Type the word “inflammation” in the search box at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (Pub Med) website and you’ll get more than 377,000 medical research articles to consider. The very first one goes back to an 1813 paper on inflammation in the eyes.

It’s been since 2000, however, that the relationship between inflammation and disease has really taken off and specifically the relationship between chronic inflammation and chronic disease. Hitherto, inflammation was largely thought of as the body’s response to injury and infection. That, to be sure, is what acute inflammation is about.  But now, researchers have become preoccupied with the chronicity factor, that is long-term, and the nitty-gritty details of how chronic inflammatory underlies many of the most common health disorders, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative conditions. More than two-thirds of the 58,000 or so articles on chronic inflammation have been published in the last 12 years.

Why is there such a big and growing interest in chronic inflammation research? 

In the 1980s, medical investigators started to take notice that immune cells congregate at sites of diseased tissue in the body in a wide variety of apparently unrelated disorders. One of the earliest observations involved atherosclerosis, where the lining of arteries become inflamed and damaged, and develop into a potentially life-threatening witches’ brew of fat and debris, the basis of plaque. Russell Ross of the University of Washington identified the presence of macrophages in atherosclerotic tissue, white blood cells known to flock to sites of inflammation. During the next twenty years, arterial disease became increasingly linked to an inflammatory process. By 2000, ongoing studies by Harvard researchers led to the breakout conclusion that cardiovascular disease was inflammatory in nature. By 2004, “smoldering” inflammation had been incriminated as the silent menace behind multiple diseases. The chronic inflammation revolution took center stage worldwide on magazine covers, page one in newspapers, and TV news headlines. Inflammation research became a dynamic growth industry in mainstream medicine. Everywhere they turn, researchers uncover evidence that inflammation ignites and feeds chronic illness. 

Our Earthing book focuses a good deal on inflammation.  In it, we suggest that the ground beneath our feet is the “original anti-Inflammatory.” In other words, the biggest anti-inflammatory on the planet is, well, the surface of the planet itself. If proven true, that’s a pretty neat design-by-nature. In the book, as you’ve probably read, we make a strong argument about how contact with the Earth, either by being barefoot outside or sleeping or sitting on Earthing products indoors, quenches inflammation by allowing the Earth’s infinite supply of negatively-charged electrons to rise up into the body and snuff out the hitmen of chronic inflammation, the free radicals. The theory of the Earth as an anti-inflammatory had never been mentioned before in research. It is still just a theory but we don’t know how else to explain the way that Earthing knocks down inflammation. 

But what about aging? Could chronic inflammation be the main cause of aging or a major factor accelerating aging?  Can Earthing slow the aging process due to its obvious and remarkable impact on inflammation?

Improving the health of older people can – and must – be one of the goals of modern gerontology, the study of aging. It is imperative in order to decrease the alarming rate of hospitalization, risky and frequently injurious administration of multiple medications, and soaring age-related disease-care costs. Physiological functions naturally decline with age and negatively influence the absorption and/or metabolism of nutrients, a degradation process further compromised by drug side effects and interference. 

The natural slowdown occurring in cells and tissues with advancing age are responsible for an increased risk of disease and death. Part of this process involves the aging of the immune system – called immunosenescence – characterized by a chronic low-grade inflammatory status of the whole aging organism.  This process has been referred to by some researchers as inflamm-aging. More than 300 theories have been put forward to explain the reduced functionality associated with aging but none fully explain the immunobiology (physiological functioning of the immune system) of senescence.

So what are some of the current recommendations of researchers to delay the process?
1) Healthier nutrition and maintaining a robust population of beneficial bacteria (microflora) in the gut, a major element of the immune system. Part of a healthier diet has to include caloric restriction.  People tend to overeat, particularly the wrong kinds of food, and put on belly fat, an actual source of increased inflammation in the body. 
2) Exercise.  You’ve heard this many times before, so I won’t dwell on the subject.  Exercise, even a minimum, is good for your body and spirits.
3) Antioxidants have been heralded as having the potential to increase longevity by curtailing the effect of oxidative stress on the body. Oxidative stress means rampant free-radicals that damage healthy tissue throughout the body. Such damage creates chronic inflammation. 

Aging researchers are largely unfamiliar with Earthing. It is still a new concept.  However, as someone who has participated in numerous Earthing studies, it is obvious to me that routine contact with the Earth offers a powerful intervention against chronic illnesses by decreasing or eliminating inflammation, among other benefits, and will likely one day be recognized as a profoundly simple, natural, and effective way to improve health and healing. There is much support in the research community about chronic stimulation of the immune system leading to exhaustion and for the free radical theory of aging as the leading explanation of the aging process. Earthing has a big impact on both. Earthing counteracts free radical damage by providing the body with an abundance of electrons. Electrons are the power behind antioxidants, and so they consequently prevent or reduce inflammation. Such effects produce a relaxation of the body, and thus a reduction in physiological stress. Stress resistance = ability to survive, and by reducing stress, Earthing improves the ability of the body to survive.

One of the factors in this overall equation is chronic antigenic load, meaning the lifelong exposure to a variety of infectious agents for a period much longer than previously encountered during human evolution (because people are living longer than ever).  Acute inflammation is how the body neutralizes dangerous/harmful agents, but later in an extended lifespan, such inflammation fails to become effectively countered by an aging immune system. One reason for this could be a lack of connection with the Earth’s supply of electrons.  Modern lifestyle and footwear separate us from the ground’s electron supply. We refer to this common reality as an “electron deficiency” and suggest it is an overlooked cause not only of chronic inflammation but perhaps the ravages of aging itself. 

Can Earthing reduce the severity and incidence of chronic illness and extend the quality and quantity of life?  We seriously think so. Earthing has produced major health improvements in thousands of cases. What Clint Ober first observed, and described in the Earthing book, is now being reported to us by health professionals around the world. Such improvements were also reported during a back-to-Nature movement in Germany that started in the 1880s and featured being barefoot outdoors and even sleeping on the ground.  We will write about that movement at a later time.

Earthing studies and feedback indicate that inflammation and stress decrease substantially, and sometimes dramatically. Contact with the Earth appears to dynamically boost the body’s own self-repair and healing mechanisms.  This suggests to us that inflamm-aging may be the result of long periods without contact with the electrons of the earth.  Our simple solution for the disconnect is pretty obvious: just reconnect to the Earth.  It is not a panacea, but it sure may be a difference in how long and well we live.

Coming in 2012:  Earthing book to be published in French, Spanish, and Dutch

Lynn Deene, 65, Milo, MI

“In November 2010, when I started Earthing, I had been looking for some kind of relief for bilateral swollen and painful Achilles tendons and plantar fasciitis for over a year.  I had tried different exercises, ice packs, massage, and finally physical therapy, all with little or no relief and none with lasting effect. At the end of each day, my feet were so painful and sore, as well as my calves, that it felt like every step was torture.  It didn’t matter if my day was more or less active. Also, with the fasciitis, getting out of bed in the morning, even with doing foot and ankle exercises before putting my feet on the floor, it felt like I was standing on blocks of wood. It took several slow steps to loosen up my feet.  I also had left shoulder and upper arm pain from a fall six months earlier, which, again, had minimum relief from therapy, pain relievers, and stretching exercises.  I was also experiencing urinary frequency, headaches, fatigue that sleep didn’t relieve, other muscle aches, and a feeling of heaviness in my legs that came after a few minutes of my daily walks, and chronic knee pain from a twenty-year-old injury caused from a horse kick.

“I have led a healthy lifestyle all my life – no alcohol, no tobacco, eat well, drink lots of water, take supplements, have regular adjustments, daily exercise, and love the outdoors. 

“I first heard of Earthing when Dr. Sinatra was interviewed by Dr. Christiane Northrup. I was very intrigued, so I got the book, and then an Earthing mat. I put the mat on the floor at my computer. After a 10-hour day in front of the computer, I noticed after just a couple of days that I didn’t have the ‘normal’ headache after a few hours at work, and also, that I wasn’t nearly as fatigued at the end of the work day.  I had more energy for my after-work walk.

“I was so excited that I got a half-sheet for our bed. My husband was willing to give it a try.  After 2 weeks I had less muscle pain. After 3 weeks, I noticed that my Achilles tendons were less swollen and that they didn’t hurt at the end of the day. After 4 months, I was like a new person. My tendons looked and felt normal. The fasciitis was completely gone. The knee pain, ‘creakiness,’ and heaviness in my legs were gone. My mobility became stronger, quicker, more flexible.  I wasn’t fatigued at 10 am, as I was before.  The shoulder and arm pain was greatly relieved.  And the urinary symptoms were gone.  I didn’t have to plan my life around the availability of bathroom facilities!  Moreover, I’ve been able to lower my blood pressure medication – from 20 to 5 milligrams – with a consistently-lower reading that I haven’t seen since starting on medication more than ten years ago. The best yet is that my husband has very little muscle pain, sleeps more sound, and with less snoring, and has more energy.
 
“Looking back, almost a year-and-a-half later, did I believe all this could happen? That my pain and fatigue would be gone?  No, I didn’t. The best that I had hoped for was some relief from the tendon pain.  I was afraid that my active life was going to be severely compromised, but instead, I am able to not only enjoy more, but to do more physically.”

Karen Ball, 60, massage therapist, Beaverton, OR

“In July 2011 I was in terrible shape.  At 244 pounds, I was 80 pounds overweight. I had been suffering with serious insomnia for 22 years, sleeping maybe 2 -3 hours on average per night. I had developed an inability to break down carbohydrates and had other digestive difficulties, mild depression, bloating, 15 years of hot flashes, bone density issues, and severe arthritis and muscle contracture in my right hip that caused pain and restricted movement. Sleeping pills, mega-doses of melatonin, antihistamines, supplements, hot baths, herbs, teas, meditation, breathing exercises, relaxation CDs, and so many more things were not making much of an impact on my problems. I read everything and tried everything I found, many times over. I checked out every book the library had on insomnia, and read anything I could find on the web.

“In July 2011 I got the Earthing half-sheet and started sleeping on it. The first three nights I didn’t get any sleep, but I had massive amounts of energy from laying on it 7-9 hours per night. Within the first 2 hours I lost considerable inflammation so that my ankles which had been severely swollen now appeared normal.  I weighed myself and found I had lost 4.5 pounds of swelling those first three nights. Not real weight loss; just a very noticeable decrease of swelling. It took 6 nights before I got a good night’s sleep.  But since August of 2011 I have had 4-8 hrs of sleep every night except for 2 nights. I have had 11 nights where I have been able to sleep the night through without getting up to urinate.

“My ankles first and then the knees became normal size without the swelling. I could actually see my kneecap for the first time in five years. My pain was reduced. The contracture in my right thigh (my body trying to protect the hip) went away. The position of the femur corrected itself, and was no longer pressing against the side of the hip socket. This meant a greater range of movement, less pain, and for the first time in years, allowed me to start exercises to reverse the muscle atrophy that had developed over the last decade. Walking and other forms of exercise had been very painful. I can do those things now.

“In recent years, my hip pain and restrictions had increased to the point where at times I couldn’t manage anything greater than a four-inch stride (I am a tall woman with a 36-inch inseam). I was barely able to get my leg over the side of a tub, and had to lift my leg with y hands to get into bed or to get into a car.  My stride is 16 inches now. That’s not much for a woman of my age with very long legs, but it is so much better, and it is getting better all the time. I still walk with a cane most of the time, but when I don’t my side-to-side hip sway is less than half of what it was before. The sway increases pain so I use the cane to minimize the sway and therefore the pain.  It provides support as I get better.  My ability to bend my knees has increased.  I can cross either leg over center now and I could not before. I can lift things now that before would cause severe pain in the hip.

“My night sweats stopped.  Then my hot flashes diminished, and stopped completely in December 2011. After 15 years, it was such a relief to have them gone.

“I had a few nights of detoxification symptoms in the beginning. I drank additional water and the symptoms quickly went away.

“I had also developed arthritis in the distal joint of my right pinky.  It was swollen and bent, and painful when I put pressure on it during my work as a massage therapist. The joint has straightened dramatically (not completely yet) and is much smaller now. I can now put maximum pressure on it without any problem. I had pain in one wrist and that went away as well.

“I hadn’t realized how depressed I had been until I started having this incredible sense of well- being and return to health. It is a wonderful feeling. With the sleep I have started to lose weight (19 pounds now) for the first time in a long time.  I can do so much more now.  My capacity keeps growing and the improvements continue. It’s been a process but clearly the more time I spend Earthed, the better I feel.” 

“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.”

Coming in 2012:  Earthing book to be published in French, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch

The effect begins pretty much instantly when you connect with the Earth. The ANS shifts from a typically overactive sympathetic mode, associated with stress, into a parasympathetic, calming mode.

To help you appreciate this benefit, we would like to share details on a heart rate variability (HRV) study that we previewed briefly in the Earthing book in 2010. The study, published recently in Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal, was conducted by electrophysiologist Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D., and cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M.D. Click here to read the full study.

You may not be familiar with HRV, so here’s a quick synopsis, courtesy of Dr. Sinatra:

“In cardiology, a balanced ANS supports good HRV and is an indicator of better heart health.  Conversely, the presence of disturbed ANS and HRV means an increased risk of arrhythmias, coronary artery spasm, and sudden cardiac death. HRV has also become a reliable clinical tool for measuring survival potential after a heart attack. HRV is not the same thing as heart rate. Your heart beats faster when you exert yourself or become stressed, and it slows down when you relax — but that’s not HRV. HRV refers to the imperceptible variations in the heart’s beat-to-beat interval that result from the basic breathing process. We refer to it technically as respiratory sinus arrhythmia. You can’t feel the difference, but when you breathe in, your heart rate increases just ever so slightly. When you breathe out, it decreases every so slightly. We can see these fluctuations on an electrocardiogram, and we’ve learned even more from sophisticated computer analyses of beat-to-beat intervals.

“Let me give you an example here.  Have you ever had an electrocardiogram exercise stress test on a treadmill?  If so, you may recall that you remain hooked up for a bit of time after the test. The reason is that your doctor wants to see what your heart rate is doing after exertion on the treadmill. Your heart rate may rise to 150 beats a minute during the test.  Afterward, it should drop down into a de-accelerated zone of say 100 beats or less in about six minutes.  If not, and it stays higher, you have a classic indicator of disturbed HRV, and increased likelihood of cardiovascular trouble. You may, for instance, have a beat rate of 112. That’s not good enough. I remember as a young cardiologist years ago waiting even a half-hour or so for some patients’ heart rates to drop down sufficiently.”

Surrounded as we are these days by constant psychological arousal from stressful news and a volatile world, anything that can improve ANS and HRV function is of great benefit for overall health. Exercise, tai chi, yoga, and meditation are examples of activities that improve ANS and HRV. You become more relaxed and you sleep better. This effect is precisely what many people report after they start Earthing.

The Chevalier-Sinatra study involved monitoring test subjects before, during, and after 40-minute grounding sessions while seated comfortably in a recliner chair.  It confirmed a balancing effect on sympathetic and parasympathetic function and a restoration of normal tone that reduces the stress response. These improvements go beyond basic relaxation and may explain in part the repeated feedback from people experiencing lower blood pressure and improved arrhythmias after they start Earthing.                             
Medical research has made it clear also that HRV is a superb indicator of your ability to cope with both internal and external changes. It is, in fact, “the most accurate predictor of sudden death and the most accurate reflector of stress,” according to Paul Rosch, M.D., president of the American Institute of Stress in New York City. “If you can alter your HRV, that is, increase it, you can reduce the likelihood of stress-related disorders, including cardiovascular disease.”

For individuals who experience anxiety, emotional stress, panic, fear, and/or symptoms of involuntary muscle contractions and spasms, including headaches, cardiac palpitations, and dizziness, Earthing appears to represent a genuinely promising strategy. Such individuals often see positive changes within 20 to 40 minutes.

Dr. Sinatra says this about stress: “As a cardiologist, I have repeatedly treated the human wreckage that stress — acute or chronic sympathetic overdrive — can exact. In trying to rebuild and restore the wreckage, I have applied the best tools that both conventional and alternative medicine has to offer. Reconnecting the body to the Earth offers perhaps the most natural tool available anywhere.  I’ve seen this simple remedy do some amazing things.”

Dr. Sinatra shared these recent examples:

● After 10 weeks of sleeping grounded, a 73-year-old woman reported that her blood pressure went down by 10 points and she sleeps much better.

● A couple started sleeping grounded.  Her snoring stopped and he sleeps better.  Her blood pressure went down from 150/90 to 120/80 after one night!

● One woman was experiencing benign but distressing PVCs (premature ventricular contraction), a form of arrhythmia characterized by racing of the heart or extra or skipped beats). She said that sleeping grounded eliminated them.  No only that, her husband’s atrial fibrillation episodes also stopped.  He had been taking Coumadin for his condition and, in conjunction with his doctor, was able to reduce the dosage. (Coumadin is a popular blood thinner medication.  Earthing also has a blood thinning effect.  Anyone on blood thinning medication who wants to start Earthing must consult with his/her physician and keep close track of their INR, a widely-used measurement of the blood’s clotting tendency).

Previous Earthing investigations have demonstrated a marked alteration in a variety of biological parameters after about 20 to 30 minutes. Others in several days.  Some show even a dramatic change immediately at grounding (in less than a second or two). The HRV study showed an instant change in HRV that kept improving all the way to the end of the 40-minute period of grounding, suggesting a greater benefit with time. We believe that the ANS may be one of the first, and possibly the first, of the major body systems that react to Earthing. 

The HRV study offers additional proof that connecting to the Earth creates a calmer nervous system and increases its efficiency. Earlier experiments are posted in the research section of our website. 

A recent article published in the journal Medical Hypotheses by a neurosurgeon and cardiologist in Poland suggests that the Earthing likely plays a primary role as a neuromodulative factor enabling the nervous system to better adapt to the demands of the organism and the environment.

The practice apparently caught on last year after a man suffering from the consequences of a stroke decided to commit suicide on the tracks but instead jumped off after feeling rejuvenated by the electric current of an oncoming train.

According to one Indonesia newspaper account, the so-called “railway therapy” involves placing one’s hands and feet on the steel tracks. “By touching both sides of the tracks at once in this manner, one receives a low-voltage electric shock, which locals believe is a potent cure for many diseases,” the article said.

One enthusiast told reporters that she has gotten more relief for symptoms of high blood pressure and sleeplessness than any doctor since she was first diagnosed with diabetes more than ten years ago.  “If your body aches, have it cured here,” she told amused reporters. “Try it, it doesn’t hurt.”  Another advocate said, “I have wasted all my money on proper medication. Now I prefer coming here, because it is free.”

One local doctor was quoted as saying there was “no official research that had determined the true effects of railway-induced electric therapy. However, he added, the therapy was widely seen as questionable as it did not conform to medical norms.”

Concerned railway officials are obviously alarmed at the prospect of someone being killed by a train and so dispatch agents to expel locals from the tracks. 

We don’t know whether there’s something special about railway track energy. To us this seems like a variation of being barefoot on the ground, but for sure NOT a variation we would ever, ever recommend. 

● From Cat Saunders, Ph.D., author of Dr. Cat’s Helping Handbook: A Compassionate Guide for Being Human

“Connecting with Mother Earth through grounding allows me to experience the planet’s massive support in a literal, physical way. This is much different from ‘keeping my energy grounded’ the way I’ve been taught by healers and body workers. That’s important as well, but it’s like the difference between thinking about water and actually having a drink. 

“Earthing is like mainlining an ocean of pure, unadulterated energy. Plugging into the endlessly sustainable ‘power plant’ called Earth has not only improved my physical health, it has also improved my psychological functioning and deepened my spiritual sense that ‘all is well’ no matter what’s happening in my world or in the world at large.

“Being physically sustained by Mother Earth has also given me a sweeter and safer experience of ‘mothering’ than I’ve ever known. Although many people have positive connotations of the word ‘mother,’ I can’t say the same has been true for me. Now that I’m experiencing constant support from the electrical field of Mother Earth, the word ‘mother’ no longer strikes a note of fear in my heart. Somehow, grounding did what many years of therapy couldn’t do by putting those old ‘mother’ fears to rest at last. 

“At home, I sleep grounded and I wear Earthing bands on my feet during the day.  I use an Earthing mat under my feet at the computer, and I keep an extra set of Earthing bands in my office for counseling clients, so we can both be grounded when we work together.  For me, Earthing bands are like umbilical cords to connect with the Great Mother that sustains us all.  What could be better than that?” 

● From Rabbi T’mimah Ickovits, Los Angeles

“After several months of Earthing, I feel a greater sense of well-being and of inner tangles less tangled. I settle in and rest more deeply. I am simultaneously experiencing a greater feeling of connectedness to the Earth and to community, and, as a result, a greater ability to share.” 

● From Anders Blomqvist in Sweden

“There is something not mentioned in the book that intrigues me. I have experienced increased body awareness. My body speaks more clearly to me. The signals are clearer. I feel a big difference. Two young and very healthy friends of mine say the same thing. It appears that there are effects on the spiritual level as well as the physical. Increased awareness in general seems to be an effect of reconnecting back to Mother Earth.”

● From Gerard Bechard, a cranio-sacral therapist in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts

“I feel more ‘grounded.’ I am more on task and focused with an incredible sense of wellness. I have more of a detached look on others and situations and still maintain a high level of compassion. I have to say that in over 40 years of experimenting and practicing numerous spiritual and alternative health techniques along with energy work that I have never felt so complete and peaceful. My core feeling is that everything is and will continue to be alright with myself, others, and the world. I’m still blown away that this is from being Earthed but in observing my disconnection with the ground that has occurred for most of my life, it all makes simple sense.”

● From Rhonda Whittaker, a massage therapist in Fairfield, Iowa

“I sleep on the bed pad. Simply laying down on it brings great relief. I love how it feels cool with a tingling energy. It is not just a pad. There is ‘something’ moving thru it when my body touches it. I have noticed something else after sleeping on the pad all night: I wake up before dawn, then go back to sleep, and have dreams in Technicolor. This happens often. I have been flooded by amazing dream awareness and thoughts. So, today, I stopped laying on the pad when I awoke before dawn, just to see if there was a difference. I felt calmer with less thought activity, and dozed with no dreams. I suspect that the intense dreaming may be caused by the energy of the Earth waking up at dawn. I believe that the Earth is alive with energy, and the Earthing ground picks up on this. There is a growing liveliness that happens when the sunshine is coming closer to generating electromagnetic currents with the part of the Earth where my ground connects. Because my sleeping body is in the loop and tapping into this amazing current of activity, I am having more happen in my background field of energy, too. The Earthing pad has given me an easy way to heal and balance my electromagnetic field. I feel it brings equilibrium after the day’s activities, soothing my physiology, my mind, my emotions, ...and ‘naturally’ puts me into a more spiritual way of being. This is such a humble, but great product that unites us with Heaven and Earth energy for a healthy life!”

● From Clint Ober, who has grounded thousands of people for more than a decade

“I grew up in a farming and ranching environment. Surrounded by Earth. I was exposed a good deal to the Native American culture around us, in which everything is connected to Nature, to the planet, and the universe.

“Many people become more sensitive and aware of their being after spending some time sleeping grounded. I believe that part of this inner development comes from reducing environmental noise on the body. It’s kind of like being in the woods and hearing the birds sing. Birds are everywhere. They carry on in all environments, but the noise of the city drowns them out. Furthermore, when you are connected with the Earth you are electrically connected with all animals and plants that live on the Earth with you.

“I strongly believe there is more to Earthing then reducing inflammation and improving sleep. There is perhaps a parallel conscious intimacy that grows with Nature and the living planet.”

“I love using the Earthing mat and my feet are planted on it every day while I’m at my computer,” she says. “However, with the chilly winter weather I need to put socks on to keep my feet warm.  I could move the mat to under my hands, but I’d rather not. I feel more strongly grounded when it’s the bottom of my feet that are connected.  So I decided to do a little experimenting with socks to see how much conductivity would be lost by wearing them. It made sense to me that socks may be more conductive if they have a small amount of silver or copper in them. I did a quick search on the Internet and found both silver- and copper-threaded socks.  With a click of a button they were on their way to me. I then did a little test with my voltmeter and included ‘everyday’ socks and stockings to see which ones conducted the best.”

Here are Linda’s results:

Situation & voltmeter reading (in volts)

Ungrounded
Standing on carpeted floor in office   1.260

Grounded
Standing on mat barefoot         0.016
Standing on mat with an “everyday” sock   0.420
Sitting, with feet on mat with “everyday” sock after half-hour 0.100
Standing on mat with nylon stockings       0.100
Standing on mat with silver-fiber socks     0.030-0.016
Standing on mat with copper-fiber socks   0.023

What Linda was doing was testing the induced ambient alternating current (AC) voltage on her body while wearing a variety of socks. She conducted her test in her office where she has a variety of computer equipment, phones, and lamps. Such electrical equipment, as well as the wiring in the wall, emits electromagnetic fields (EMFs). 

As Linda’s experiment reveals, wearing silver and copper socks reduced the AC charge on her body nearly as well as being barefoot. However, wearing nylons and “everyday” socks, as she describes them, permits significant reduction, too.  The important issue here is how well grounded you are so that your body receives the electrons from the Earth.  The readings she obtained show that the socks and nylons permit the necessary conductivity, some a tad better than the others. The differences, in the cause of Earthing, are unimportant. Linda correctly points out that bare feet are best but she offers some practical options for folks who need to wear socks at work or keep their feet warm.

The options:

1)  Wear silver or copper socks.  Our preference would be silver, if you choose to go this route.
2)  Use thin, “everyday” socks. Your feet will naturally sweat and will hydrate the socks making them conductive enough for Earthing purposes.
3)  One of Linda’s recommendations is to cut a small oval hole out of each sole around the K1 point (the area where the ball and instep meet).  “You still basically have your bare feet on the mat and the rest of your foot is kept warm.”

Thanks to Linda for sharing her experiment and suggestions with us.  If you have any good tips related to Earthing, let us know with a message to info@earthinginstitute.net

Earthing enthusiasm in this southeast Iowa town has been stoked by Clover Calvet and Jim Lind, who first personally experienced the benefits of Earthing more than a year ago, and then spread the word throughout the meditation community.

Clover, a dynamic retired businesswoman and teacher, noticed an immediate change in her sleep. It was deeper and more restful.  As a result, she’s had much more energy.  Recently, she contacted us with this observation:  “For two weeks after the departure of a house guest, I was suddenly feeling miserable with a lot of fatigue. My teeth started to be sore and I didn’t sleep well at all. At first I thought it was a result of too much activity while playing host to my guest, but I finally discovered that I had forgot to plug in my Earthing sheet. Now all is well again. Sleep and energy restored!”

Moral of the story:  Stay connected!

Jim, 63, a semi-retired businessman, has suffered with musculoskeletal problems since childhood and over the decades experienced varying degrees of fatigue and poor sleep, depending on his activity load.  “The first day I used the Earthing floor mat for some hours while on the computer and afterward I realized that my usual afternoon mental fatigue was gone,” he said.  “Instead, I was feeling alert. I used the mat also for sleeping and the first night I had much deeper sleep then I had in many months, maybe years. I then got myself an Earthing sheet and experienced the same kind of deeper sleep. Over the subsequent months I have found my body more relaxed and comfortable upon waking and throughout the day. The discomfort level is way down.”

Last year we reported on the case of Fairfield resident Katie McGuinness, a former general counsel of a Fortune 250 corporation. For more than 10 years she had suffered with severe pain and fatigue from lupus, an auto-immune condition.  She started Earthing in early 2010, at a time when she and her doctor were weighing whether she should take one of the most potent anti-lupus medications.  Earthing eliminated Katie’s pain and fatigue, and, according, to her medical tests, the biochemical indicators of lupus. Her detailed story can be found in an earlier Earthing report we posted here: http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/blog/Earthing_Institute_Reports/ .

Katie contacted us last April to report that she had retested during a routine examination by her internist. “They tested my blood for anti-nuclear antibodies, the hallmark of autoimmune disease,” she said. “I’m delighted to report that my blood levels are normal: no antinuclear antibodies or other markers of inflammation!”

A few weeks later, however, she called again, this time concerned. She was experiencing returning symptoms, including achy inflamed joints, knuckles, and blood vessels.  Since she was sleeping grounded routinely, our suggestion was to ground as much as she could during the day.

“I started using a mat under my forearms that grounded me during hours of writing each day and then put on an Earthing wrist band that I plugged into a ground while I read or watched television,” she said.  “I was grounded almost 24/7.”

Within a few days she reported feeling better and with less pain.  After three weeks of intense grounding she reported feeling “much, much better.” Her energy and vitality levels returned to even above what they were before her “wobble/relapse,” as she put it.  She said the elevated red rash from inflamed blood vessels had also disappeared.  “And by the way,” she added, “I’ve lost 25 pounds in a year. One of the biggest factors is my increased energy level which allows me to exercise and walk my dogs daily — sometimes both in the same day!”

Our observations: Autoimmune disorders are unpredictable. Flare-ups and return of symptoms can occur because of various types of stress, including emotional stress, seasonal allergies, and overwork.  In such situations, individuals who have been routinely sleeping grounded often benefit by maximizing their hours of grounding.
   
Comments from other Earthing users in Fairfield reveal the broad spectrum of benefits produced by Earthing:

●  “I started to use the band on my wrist four month ago at night. I suffered from severe pain in my right arm due to many hours working on the computer. After a few days the pain was reduced significantly and doesn’t bother me anymore during daily activity.”

●  “I have Huntington’s Disease and involuntary movements. After one month I noticed I am sleeping better, biting my tongue less, and swallowing liquids easier.”

● “After one month I noticed that I tend to sleep through the night more and wake with a more positive attitude.”

● “The first time I used the sheet, I put it over my body and put my hands on top of it, palms down over my heart area. A sensation began immediately of something flowing profusely into my palms. It was like Niagara Falls. It was a very pleasant sensation.  It’s been four months now and I find I drop off to sleep more quickly and wake up feeling more refreshed. The quality of my sleep has improved a great deal. Before, falling asleep was sometimes a problem for me. I noticed also a profound reduction in anxiety within a month or so. I suffered from a chronic low level of anxiety and it affected my life in many ways. With less anxiety, my general mood has been more positive and optimistic. I have felt happier.  At the time I started Earthing I was still recovering from a badly sprained big toe on my left foot. I had sprained it while dancing six months before. Several different treatments had helped somewhat, but the joint was still stubbornly inflamed and very tender. Quite quickly I noticed the inflammation went away, and the sprain began to heal and after four months the joint is almost completely normal.”

● “My intense day and night hot flashes are about 90 percent gone since I started sleeping grounded two months ago.”

●  “I use the Earthing band at night and also during my long sitting period of meditation. I have noticed significant reduction in pain from a neck injury due to an accident many years ago.  The neck and shoulder pain was almost a daily reality. The pain is now almost gone. Lower back pain is significantly less and if there is some strain due to prolong sitting or weather changes, the recovery time is very fast.  My sleep quality has improved — almost from the second or third night.”

● “I had some trouble with restlessness and inability to fall asleep for a few years before I started using the sheet.  Now I don’t have any trouble and I wake up feeling great. I got an earthing pad for my 13-year-old dog. For about a year he had had a chronic infection in one eye. I used antibiotic eye drops from the vet which would clear up the condition, but when I stopped using them the problem would always come back.  When he started sleeping on the Earthing pad the condition cleared up without eye drops and didn’t return.  Before sleeping on the pad he used to jump up suddenly from the lying position for no apparent reason.  He hasn’t done this since Earthing.”

●  “I’ve had a myriad of back and neck problems since a car accident about 15 years ago. Since using the Earthing mat and bed sheet I’ve experienced a dramatic reduction in my level of inflammation and discomfort. Within the first few hours I noticed a difference. It has been amazing.”

● “I experienced relief from stomach problems after about a week and from some arthritis pain almost immediately.”

● “For many years I’ve been getting a routine massage on Fridays. My massage therapist asked what I had been up to as she noticed a reduction in the swelling in my knees. I then explained Earthing to her. She was so impressed she went out and got a sheet for herself.”

● “I am able to sleep and rest better which has always been a problem because of stress related to traumatic childhood abuse. I am happier.”

● “Earthing got rid of my PMS.”

● “Digestion and elimination are more fluid and flowing; joints also more fluid and no aches.”

● “I have had fibromyalgia for many years, a source of constant pain day and night and making it difficult to sleep. I have been sleeping on the Earthing sheet for almost 2 weeks. Now I look forward to going to sleep. If I wake up to use the bathroom, I go right back to sleep. In the morning I awake feeling rested and without pain. I have some pain that comes back during the day, but much less. I also use the Earthing bands while at the computer and reading and watching TV. As soon as I put a band on I can feel the Earth’s energy flowing into my body and the discomfort going away. I no longer need pain pills.” 

●  “I have been challenged with rheumatoid arthritis since June 2006 and continually searching for answers and relief of pain due to inflammation, and joint destruction. I purchased the Earthing half sheet (Jan. 30, 2011) after it was recommended to me from several people. I have the sheet long ways so that most of my body is earthed each night. I also purchased the mat, which I would put under the sheet at the area of my hips to help relieve hip pain at night.
“Oh yeah , I also got the bands that I wear when I’m at the computer. One band is on my hand and one is on my knee….both inflamed and tender.
“Prior to sleeping on the earthing sheet, I had very little sleep at nights due to the intense pain and hard to get comfortable. Lack of sleep added to my health challenge. It took at least a month before I started to sleep better after getting the sheet. Then, more and more I was starting to sleep for 2 or 3 hrs at a time. For quite some time now, I am sleeping longer periods of time, and deep and restful sleep. I have to be reminded to remember how bad my sleep was prior to grounding. Getting such better sleep no doubt helps with the other challenges I have.
“Wearing the bands has improved the wrist and knee joint, with less inflammation and more mobility. I am sure there is much more benefits going on in my body from grounding for 8 months now.
“About every 4 months I have blood work done and they check my SED rate to see how much inflammation I have in my body (0-30) is the average range. I have always been in the 60-90 range. Since Earthing, the sed rate has come down and this last blood work done this week, SED rate was at 29!! This is the 1st time in 5 years that I have been in the average range.
“I know I have a ways to go to regain my health……but I know I’m beating this disease!”

Research indicates that regular Earthing restores and stabilizes a natural state in the electrical functioning of the body, affects many physiological processes, reduces inflammation, and improves sleep and energy.  Studies providing evidence of Earthing effects include:

Earthing the Human Body Influences Physiologic Processes (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21469913)
Pilot Study on the Effect of Grounding on Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20192911)

Other studies are posted at www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/research

If you are under the care of a health professional, we strongly advise you to inform your practitioner about Earthing because Earthing can influence how you feel, your medical test results, and may possibly require adjustment in your medication. It is strongly recommended that individuals taking medication to thin the blood, regulate blood sugar, control blood pressure, or to regulate thyroid hormone levels, consult their health care provider before Earthing.

Earthing influences thyroid function, so if you are on thyroid medication you may begin to feel symptoms of over-medication. Similarly, if you are on Coumadin, you need to know that Earthing has a blood-thinning effect so there could be a compounded response, and too much blood thinning. You’ll need to monitor your blood carefully and above all consult with your doctor. We also know that the regulation of blood sugar improves, so if you take anti-diabetic medication you need to check with your doctor to see if a medication reduction is in order. Keep in mind also that Earthing reduces inflammation, so if you are taking any anti-inflammatory medication please be sure to monitor your dosage with your doctor.

Whether you are barefoot on the ground outside, or grounding yourself indoors for many hours with an Earthing system, we want you to have the best and safest experience possible.  If you have any doubts at all whether Earthing may be safe for you, simply go out in your backyard, or to your nearest grassy park, or sandy beach, and sit/stand/walk barefoot for at least a half hour or forty minutes. Try to do it once or twice a day. Earthing indoors on conductive sheets, mats, or with bands and patches, is the equivalent of being barefoot outdoors on the ground.  Your body is absorbing the same natural energy from the Earth.  It’s a simple experiment and often a surprising one.  People feel better and notice a difference in a short period of time. 

Electrical System Problem
The first thing to do is to make sure your Earthing system is properly connected to the Earth.  An outlet checker will determine if your outlet is properly grounded. You could have an electrical system in the house that is not properly grounded, or a specific electrical outlet that is not grounded even though the outlet plate has a third hole (ground port). Many homes, particularly older homes built before the 1960s, may have never been grounded or may have only a few outlets actually grounded, like in the kitchen and bathroom. 
Your options: Use a ground rod or consult with an electrician.
The Earthing ground rod comes with an attached 40-foot (13 meter) Earthing cord that can be connected to the cord of the Earthing sheet, mat, or band. You push the rod into the soil below a window and then run the cord under the window or a nearby door and into the house. Then simply connect the Earthing product cord to the ground rod cord. 

Ground Rod Problem
A few people have said that they use a ground rod but don’t feel any difference. The reason may be related to a dry environment, such as in the Southwest United States. Our recommendation is to water the ground rod every couple of weeks or so if you live in a dry climate. Keep the area around the ground rod moist. This will improve the conductivity in dry soil.
One person unknowingly put the rod into what she thought was the “ground” but which was actually a thick layer of dirt on a ground floor balcony. When she moved the rod a few feet away and into actual soil, her Earthing system worked perfectly.
That incident reminds us of situations in the past where people have put ground rods in flower pots. A flower pot has soil in it, but it’s not the Earth. 

Check Your Earthing System
Check the conductivity of the Earthing system, that is, if it is conducting the Earth’s energy as it was designed to do.  To test the conductivity, use the Earthing continuity tester. You simply connect the tester to the ground port of a properly grounded wall outlet and place it directly on your Earthing mat or sheet.  A green light will confirm that your system and wire are in good working order.  You may have to press firmly to get the light to go on when testing the sheet. 

No Direct Skin Contact
Sometimes individuals put the grounding half-sheet (also called the bed pad) or mat under their bottom sheet in bed. This may not work so well.  Direct skin contact with the Earthing sheet or mat is highly recommended (please refer to our Earthing report from July 2010 on “Is There a Best Way to Be Grounded?”)  Although people sweat during the night and the moisture can permeate the bottom sheet and create a channel of conductivity between the body and the Earthing product, the quantity of sweat differs individually. Thus we urge everyone to make direct skin contact. 
If you are using the Earthing mat in bed, you may want to reposition it.  Your feet could be coming off of it during the night. 

Dehydration
Many people don’t drink enough water during the day. They are dehydrated. We have observed that people who are dehydrated may not experience the benefits of Earthing as fully as those who drink an adequate amount of water. 

Improper Care of Earthing Sheets
Improper laundering of Earthing sheets (including bed pads, full fitted sheets, and the recovery bag) can result in loss of conductivity and benefits. Launder just as you would wash other bedding, using a gentle wash cycle and a mild detergent. However, do not use any chlorine bleach or fabric softener, or any detergent that contains bleach or fabric softener, as these chemicals can ruin the conductivity of your sheet. When necessary, use hydrogen peroxide-based non-bleach to remove stains and/or to whiten your sheet. Low-heat drying is recommended.  Also do not apply lotions, creams, or oils before bedtime to areas of your skin that will come in contact with the sheet.  The reason for this is that such substances can easily become absorbed into the sheets. The oils they contain become oxidized by the air and can diminish the conductivity of the silver threads in the sheets.

Stress!!!!
No matter how grounded somebody is, acute and chronic stress can trump the ability of Earthing to contribute to good sleep and benefits. This occurs even though Earthing itself reduces stress within the physiology. Major worry, aggravation, anxiety, and grief can take their toll on the body, and potentially cancel out the benefits of Earthing. Chronic stress is a leading cause of sudden death, insomnia, and depression, and elevates blood pressure.

Here’s a short sampling of comments:
● “My blood pressure, although still at the same dose of medication as before, runs at a consistently lower reading, something I haven’t seen since I started medication ten years ago.”
● “I have seen great results with my 86-year-old mother…who has been on four medications for high blood pressures for many years. Her blood pressure went down to a point where we had to take her off her medication and she is now taking one new medication which is not as strong.”
● “My son’s blood pressure has come way down just since he started grounding.”

To be sure, such comments are merely anecdotal. No studies have yet tested Earthing’s effect on blood pressure.  However, the comments are supported by what we know about the way Earthing influences the physiology. The potential to improve blood pressure comes from several different mechanisms:

1) Earthing generates a shift in the nervous system away from sympathetic (the vigilant, fight-or-flight mode) mode associated with stress and toward the parasympathetic (calming, relaxing) mode.
2) Earthing exerts a normalizing effect on cortisol, the stress hormone.
3) It promotes better sleep and reduces inflammation and pain.

All of these, and likely other factors as well, can benefit blood pressure.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a description as well as a diagnosis. Medical research cites many contributing factors, and among them a heightened or chronic state of stress is high on the list. So it is easy to understand why Earthing can benefit hypertension. In our day and age, there is no shortage of factors in daily life that can lead to chronic stress. Just to name a few obvious ones: loss of job or mate, relationship issues, loss of child or problems with children, no money or loss of money, retirement, debt, poor sleep, no friends, no exercise, trying to come to terms with one’s age and perhaps not having accomplished as much as was hoped for in life, etc. And, of course, physical pain. The most dramatic drops in blood pressure we have observed after people start Earthing have been associated with reduction of pain and the anxiety and fear of chronic illness.

Earthing book co-author and cardiologist Stephen Sinatra remarks: “I am convinced that grounding does indeed lower blood pressure. And, if you are hypertensive and taking medication for it, and you want to ground to reduce inflammation, you need to tell your physician. He or she may need to adjust and lower your medication accordingly. Track your own blood pressure with a monitoring device at home and bring to your doctor a written record of your readings before and after grounding sessions.”

Occasionally, people have reported increased blood pressure after they start Earthing. Such a situation, however, has nothing to do with Earthing. There is nothing about Earthing that can cause a rise in blood pressure. Blood pressure either comes down or stays the same. Our observations suggest that any parallel rise in blood pressure among people who are Earthing is unrelated to Earthing. Rather, it is likely related to stress in their lives or where individuals taking blood pressure medication stopped taking the drugs on their own.

Earthing book co-author Clint Ober, who has inspired and promoted Earthing research for more than a decade, recalls the case of one male participant in an early study whose blood pressure was very high and stayed high during the eight week duration of the study:

“His numbers changed very little. He was like 160. Meanwhile, the blood pressure of all the other people in the study dropped. I asked the doctor involved in the study what was going on with that individual. He told me that the man was having serious financial problems.

“In my experience, I have seen many people, and especially women, have significant reductions in their blood pressure. That happens because Earthing is changing the hormones and having a systemic effect in the body. People have less pain and become happier.”

Mr. Ober also cites the case of a man who has been Earthing for many years who has a blood pressure that runs normally in the 110 to 130 range. The fluctuations depend on the time of day the blood pressure readings are taken and how much stress he is dealing with.  When his mate died, the man’s blood pressure went to 160 and stayed there for almost eight months. It was the trauma of the loss. When his son died suddenly of a heart attack, the same thing happened. The blood pressure went up and stayed up for quite a while despite many hours of Earthing during the night and day.

Mr. Ober also recalls an incident from his youth and growing up in rural Montana: “My uncle had a mink farm with several hundred mink. When my city cousins came to visit once, they were very noisy and rambunctious around the animals. I remember that several of the mink died, probably from a heart attack. The caged animals had become stressed, had no defense, and nowhere to hide. My uncle got good and mad at them and never allowed them into the mink house again.

“Some people are in a constant stressed, fight-or-flight mode. They are in a corner. They can’t run, hide, or do anything. They feel helpless. That’s life today for many people. They get into a sympathetic state and whether they are Earthing or not they manifest their predicament as high blood pressure. Think of the word hypertension. Everything is tight and tense. You are ready to spring, launch, run, or fight.”

For a precise answer, we went to our electron expert, biophysicist James Oschman, Ph.D. Here is his answer:

Free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential to life. The “good” free radicals attack bacteria or other pathogens crossing the skin barrier when you have a cut or other injury. They also break down injured cells. These actions are essential to protect the body from infection and to make space for regenerative cells that will repair an injury. The benign ROS are delivered by white blood cells directly to a site of inflammation. They are not readily neutralized by electrons from the earth because they are delivered to a precise location at a very high concentration, and their electron-grabbing activity is precisely focused on damaged cells and pathogens that may have crossed the skin. 

We believe that all of these mechanisms of age-related free radical damage are slowed significantly by grounding, and that in the grounded body the healthy connective tissue matrix will be populated with enough electrons to neutralize free radicals wherever they form from whatever cause. There is a beneficial feedback effect: the grounded body will not form inflammatory pockets around sites of injury. Injuries will heal quickly. And the connective tissue in the body that is free of inflammatory pockets will be more conductive to electrons (inflammatory barricades are poorly conductive) and therefore will be better able to neutralize free radicals quickly wherever they form from whatever cause.

New to Earthing?  Some Important Reminders
We receive questions from some people concerned about their initial Earthing experiences — during the first few days — or whose expectations of benefits didn’t manifest as quickly as they had hoped. We have talked about this in the Earthing book, and also in earlier reports on this website, but the explanation is worth repeating.

In the vast majority of cases, people begin to feel better soon after they start Earthing.  They feel no discomfort at all with the Earth’s energy and adjust to it easily.  Remember that sleeping grounded or sitting inside your home or office with bare feet on an Earthing mat is the same as being barefoot outside. Nevertheless, the energy can be strange or even discomforting for some people. They may even experience flu-like symptoms, pain, achiness, or cramps. In practically all of these situations, the experience is temporary, a result of the body normalizing to the natural energy from the Earth. As this process gets underway, your ability to release accumulated toxicity appears to accelerate and become more effective. When detoxification occurs, you can feel worse before you feel better. The feeling might last a few days but it will go away and you will feel renewed and energized afterward. We think that the leg cramps that some people feel may be related to toxins coming out of the tissues. So we advise people to start drinking more water so as to flush out the toxins more readily. The strategy usually works and the cramps disappear. In any case, the better hydrated the body is the more conductive it is.  So drinking plenty of good quality water serves health in general and Earthing as well.

If someone can’t tolerate the initial discomfort we usually recommend they stop Earthing for a couple of days, then begin again, but with shorter sessions, like an hour or two during the day. Then gradually increase the exposure to the point where they can comfortably sleep grounded. It may take a bit of experimentation in these cases, but the rewards are usually well worth sticking with it.  It is also possible that Earthing could generate a healing process in the body that causes nerve fibers to function better, resulting in unaccustomed sensations.  Generally, such sensations also go away in a short period of time. Everybody benefits in some way, but each of us is different. The benefits can come quickly and dramatically, or subtly and gradually over time. Often people who are very ill or saddled with various symptoms feel the difference dramatically. One older man adamantly told us he didn’t feel any difference but then admitted that he didn’t get up at night to urinate as frequently as he did before, and often didn’t get up at all. That’s a sign of deeper sleep and probably reduction of prostate inflammation.  Both are great benefits!

Someone with radiant health and who sleeps well may not feel any difference.  However, connecting to the Earth helps to preserve and perpetuate good health. In this situation, regard Earthing as a simple, effortless, and natural form of anti-aging and preventive medicine, whether you feel benefits or not.

For people taking medication, we always suggest being alert to the possibility that as they feel better, the dosage level of medication may be able to be reduced. You may experience signs of overdose. If you do, please see your doctor right away. In any case, do not reduce medication without consulting with your doctor.  If you are taking any form of blood thinner, whether a prescription medicine like Coumadin, or a nutritional supplement, remember that Earthing has a blood thinning effect. Monitor your blood level very carefully and talk to your doctor about what you are doing. You want to guard against excess thinning and the risk of bleeding. 

A new European study published in 2011 indicates that Earthing affects thyroid function. The precise meaning of the changes is unclear, but quite a few people on medication for underactive thyroid have told us over the years they been able to reduce their dosage of medication after starting Earthing.  Some reported feeling palpitations, irregular and/or forceful beating of the heart, an unpleasant symptom reflecting perhaps an arrhythmia but a common sign also of excess thyroid hormone.  We believe that Earthing may improve thyroid function and thus the regular level of medication may become excessive. Thus, if you take thyroid medication and start Earthing, be alert to the possibility of medication overdose. If that happens, you may need to consult with your physician about adjusting your medication level.  Many people have reported being able to do so..   

Earthing Care Tips
We would also like to remind you about taking good care of your Earthing sheets.  Remember NO BLEACH when you wash the sheets.  Bleach will destroy the conductive silver threads in the sheet that carry the Earth’s energy.  Use gentle laundry detergent, such as the eco-friendly varieties you can purchase in health food stores, or a product like Tide Free and Clear.

Please avoid using creams, lotions, and essential oils on your feet or body before bedtime if you sleep on an Earthing half-sheet, fitted sheet, or recovery bag. The oils contained in these products become absorbed into the fabric of the sheets and can destroy the conductivity of the silver. Try to use such body products at an earlier time. There is no problem with facial creams for people who sleep with pillows.  Some years ago conductive Earthing pillows were developed but later discontinued because they were rendered ineffective by people applying facial creams at bedtime.  The oils in the creams oxidized and ruined the conductivity of the pillows.