a best frequency kind of for anything in PEMF. Um, as you say, the best thing to do is to use the ideal frequencies for the time of day, whether that's kind of the morning or the evening. Um, yeah, you just want to apply best frequencies for those times. So now we know how to apply PEMF, what frequency, um, and what intensity to use, how long should we be applying PEMF, and how consistently should we be doing so?

 

Andy Smith 28:46 
Yeah, it's a great question. And, you know, circulation research has measured both immediate responses following one session and longer term changes after repeated use. Some studies have found changes in vessel diameter or blood flow viscosity after a single session lasting between 20 and 60 minutes. However, studies looking at wider vascular function, blood pressure, wound healing, and angiogenesis have generally used repeated sessions over several weeks. So angiogenesis, as we mentioned earlier, you know, the, the formation of new blood vessels, you know, in particular, is not something that would happen during one short session. Building new blood vessels is a longer term process involving cell growth, movement, and tissue repair. One diabetic foot ulcer study used 14 sessions over three weeks, while the human studies looked at nitric oxide, blood pressure, and vascular function continued for those 12 weeks. So that suggests that a single session may temporarily influence blood flow, but regular use is likely to become more important when the goal is longer term support. As with most areas of PEMF, consistency is probably more important than continually changing the settings or searching for one perfect circulation frequency. So, you know, just to summarize that, and it's very linked often to HBOTs, you know, what I mentioned earlier with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, is yes, we can increase oxygen delivery in one session, but you actually want this agen- uh, angiogenesis to happen, so the formation of new blood vessels so that you can benefit longer term. And we're seeing the same in these studies with PEMF therapy. So as always, with PEMF therapy, consistency is always key. Keep using the PEMF as, you know, as frequently as we would say once a day, twice a day. Use the right frequencies at the time of day. You're gonna keep up with it consistently, then hopefully you'll see these benefits over time.

 

Joshua Roberts 30:44 
And yeah, just like anything with PEMF, consistency is key. You're always gonna get the best results with PEMF if you are more consistent. Um, but if you have enjoyed this episode or found it useful, please do make sure to like, subscribe and follow us on whatever audio platform you're on. This helps us make more of these episodes and get bigger and better guests in the future. And as I said at the start of this episode, um, please do make sure to check out our website. We will likely have a page by the time this episode goes out on blood flow and circulation. Um, if you want to read the studies a little bit more, if you want to go a little bit more into depth on all the studies that we have mentioned will be over on those pages as well as linked below this episode if you want to have a little bit more of a deep dive. Um, and as I say, loads more other information over on our website about other use cases for PEMF as well as on this podcast. Um, so do go back to some of our old episodes or go and check out our website if you want to learn a little bit more about PEMF. And as I said at the start, do contact us if you do have any questions, and do make sure to sign up to our newsletter. Make sure we can keep you up to date on the latest PEMF news and the latest, the PEMF podcast news.

 

Andy Smith 31:48 
Thanks for listening to another episode of the PEMF podcast, and if you haven't done it already, please check out thepemfpodcast.com and sign up to the mailing list so that we can send you all the information as it hits. 

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The information shared through The PEMF Podcast and this website is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding any health concerns or before starting new wellness practices.