When I started Earthing - by using an Earthing pad for my feet under my computer and by sleeping on the Earthing sheet - I was feeling good. This was last October. I was also walking/running barefoot on the beach almost every day. As I continued sleeping on the sheet, however, I found that my body stiffness was not getting better. Finally, in February, I took it off the bed. If you go to Amazon, you'll see 70 5-Star Reviews, 7 4-Star, and 9 1-Star. If you read the 5-Stars, these people sound like they've really benefitted from sleeping Earthed. The 1-Stars sound like they're angry that the 5-Stars are being duped. I personally have received comments on this site from people who are trying the technology. Coralie wrote:
Thermography and Inflammation Photo credit: innatewellnessaz.com
I purchased a Universal Earthing mat about 3 weeks ago and have had quite an unusual experience. Only just now is my body acclimating to its usage without side effects, which I’m told were detox reactions. When I first started using the mat, I noticed a real downshift in my nervous system which was a very good thing. A calm, settled feeling radiated along my midline and whole body. The unusual part was that after sleeping with it under my feet for a night or two I experienced general malaise, extreme fatigue, brain fog, dehydration, weird dreams, cold areas in my body and other strange phenomena. Everyone I consulted said it was a detox reaction, so I slowly titrated my usage according to symptoms and took measures to support detoxification. I have a very clean diet and am very health conscious, so it was a surprise to me that this level of toxicity existed in my body. However, I deal with tissue inflammation which probably threw off toxins, not to mention my newfound awareness of electrosensitivity, which is a whole other topic that I’m exploring. Only now am I able to sleep with the mat under my feet through the night and am finally beginning to receive the benefit of sounder sleep, a calm nervous system (thus lower cortisol), 90% reduction of body discomfort and inflammation – all leading to greater health and vitality. I began my earthing experiment with the mat because of it’s versatility as I could use it under my feet while on the computer as well as in bed. Since my body has adjusted, I am going to move on to purchasing the earthing sheet, which I understand from research has a gentler impact on the body than the mat. A voltmeter can validate the effectiveness of the grounding technology. A well-done video on the subject, Amanda.
One great thing about having a health blog is that you get to hear from real people who share real findings. Coralie experienced 90% reduction of inflammation. And that's what the Earthing studies show.
So was I going through a detox reaction? If I start sleeping Earthed again, will I notice benefits again after a few months? I do think my issues are chronic, judging from my two thermographs, and they are possibly related to my spinal rod (metal should not be in the body if possible).
Yesterday the Earthing Institute put out some more reports. One of them is particularly interesting because it's written by a holistic dentist whose chronic foot infection finally healed after a week of Earthing. Can this really happen? Time will tell. Here is his report:
One Dentist’s Earthing Experience
Chuck Munier, DMD, Augusta ME
“I was trained as a mechanical engineer before I went into dentistry and normally take an engineer’s show- me attitude to new things. So when Earthing first came to my attention as a suggestion from an enthusiastic patient, I was naturally skeptical that the concept actually worked beyond a placebo effect. However, I suspended my skepticism the first day after my first night sleeping on an Earthing sheet.
“I had been suffering for a few years with a chronic foot infection that had not responded to repeated medication. After the first night I already noticed a healing process underway. By the end of the week the infection was gone, and to this day, one year later, it has never returned. This was truly a remarkable effect.
“I decided I better read the book to find out what happened and how this thing actually worked as well as it did. After reading the book and with my background in health and science it made perfect sense. It resonated a lot with what I had been studying about inflammation and cellular biology as the basis of most disease. The Earthing book made the connection for me of the actual electrical effect on the inflammatory process and the ability to approach healing on an electrical as well as a biochemical basis.
“I have been treating dental patients for 39 years now and during that time have always looked at the condition of the teeth and mouth as reflective of the health of the rest of the body. Often the mouth is the first place that changes are noticed. I have learned the value of treating the total patient not just his or her teeth. During this time I have learned by observation from countless patients that the key to avoiding and treating disease is to manage inflammation. I have seen through the years an alarming increase in the use of drugs to manage disease and although there are some good drugs that address inflammation most of my patients with ongoing problems are overmedicated and then that becomes the main problem. Earthing added an electrical approach to the dietary, lifestyle, and exercise model that I had been using to address inflammation.
“With this in mind I decided to try Earthing in my busy practice to help patients looking for relief from acute temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or jaw pain and others experiencing problems with snoring, sleeping, bruxism (teeth clenching and grinding),sinus, and headaches. To date we have had a very positive response back with reduction of acute symptoms of TMJ responding to an Earthing patch placed directly over the offending joint. Chronic problems have not responded as quickly as acute. This would be expected since they are of a long-standing inflammatory nature with adaptive changes. We are also using Earthing bands on the head at night and they have been working remarkably well with better sleep, less bruxism, more dream sleep time, less snoring and headaches, and an opening of the passages during sleep so that nasal breathing is enhanced.
“From my own results and that of friends, family, and patients, Earthing works extremely well in an overall program that addresses total health and well being, and why it does so makes perfect sense to me. Earthing reconnected me personally to the Earth and to an exciting healing factor.”
For now, my sheet is staying off the bed. I don't want to muddy the results of the things I'm doing now (kidney cleanse, for one). But soon I will give the sheet another go. And I'll be sure to let you know what happens.
