makes me wonder what raw materials/nutrients the body may be lacking to heal this…
Good point. He’s also quadriplegic from a spinal cord injury, so I wonder if the nerve damage might also be a contributing factor.
It may be that this is a refractory lesion for the same underlying mechanisms that abdominal fistulas and diabetic ulcers are so difficult to manage. It is my opinion that these are so challenging because the wound margins have extensive pathological inflammation, which makes tissue recovery almost impossible, leading to chronic wounds.
I have been trying for many years to get a formal study started on this topic, but resistance from clinicians is fierce. They want proof before taking data, another Kafkaesque cycle that I have been fighting for more than a decade while people suffer needlessly.
While i have been unable to try the technology with abdominal fistula, I have had some success with a few anecdotal cases with diabetic ulcers. The individual clinical outcomes were that non-healing diabetic foot ulcers were able to begin healing when ICES-PEMF was used.
So, in my opinion I think ICES-PEMF might be very helpful for your specific application, though I have no direct specific evidence to support this opinion.
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Interesting. Thanks for the feedback Bob. I’m sure he’d be interested in a wound study if you ever manage to get one going.
He’s looked into studies dealing directly with healing or improving the affects of spinal cord injuries in the past but they have proven difficult to qualify for as they all have very specific criteria.
What unit and coils do you think might be a good choice? I was suggesting the M1 to him because it has lots of modes he could experiment with directly over the site of his spinal cord injury. Also the brainwave modes I thought might possibly help him with sleep, relaxation and general comfort level.
it has been my direct and wonderful experience that the a9 works for many things needing healing or lowering of inflammation symptoms.
just my 2 cents, but i think they (most) would benefit just from using the a9 alone
Thank you. I was looking at the A9 as well because of the different types of coils that come with it.
Well, if he is willing to self-experiment, we could start immediately with an “n = 1” experiment: just him, one person. This is pretty simple to do:
1- Start with the initial prognosis. What has he tried, what was the outcome, what have his physicians told him is left for him to try, anything? What percentage chance do they give him of a recovery. Getting full records at this point is critical, because when PEMF starts to work, people naturally begin to forget just how desperate and hopeless they had become before trying PEMF.
It is very helpful to collect any quantitative data that is available at the outset such as blood tests, photographs and measurements of wounds, anything that gives a quantifiable record of the starting point before using PEMF.
Then, once he has gotten his initial prognosis and his records, and especially if doctors are willing to put statements into writing stating how dire the outlook is, then you begin using PEMF.
Then the fun begins (it is usually fun, especially if PEMF starts to work, which it often does). Have him keep a daily journal: what he did, how he used the PEMF system: where, how long, what settings, as many details as possible.
Record any personal observations, such as reduction of pain, restoration of feeling or function, reduced wound seepage or noticeable healing.
Then, keep detailed records of any doctor visits and comments and lab test results during this process.
Since he has several major issues, he might start working on one area, and if it really helps, he may want more ICES-PEMF systems to cover more different locations at the same time. If it is not working in an area (give it 2-3 weeks), then move on to the next area to try and record the observations, details of use, outcomes, etc.
Then, at some point in a few moths he will have a lot of information, we can collect it, maybe write a paper, and report the results here to help other people.
This approach does not change the world on one swoop, but it has helped many people, one-by-one, and if the record keeping is good, we gain a lot of information from each person who does this.
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I would start with the A9 and the standard kit with regular coils.
That will tell you pretty quickly if it is going to help or not.
Thanks for the great response Bob. I can certainly help him upload files and notes but it will be up to him to get started and gather all the records and info. I sent him a link to check out the devices and filled him in on our conversation here. He seems interested enough to give it a go! He said he will reach out to you soon, perhaps tomorrow. I hope this all works out and helps him heal.
That’s really great. It is surprising how much insight you can gain from a single, well-documented case.
Incredibly interesting thread.
As someone who has been dealing with a non-healing plantar diabetic foot ulcer for over 3 years now, I can vouch for the fact of trying every brand and flavor of snake oil out there as well as the so called gold standard of total contact casting to no avail.
As a former EE educated overseas, I decided to start researching electro therapy based treatments that were pretty much outlawed here in the 1920’s and 1930’s. There is a significant body of study that has been done outside of the US in just this one small area of Diabetic Foot Ulcers. I find it curious that treatments approved by large health organizations in the EU (NHS in UK) are not even considered here. One small example is a hemoglobin based spray that accelerates wound healing time, and yet will not be approved by the FDA.
I began my research into PEMF at first looking at massively powerful pulse generators in the 2+ Tesla range (with the ability to hurl a 4oz aluminum block 50 feet into the air), but something didn’t feel right about that.
There are a lot of published DIY circuits out there that are somewhat functional but they rarely come with the profile information with regard to the pulse parameters, shape, timing, intensity, relative rates of change in voltage etc.
Thank you Bob for all that you do, for the research you continue to pursue and the motivation behind it in helping the suffering.
I’ve learned more here in less than eight hours than in weeks of researching articles on NIH and clickbait marketing fluff via google.
Looking forward to becoming a customer in the next couple of weeks.
I would love to hear of anyones experiences with DFU and the application of an A9 to this. I am currently putting together a case study based on my own clinical experiences and hope to be able to prove the naysayers wrong in the very near future with one more anecdotal story of the power of PEMF.
For those who believe one story can’t make a difference, remember, it was a single MD in Australia that discovered the root of stomach ulcers was a simple bacterial infection, h pylori. He infected himself, then cured himself after the ulcer was documented by another MD with a simple antibiotic. This was back in the day when the standard treatment for recurring peptic ulcers was surgery to remove the affected area of the stomach. I had a very close friend have half his stomach removed for what is today treated with a 10 day course of pills costing less than $10. That MD was vilified by his own kind and almost driven out of the profession because he dared to question the establishment.
PEMF, properly applied with research hind it like you find here has a lot of untapped potential.
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Outstanding, a really valuable contribution, thanks. I am in agreement with you 100% in everything you say.
I have seen a lot of anecdotal information on the very beneficial effect of ICES-PEMF for diabetic foot ulcers, and wound healing in general. Some PEMF marketers even posted very compelling images of diabetic foot ulcers healing very nicely over the course of 5 or 6 weeks, but they quickly removed those images when it was pointed out that the PEMF device they were using (shown clearly in one image by mistake) was not their product, but was in fact, one of my products (the original model A9). PEMF marketers will do anything to make a sale…
But even my competitors were awed by how well ICES-PEMF works for diabetic foot ulcers.
My sister (who has Type 1 diabetes since she was 11), is now 53 years old, and last November fell from standing on a chair (not smart 
) , broke her tibia, had a titanium implant, but the surgical wound never healed. No amount of “wound specialist” advice or treatments would help. Early this year her doctor told her that they would probably need to amputate her leg.
I sent her a model A9 and worked with her daily to make sure she was using it correctly. Within a few weeks she was healing nicely, and all she has now to show for it is a nice long well-healed surgical scar from the original implant surgery.
So, @choban55, if you decide to try one of our devices, please do take lots of pictures and keep detailed records of what you did and how well it worked (or not). Any clinical lab tests or assessments would also be very helpful and informative. If your physician has a prognosis now, make sure to keep that as well. It would also be helpful for you to record all the things they inflicted upon you over the past 3 years that did not work.
A comprehensive case study like this would be a superb addition to our knowledge and would doubtless save many people from endless needless suffering.
thanks
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Another bit of information you may be interested in related to diabetic foot ulcers and PEMF can be found in William Pawluk MD’s blog on the subject:
The photos and individual case descriptions are down near the bottom of the page. Bill showed me the photos for the second case when he first posted this blog: 2-years of treatment in a specialized wound care center for with a non-healing plantar foot ulcer. He explained to me (not in the blog) that for this case he used a model A9 ICES-PEMF system daily, which had the excellent outcome shown after several months of use. My understanding is that he also has had very good outcomes with other PEMF products, which he uses based on the specific requirements of each individual case.
This is excellent material, thank you once again. I’ve read two of his books in the course of my research into PEMF and also watched his videos. I think what turned me away was the cost of the devices he seemed to be recommending. I have no doubt they are effective in different situations as he recommends them, it’s just that after trying so many “guaranteed” solutions for diabetic foot ulcer treatment and back pain issues down through the years, I’ve become a little cynical when it comes to the marketing hype.
This is why I am very excited to getting started with the A9 when I get back from vacation this weekend, I managed to grab one of the last ones, if not the last on eBay a couple of days ago.
Interesting aside, while at home I had been using a home made Pemf device, (555 based sawtooth generator, driving a 2.5lb 18awg coil via a MOSFET with about 5A @30v, 10Hz 15% duty cycle) to keep a low grade infection in my foot wound area in check, I’m noticing an increase in redness, nothing dangerous or acute, but enough to tell me that cellulitis is returning to the area. The observation here is that it confirms your assertion that more is not necessarily better in that, my crude device is like using a sledgehammer to crack an egg. While this approach may get me closer to where I need to be it lacks the finer detail of a product like the A9 along with the years of research backing it, to achieve the desired result.
I’m probably going to be lambasted for this but it’s the classic power versus finesse argument that plays out in areas like sports cars. If raw power is your goal, a Porsche 911 S Turbo flat 6 cylinder 3.7L develops 640hp, whereas a Corvette Z51S comes in at around 500hp for a 6.2L V8. Different beasts but also shows less is more and not always inferior.
One other thing I forgot to mention about the DIY Pemf device, of all that power being driven into the coil, only a small portion is being converted into a usable magnetic field, most of it is being dissipated in the form of heat. As a result of this, I can only use it for about 15 minutes before it becomes too hot to the touch. Not to mention the fact that such a heavy coil has severe limitations on placement.
I am all in favor of DIY PEMF. After all, that’s where I started. I recently gave a talk where the technical support person for the meetings (Tito) was inspired to try to build his own DIY PEMF system. He did a very nice job with well-built coils and a nice hard-case for the electronics. He used a 555 with square wave output to a MOSFET. I suggested that he use the lowest possible duty cycle. It has been a while since I played with a 555 (maybe 1980??), but you can get a very short duty cycle (narrow pulse) by adding a digital logic differentiator. Or better yet, just swap out the 555 for an Arduino and generate short pulses digitally. Add a logic-level FET and you’re in business.
He had built one for himself, and now he loans it out to nearly everyone in his family. He discovered that his 555-based DIY PEMF system is indispensable for general family health and injury recovery.
NOTE for non-nerds: a “555” is an old-fashioned integrated circuit that you could buy from Radio Shack way back in the day, and you could set it up with a few resistors and capacitors to generate pulses at any rate you want (almost). Crude but fun.
Technical Note: Narrower pulses with higher slew rate edges will have more biological effect. So, you will get optimal performance with very narrow pulses. The pulses need to be at least 100 microseconds wide, but 200 may be a bit better. At 10 Hz, this means that the PEMF device is only on for 0.1% of the time. This will be as biologically effective (or more) than wider pulses, but will only use 1/1000th the source electrical power of a full-duty cycle square wave, so coil heating will not be a problem.
@Bob Thanks for the suggestions, I think I’ll do the 555 while I wait for the Arduino to come from Amazon. Appreciate the insight as usual. Man this forum is a treasure trove of valuable information and research, I love the experiential posts from individuals as well. This is gold. Thank you so much for enabling this.
You might also find a recent scientific survey paper useful. It is a survey on the effect of ICES-PEMF for pain (broadly defined), based on a doctoral dissertation, in our journal:
Thank you sir, I just watched the series of videos on YouTube yesterday.
I am putting my M1 on an abdominal fistula atm. Omni at 10 doubled coil. Causing more blood, but I expect that it is increasing blood flow to the area, so probably a good thing. Also I think it might be activating the illeocecal valve, but difficult to tell. Thanks for the information on this. Steve