I think many of us have heard about Infrared therapy and PEMF therapy, but does it even help your health and your chronic pain? Before Healthyline’s Infrared and PEMF mat, I’ve tried both therapies separately.
We’ve had an Infrared mat for years now and I’ve tried PEMF therapy at a doctor’s office, so when I heard that Healthyline offered a mat that combined the therapeutic properties of both Infared therapy and PEMF therapy, I was more than willing to jump at the opportunity to try a mat with these two well-touted therapies.
So if you remember, I do have experience with an Infrared mat (the Biomat to be exact) and a PEMF mat that I used at my doctor’s office, so as I’m expressing to you my thoughts about the Healthyline mat, I’m doing this based on my past experience with both devices.
So, let’s jump in!
My initial thoughts: I really liked the way it molds into a reclining chair to sit in. The setup of the mat was pretty self-explanatory and easy-to-use. I like that Healthyline offers the chair option because it’s a nice position to use while reading a book, writing, watching TV, or any number of activities you normally do while reclining.
The feel of the mat: the mat itself is stiff to the touch, but with the cloth cover that’s removable, it’s not really noticeable. Since it’s in an upright position compared to a supine, laying down position, I felt like the stiffness was less noticeable compared to the Biomat we have. (As a side note: if you prefer laying down, Healthyline does offer a mat that is flat for this purpose.)
My first use: okay, so I did what you’re NOT supposed to do and what I would never advise you to do. I bumped up the PEMF and Photon settings to see if it really worked. How do I know it worked? My back pain intensified and I started to feel the herxheimer die-off effect…meaning, I felt awful. I knew I needed to take my GI Detox pill that contains activated charcoal to help my body process the load from the die-off.
How I felt with my first use: Shockingly, I woke up the next day feeling slightly better, not only from the awful die-off effect, but I also felt better than I did prior to sitting on the mat. My back pain felt like it was at a more manageable level (I’ve been diagnosed with disc issues in my back), my inflammation was curbed, and I saw a slight improvement in my energy levels.
Even though this was a great upside, I do not recommend starting with the higher settings. I reasoned that the higher level would be fine since my body was already accustomed to these kinds of mats and well, I wanted to see if it worked! Well, I can tell you, it does, but allow me to be the guinea pig and face the ill effects so you don’t have to!
My subsequent uses: I noticed if I put the mat on lower settings, it gives me a slight relief more immediately from my pain. If I place it at moderate to higher settings, I feel the die-off effect I talked about before, but I’ll later feel an alleviation to my pain.
What I like about the mat: like I mentioned before, I love the molded, upright position. I remember as a kid having heating pads surround me to alleviate my pain, but then, I later found out that heating pads emit potentially harmful EMF’s and I didn’t want that on my body on a regular basis. I like that this mat does not carry the dangers of emitting potentially harmful EMF’s so even if I simply wanted to turn on the heat setting to dull my pain, I feel more comfortable that I’m not harming my body compared to the original heating pads.
I like that Healthyline’s mat has the combined features of PEMF, Infrared, and Photon at a price point that’s less than most other mats on the market that only offers one of these therapeutic benefits. For reference, we paid at least twice as much as the list price of this mat for our Biomat that ONLY has the Infrared feature.
What I didn’t like about this mat: I’m not too crazy about the controller compared to the one I’m used to with the Biomat which has a sturdier feel. The buttons can be difficult to press to change the settings.
My overall thoughts on Healthyline’s PEMF Mat: I think Healthyline’s mat is a good mat for the pricepoint that can offer alleviation of pain, especially back pain. It also has the potential to offer good detoxing capabilities, but anyone using it for this purpose should be careful and seek their physician for support and ease into the therapy gradually beginning with the lower settings. I think it’s important to note that with any of these mats not to expect a cure-all, but to use it for the purpose of alleviation of symptoms.
