The latest gadget I’ve been using is the Somapulse. It uses Pulsed Electromagnetic Field technology (PEMF) developed at NASA, and its patented signal helps humans repair and heal tissues. You can read more about the development of the Somapulse on their site.
As an athlete, I have an immediate attraction to any technology that can heal me and help me recover faster! Still, I had to admit I was skeptical on its efficacy. I had tried a number of recovery technologies and not all of them seemed to work. But if something was good enough for NASA, it must be good enough for me, right?
The Somapulse retails for $1390 but I had a discount code which reduced that to about $1000. It’s design is pretty ghetto – for $1000 you’d think they could make a battery cover for it. It runs in cycles of 40 minutes: 30 minutes of looping through 3 different types of signals, and then 10 minutes of rest.
The first day I put it on for about two cycles on my left front deltoid area, which was sore from doing pull ups (poorly!). By the time the two cycles were done, the soreness was gone! The next morning there was still no soreness.
Next I tried it on my forearms and elbows, which were completely wiped out from bad kettlebell form. The problem had moved from being muscular to inside the joint itself. In weeks past, I would take a week off from working out and the pain/soreness would not even diminish. By the end of the week, it felt pretty much the same as it did when I began the week off. Then I would go on to workout and more than likely destroy it further.
It seems that my recovery capabilities are pretty slow now as I get older. If the Somapulse doesn’t work, then my only alternative is to take a LOT of time off until my elbow and forearms heal up. That would suck!
After 3 days of Somapulse treatment for many hours each day, the pain was noticeably less! By 3 weeks time, the elbow was pretty much completely healed! Amazing!
I loved this device so much that now I have 2 of them, and then I bought two more of their “veterinarian” version called Alleva-Wave. It is only $700, or $550 in quantities of 5 or more (to get the discount you must join on their site). With 4, now I can treat all 4 limbs at once (yeah I got a lot of problems!). The Alleva-Wave also supposedly has some improvements in the PEMF is gives out. I’m testing it now.
Some usage notes:
1. Putting on the Somapulse right after an injury, or some place you think you’ll be sore, is more effective than the day after. I have this issue with electrostim training on my VMOs and they always get DOMS for many days after. If I train, and immediately put on the Somapulse coils, they will not be sore – DOMS doesn’t even show up. But if I wait even a day, the DOMS appears and stays no matter how long I put the coils on.
2. Muscular issues take a lot less time than ligaments or tendons. So my left front delt issue could be cleared up in an hour, but my elbow took 3 weeks of treatment every day for many hours.
3. I find that wearing it for many hours each day is best, for as long as you can take having wires hanging around you.
4. Stacking the coils to magnify the electromagnetic field to the max is best. I tried separating the coils and sandwiching areas but none of these seem as effective as stacking the coils on some area.
5. They sell coils with varying cable lengths. I found that the longest ones are the best 47″. The other two are way too short and inconvenient.
6. Most of the time, using a velcro wrap works well in holding the coils against a body part. But some parts are much tougher, like the shoulder area where movement can cause a wrap to shift and the coils may either move or fall out. I wear Under Armour Compression Shirts which work really well at holding the coils onto awkward parts of the body.
7. Wearing cargo pants is a must. Big pockets are necessary to hold the Somapulse or Alleva-Wave units.
8. Rechargeable lithium 9V batteries are also a must. Buy some of these off amazon.
9. There are some more interesting effects I have not tried yet, like stimulating the thymus for the immune system or solar plexus for systemic issues. The possibilities are pretty cool though.
I really was skeptical that the Somapulse would work. I was pleasantly surprised at its effectiveness. This product rates amongst the best I’ve spent money on.
UPDATED:
Yesterday I was waiting to see how long it would take for some DOMS that showed up on my right VMO because of electrostim training. It was day 3 and it was still very sore; I was skeptical that it would disappear by the next day on its own. So I put my new Alleva-Waves on to see what would happen. Knowing what happened with the Somapulse, I was expecting that nothing would happen. After several hours of treatment, my soreness didn’t diminish and I went to sleep.
This morning I woke up and the DOMS in my right VMO was nearly gone! Wow! During breakfast, I put the Alleva-Wave on it for another 3 hours and after that, I was ready to hit it with electrostim again.
Something in Alleva-Wave’s setup makes it more effective than the Somapulse. I stacked the coils on the right VMO, and used the H setting. It may be that because there is now no rest period that and there is also higher power now. But I am ecstatic that I can get rid of DOMS overnight whereas before I could not with the Somapulse!