If you are puzzling over the use of PEMF as a therapy for use on horses, you are not alone.
Horse and dog receiving pulse electro Magnetic field therapy
How does pulse electro magnetic field therapy work and is it truly a therapy?.
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The process of directing powerful pulsed energy waves toward injury sites in your horse’s body is becoming increasingly popular, despite its expense and the questions that authorities such as the New York Racing Commission have highlighted resulting in their ban of its use by anyone other than a qualified veterinarian or licensed veterinary technician across New York racetracks.
Since it takes virtually no training to operate the simple on/off and intensity controls of most PEMF machines, it’s easy to assign the task to unskilled workers such as grooms. However, as a treatment period of up to an hour is generally noted for optimal results, busy veterinarians at New York racetracks will have to allow considerable slices of time be cut from their workday to attend to these new requirements for PEMF use on horses.
When we think of electro magnetic fields, our minds may wander to the trending health concerns related to the use of the incoming 5G network for cell phone users and the health risks associated with electro-magnetic fields (EMF). Indeed technicians and others using the PEMF protocol on horses have also noted a myriad of side effects similar to those experienced by humans subjected to exposure of EMF exposure, from using the PEMF devices.
During use, operators, and even those in nearby proximity to the PEMF horse therapy machines, such as the newer popping coil applicator or the blanket style devices, have reported nausea, headaches, worsening pain and light-headedness.
As horses can’t talk, the diligent horse owner might question what negative effects the use of these machines is exacting on their charges and whether any potential positive benefits of their use outweigh possible detrimental effects on the health of horse and operator and others in the vicinity of the treatment.
How does PEMF work and is it truly a therapy? Or is it simply an analgesic that disguises the horse’s pain without provision of healing benefits to the injury.
What does scientific evidence suggest and what do manufacturers themselves say about their PEMF machines?
Deborah Powell of Matrix Therapy Products, a company that specializes in equine microcurrent and other complementary therapies talked about PEMF manufactured devices:
“Phillipson, a European manufacturer of PEMF, stated that machines that make a popping noise are using spark gap, or air gap, a technology which discharge high energies extremely fast, and suggested noticeable attributes of this type of PEMF machine include the undesirable side effects of muscle contractions.
As Phillipson explained, ‘The only effect these devices have is an analgesic effect similar to strong painkillers and they do not treat the underlying cause of pain. This mostly leads to the wrong conclusion that these machines are actually real therapy devices.’”
It is important to understand that all PEMF devices and uses are not created equal. In studies conducted so far, the use of PEMF in humans has been shown to be of benefit to the patient and to aid in the healing process. However, these administrations of PEMF have been at a much lower level of gauss range. Gauss is the unit of measurement used to define magnetic flux densities.
Powell explained the difference in PEMF use between horse and humans:
“The majority of the studies for therapeutic benefit of PEMF in people tend to reflect uses in the 4-200 gauss range whereas certain PEMF units manufactured for use in horses, indicate that horse model ranges up to 19,200 gauss. If PEMF is to be considered a holistic therapy and not simply an analgesic, studies of the specifications of PEMF devices being used on horses and their actual effects need to be instituted.”
Indeed there is controversy over the use of the PEMF machines on horses across the horse industry.
“Equine versions of PEMF have gained popularity as the new ‘one size fits all’ therapy and appears to be the replacement for shockwave and radial pulse machines that were once widely used on the backstretch for a pre-race analgesic effect on horses,” explained Powell. “And vets and horse trainers are on both sides of the fence over PEMF use, for and against.“
Powell quoted several other professionals who have expressed concerns. For example:
Karen Hanna, a NY therapist and racehorse owner, is fine with the ban and said, ‘None of the veterinarians I know and work with use PEMF.’
Kathy Kirby, a traveling track therapist in KY said, ‘I’ve noticed good therapists that wouldn’t touch it started using PEMF to not lose their clients believing their other therapies were more beneficial to the horses wellbeing.’
Powell added: “There are not many folks who are outspoken on the subject of PEMF but it was refreshing to see veterinarian and owner breeder Dr. Russell Cohen’s comments in the article Equine Therapy in Cross Hairs, ‘I don’t think there’s a place for any of these things. If you really like these animals, and breed them and race them like I do, you’re not going to put this on your own horse.’”
The magnetic draw of the seemingly ‘quick fix’, will doubtless still pull horse trainers, owners and medical professionals to the use of PEMF both now and in the future. The choice is still one of conscience. In the opinion of Powell, studies to define how safe PEMF technology is for use in equine medicine and that detail benefits and drawbacks of its use are needed.
About Matrix Therapy Products® Beavercreek, OR : Matrix Therapy Products specializes in equine microcurrent and other complementary therapies. Uniquely Matrix is a full service shop offering education, distance training, and hands on classes for therapist and visual learners.
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