There are many types of devices that can be used to improve health. Some of those commonly used today include exercise equipment, orthotic inserts for shoes, and back braces to reduce back injury.
There is also a lesser known class of “energy medicine” or “energy health” devices that have become more widely available in the past few decades. Many of these devices work by manipulating the electrical or light energy exposure of the body. The following are brief descriptions of several types.
Grounding
These devices work by helping to normalize the body’s electrical charge and improve metabolic synchronization with the Earth’s electromagnetic field. The most widely known of these are “Earthing devices” described in the book ”Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?” written by engineer Clint Ober, cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra, biophysicist Dr. James Oschman, and health writer Martin Zucker.
This is very basic technology, relying on simple electrical conductors in various forms. It can be traced back to common cultural practices such as exercising in contact with trees or the ground (such as outdoors yoga or Chinese Tai Chi) and the Traditional Chinese Medicine practice of acupuncture. That may sound hokey to some, but there is convincing scientific evidence that acupuncture works in part by manipulating the human body’s electrical systems and that grounding positively affects the nervous system, adrenal function, and blood flow.
Dr. Joseph Mercola produced a DVD video The Grounded
that explains the ideas behind grounding and shares various people’s experiences with it for those who don’t want to read a book.
Probably the most popular form of using grounding is by sleeping on a grounding sheet
because that takes advantage of an entire night’s sleep in contact with the electron reservoir in the Earth and also helps to synchronize the sleep-wake cycles with local time. Some frequent travelers claim this eliminates jet lag for them, while many others report it helps them sleep much better and waken with less pain and fatigue in the mornings.
Another popular option is a grounding pad to use while working on your computer
. Computers are a common source of damaging electromagnetic field exposure. Given that many people spend several hours a day working with them, reducing the deleterious health impact by grounding away much of the artificial EMF makes a lot of sense. This is much like what electronics engineers and technicians do when then wear wrist grounding straps
to avoid electrostatic discharge that can be painful to a human and deadly to electronic circuits.
There is even a line of grounding sandals
for those who spend a lot of time outdoors, such as walking or gardening.
Light Therapy
Infrared light is reported to have positive effects on inflammation, energy, detoxification, and wound healing. There are a variety of such devices including blue light devices, infrared saunas, infrared light wands, and even intra-nasal light devices. Many of these work only short distances into the body, such as to reduce pain and inflammation of a skin wound. The intra-nasal devices can shine red or infrared light to reach areas of the brain near the nose.
Blue light therapy devices
are often used for Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of depression, fatigue, and low energy associated with areas with little daytime light for weeks at a time such as the cloudy Pacific Northwest or arctic regions. By exposing a patient eye’s to very bright levels of blue light in the morning, it helps to reset the day-night synchronization of the body. This can help improve energy levels in the day and sleep during the night.
The other devices work entirely apart from the eye. NASA started researched biological effects of light decades ago in order to speed up plant growth in space. Along the way, they found other useful biological effects of red and infrared light exposure in animals.
Scientist Gerald Pollack, a biophysics research at the University of Washington, may have found an explanation for some of the effects in plants and animals. In his book The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor
, he discuss his findings EZ (Exclusion Zone) water, also known as structured water. His many findings include observations on how infrared light can change the form and activity of water in a way that may be beneficial for biological processes such as fluid circulation and mitochondrial energy production.
MedicLights offers several types of Vielight red and infrared light devices. The RadiantLife HRx Laser Light Therapy
device is claimed to reduce pain and inflammation, speed healing of wounds, and even promote hair regrowth. Other intra-nasal infrared and red light devices they sell are intended to assist health in a number of areas. Improvements have been reported in sleep, allergies, nasal and sinus congestion, pain, headaches, blood circulation, high blood sugar, brain damage such as from traumatic brain injury or stroke, immune system function, and in many other areas. For a full list, see Expected Outcomes from Intranasal Light Therapy. The pulsed 810nm 10Hz device seems most promising for brain problems such as traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s because its light can reach further into the brain than other versions.
A number of doctors have written about the use of Vielight devices in their patients:
Dr. Mark Stengler on Intranasal Light Therapy
Dr. Robert Rowen on Red Light Therapy
Dr. Robert Rowen on Infrared Light Therapy for Brain Conditions
Dr. Garry Gordon Webinar on Light Therapy for Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Dr. Nan Fuchs on 810nm Pulsed Light Effects on Tremors and Cognition
Spectral Filtering Glasses
The body uses levels of blue light to help determine which metabolic processes to run throughout the day. High levels of blue light suggest daytime processes, which favor energy to collect food and flee from danger, should be used. Low levels of blue light suggest it is night and rest and recovery processes should be run. A modern problem common to most people using electronic devices such as computers, tablets, televisions, and cell phones is that the body is fooled into thinking it is daytime by the strong levels of blue light from the screens on these devices. If one gets little direct sunlight exposure during the morning to afternoon, common for most people working or attending school, and then experiences high blue light from screens, the body gets confused about the time of day. The result is that needed deep rest and recovery that should be occurring every night is lost.
A partial solution to this is to filter out the blue light levels after sunset using blue light blocking glasses such as the Uvex S1933X Safety Glasses
. These glasses feature orange lenses that block most of the blue spectrum light that confuses the body. When worn after sunset, the eyes see very little blue light and the brain gets the idea that it is nighttime.
A full solution to the blue light problem also requires a high level of blue light immediately after waking up in the morning. This can be accomplished by going outside and spending a few minutes looking up at the sky near the sun. This helps your body realize it is now daytime and to produce bursts of cortisol and other hormones that would normally be made around sunrise to help wake you up if you were living in the days before artificial lighting. This initial intense blue light acts like a synchronization pulse for the body’s daily circadian clock. Not only will it help you wake up in the mornings, it will also make it even easier to fall asleep at night when you reduce the level of blue light in your environment after sunset.
If you live in an area with little bright sunlight, using a blue light therapy device can partially substitute for the direct sunlight exposure you would get from taking a morning walk. However, artificial blue light sources do not contain important low-frequency ultraviolet (UVA) and infrared (IR) frequencies that are thought to help with hormone production and recharging the capability for good night vision. Also be sure not to overuse them, as there are credible theories that excessive blue light even in the daytime can damage the body’s stores of DHA and cause impairment in health, particularly in the brain, eye, and nervous system that used so much DHA.
Some people suffer from certain frequencies or sources of light causing neurological stress. The best known of these is probably flashing lights, such as strobe lights or fluorescent lights, that can trigger seizures or other stresses in the brain. However, even steady levels of certain frequencies of light can cause problems for some and may be part of the reason for dyslexia, certain learning disabilities, headaches, light sensitivity, and fatigue. Psychologist Helen Irlen wrote about the effects of color perception upon reading in her book The Irlen Revolution: A Guide to Changing your Perception and Your Life
. The Irlen Institute provides tests and custom eyewear designed to assist people with such problems. Since professional testing can be expensive, they offer a sample pack of colored reading overlays
that you can use to determine if Irlen Syndrome may be responsible for your child’s or your problems with reading or vision related fatigue and headaches.
Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields
There are dozens of PEMF (Pulsed Electronic Magenetic Field) devices available today with credible claims they can help improve certain health problems. See the book ”PEMF – The Fifth Element of Health” for more information on the science.
Dr. Pawluk’s website on electromagnetic health devices is a great resource for overviews of the technologies, science, and products available.
Light Bulbs
The type of light bulbs you use can impact your health. Common light bulbs emit some blue light. Older style incadescent light bulbs did not emit nearly as much as newer CFL and LED light bulbs. The “full spectrum” or daylight types emit more blue light than the “warm” or 2700K versions. By using bulbs that significantly reduce blue light after sunset, you can make it more likely your body will make melatonin earlier in the night and not be confused into stopping melatonin production. This is likely to improve sleep quality.
The FEIT A19 Yellow LED 3 Watt light bulb offers soft lighting similar to candles or a small fire in both color and lower intensity, while still making it relatively easy to discern many colors. Unlike many bulbs, it uses native yellow LEDs rather than filtering white LEDs to control color. The results are lower power usage and less heat generated. This is suitable for night-time lighting in areas such as family rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets.
The FEIT A19 Red LED 3 Watt light bulb offers a red lighting like you might find in a photography dark room. If it is nearby such as in a bedside lamp, the brightness should be sufficient for reading a book. It could make a nice bedside reading bulb to help you read without messing up your melatonin levels. The red lighting is not great for discerning colors, however, so it would work best for reading text-centric books rather than something where color matters such as a fashion magazine. Like its yellow sibling, this bulb also uses red LEDs rather than color filters to reduce power used and heat generated.
EMF Meters
Non-native EMF (nnEMF) such as from cell phones, BlueTooth, WiFi, cordless phones, microwaves, “smart” meters for electric utilities (and sometimes gas and water), and other sources can harm your health. Dehydration caused by nnEMF is similar to how a microwave oven dehydrates food, but it is doing it to your body at the level of very small features inside of your cells. It can negatively impact charged water shells around enzymes and proteins, causing them to perform poorly or not at all. It can also disrupt magnetic alignment of various components of your cells, causing them to work less efficiently. The symptoms can include headaches, blood glucose dysregulation, erratic heart rates, feelings of stress, difficulty walking or standing, dizziness, ringing ears, and many other problems that may be hard to detect without testing. The end result of exposure to excessive nnEMF is worsened health.
Some steps you can take are obvious. For example, turning off your cell phone and WiFi router at least when you are sleeping will help greatly at reducing nnEMF exposure.
But it can be difficult to find all the sources of dangerously high EMF in your home or workplace. Moreover, just knowing that something emits EMF doesn’t tell you how much. That cordless phone in the kitchen or that cell phone tower on top of the hill — how bad are they? An EMF meter can help you find sources and then quantify how much nnEMF signal they are emitting. After you take corrective steps, the EMF meter can tell you how much of an improvement you accomplished.
Some examples of well-regarded EMF meters include:
Trifield BroadBand 100XE Meter
Cornet ED78S EMF RF Meter ElectroMagnetic Detector (2016)
Cornet ED85EXS RF Meter Cellular Wi-Fi Radiation Detector
Extech 480846 8GHz RF Electromagnetic Field Strength Meter
Be sure to consider the frequency range each of these devices can detect. Some do not cover the 5GHz and higher bands used for newer WiFi devices and cordless phones. It may be worthwhile spending a little more to get something that covers a wider range of EMF so that you don’t miss your neighbor’s new 802.11ac WiFi router or DECT cordless phone that is blasting your bedroom with damaging nnEMF.
Static Magnetic Fields
Coming soon…
Cranial Electrical Stimulation
Coming soon…
Transdermal Electrical Stimulation
Coming soon…
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