Earlier this year, an IC patient contacted the ICN to rave about a new therapy she was receiving. Known as SofPulse, this FDA approved device delivers gentle pulses of electromagnetic therapy into various parts of the body, where it helps activate the body’s natural anti-inflammatory response.

Dr. Ken Peters, Chairman of the urology department at the Oakland University William Beaumont Schoolof Medicine offered “The Softwave (https://softwavetrt.com/) has been a great addition to our pelvic pain treatment in women and men…We treat the perineum to pick up the pelvic floor muscles & pudendal nerve and often the hips, which are pain generators.”1 Specific areas can also be treated, such as penis for penile pain, clitoris for clitoral pain and the suprapubic, groins or low back.

Dr. Peters continued “Almost everyone feels better after a treatment and the pelvic floor is much relaxed, but since this likely works by activating genes that improve blood flow, nerve function and attract stem cells, the long-term responders continue to improve 16 weeks and beyond after finishing the 6 weekly treatments.”

PEMF Research

Multiple studies have shown PEMF therapy effective in reducing pain and swelling after surgery and often reducing the need for stronger pain medications. Studies have shown it successful in promoting wound healing, reducing pressure ulcers, increasing blood perfusion and microcirculation. Results with post surgical pain are particularly impressive.

In 2019, clinicians at Wake Forest University published the first case study of a 29 year old female patient with who had suffered for more than ten years with pelvic pain, pain with intimacy, migraines, depression, anxiety and panic. She had little success with traditional IC therapies and was introduced to PEMF, which came in the form of a mat that she laid on and a special section that went over her pelvis.

For several months, the patient used the device once or twice weekly. During one two-week period, she used this device every morning andevening and reported a significant, continuous relief of many of her pelvic pain-related symptoms. She reported reductions in bloating, burning with bladder filling, and her overall pelvic pain however her urgency and frequency did not improve. When she stopped using it, all of her symptoms returned.2

In 2022, that same team released a case series of eight IC/BPS patients whose used PEMT for four weeks. 7 out of 8 patients reported a significant reduction in pain, frequency and nocturia. At eight weeks after therapy, half continued to have significant pain relief with no adverse events reported.3 Wake Forest began the first formal clinical trial in 2022.

PEMF may provide a safe, non-invasive therapeutic option that would be complementary to, or serve as an alternative for, the treatments that are currently being administered in IC/BPS for pain reduction. We anxiously await more studies.

References

1. Personal Correspondence. August 4, 2025

2. Overholt TL, et al. Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy as a Complementary Alternative for Chronic Pelvic Pain Management in an Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Patient. Case Rep Urol. 2019 Dec 26;2019:5767568.

3. Wolff DT, et al. Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy for Pain Management in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome: A Proof-of-Concept Case Series. Urology. 2022 Sep;167:96-101.