Hi friends,
I just wanted to chime in and share my experience so far with my M1 & C5 units this far.
I acquired the M1 first because it would arrive sooner than the C5 and I wanted to get started ASAP. I’ve been dealing with a few issues since falling from a 2nd story roof and breaking 5 vertebrae (burst fractures) nearly 35 years ago. I was able to keep from taking any meds whatsoever until about 15 years ago when I lost daily access to my chiropractor and my Samadhi float tank. The meds helped to quiet the consciousness dominating pain… for a while, but as many of you know firsthand, they lose effectiveness & they also cause other problems like mental acuity etc. So as you can imagine, I’ve been seeking out alternatives to alleviate my pain.
TENS has only helped once in a while when my back muscles are as tight as banjo strings… and it’s often more trouble than it’s worth monkeying with gel electrodes and all of that.
When the M1 arrived, I immediately tried running 2 coils side by side near my spine using Omni 8 and level 8 intensity. I wore it around using the “health wrap” (thanks @Bob) for the next few days, but I was unable to get more than a vague notion it was doing anything. For the heck of it, I cranked it all the way up to 15 and I think there was an improvement, but the feedback was still kinda vague… So I then proceeded to stack the coils bumpy2bumpy and placed them directly over the area where the pain was greatest with Omni 8 @ 9 intensity. I remember Bob pointing out that more intensity wasn’t “more better” so I left it on for the entire morning & I started to feel a little better.
I actually forgot I had the M1 on(!) when I went to the chiropractor, so while I was there I asked him to muscle test me to see if this was “just all in my head” and a placebo, or if it was really helping me. (I have a long history of trusting what my body’s innate wisdom tells me via applied kinesiology & for better or worse, trust it implicitly. YMMV) On a scale of 1 to 10, my body returned a value of 13… essentially, off the charts. Since “dosing” can be hit or miss, I asked what was the best intensity setting for ME, and it returned a value of 12.
So upon leaving, I adjusted the intensity to 12, using the Omni 8 protocol and I really started to get some relief, but not QUITE as much as I really wanted.
And then… the C5 showed up.
I bought a bunch of extra coils and also some extra Quad/2x2 coils. I made myself a 4 coil setup using 4 individual coils. Essentially, 2 coils side by side and another layer on top, bumpy2bumpy configuration, and then wrapped everything in that self adhesive gauze. Coming from an automation background…my OCD forced me to bridle the wires up nicely, add strain relief and put some mesh wire loom over it.
I found some USB power packs just a little smaller than the C5 case was…for now, I’ve got two broccoli rubber bands around them to keep everything together. Serendipity being what it was, I just wound up stretching out in bed and slipping the coil array I made over the area of highest pain - pretty much to the right of my L1. Recent imaging showed spinal stenosis and deteriorated disc between L1 & T12, plus a “slipping disc” between L5 and my sacrum.
Aggravated and annoyed by the pain, I just laid on it for a while - and zoned out watching TV for a bit. I had it set on the same settings as the M1, but used 2 channels of the C5 to drive two double coils… and before long I was REALLY feeling pain relief! Admittedly, somewhere between my initial experiment with the M1 with various coil configurations and receiving the C5, I was feeling doubtful…“Whelp…guess we just threw more money down the bottomless pit!” - but after using the more powerful and voluminous array with the C5, I really started feeling some actual pain relief!
I’m SO GLAD I didn’t drop $7k+ on a “Swissy mat” and that I took a chance on the ICES tech. It’s really starting to work for me!
So now… I’ve got to come up with a reasonable configuration to make this setup more portable and comfortable for wearing it around while doing various activities. The USB power pack is quite heavy and also makes the overall size of the C5 quite a bit thicker.
I’m going to experiment with an over the shoulder/diagonal type compact camera bag and see how that works. A belt clip is another option, but I’d most likely have to wear suspenders to keep my pants up, due to the weight of the battery. Another possibility - I’ve been wrestling with, for no other reason than aesthetics, is a fanny pack. A certain archetype wears them, and I really don’t want to “be that guy” 
- but we’ll see what I come up with.
Overall, I’m pleased with the performance of the C5 - mainly the additional channels, which allows me to run multiple stacked coils. I’m going to try an additional array of coils, just like I’m running in Ch 1&2 on 3&4 and see if there’s any benefit. My pain moves around and I’m especially sensitive to changes in barometric pressure, so additional coils may or may not prove to be helpful for me.
I read some place that nobody REALLY understands what PEMF is actually doing outside of facilitating cell membrane permeability - and by extension, increasing (potentially) toxin transportation out of the cell and nutrient uptake into the cell. It’s not necessary that I understand exactly what’s happening at a cellular level, much more than knowing is a novelty - but I will say, that doesn’t really matter a whole lot when I am feeling pain relief while using it!
I just wanted to say thanks to @Bob for his products & everyone here for sharing your stories. Reading others experiences from a grassroots perspective was refreshing, reassuring and much more informative than the “trust me bro” marketing hype on countless PEMF mat sites, videos and even a few author’s books I bought.