PEMF Therapy
Some patients want a little more support while their body recovers, especially alongside drainage and hands-on work. PEMF therapy is a calm, comfortable session that uses gentle pulsed energy, and for some people it can help the body feel more at ease. It is chosen at your assessment, never assumed. Delivered by Vogel Method-trained therapists across three clinics in Chicago's western suburbs.
4.8 · 1,000+ reviews across Google, Yelp & More
Concerns PEMF Therapy Treats
Persistent swelling from a lymphatic system that cannot drain on its own. For patients already in a drainage plan, PEMF is a gentle comfort layer added when it makes sense, never the treatment itself. The manual drainage work stays the foundation.
View Concern →Calm and soothing
A gentle session many patients simply find easy to rest into
Recovery support
A comfortable add-on while the body recovers, worked in alongside drainage
A sense of lightness
Some patients feel looser or lighter afterward, though this varies
No downtime
No needle, no heat to brace for, most people return to their day
Why patients choose NLC.
Founder Sharon M. Vogel has spent more than three decades devoted to lymphatic drainage. A Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Lymphedema Therapist and Board-Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (LMT, CLT, BCTMB), she developed the Vogel Method and founded National Lymphatic Centers in 1991. Today her team of certified therapists carries that same standard across three clinics in Chicago's western suburbs: Hinsdale, Downers Grove and Joliet.
When PEMF isn't the right fit
PEMF-specific cautions: pacemakers and pregnancy
PEMF is not for pacemakers, implanted devices, or pregnancy.
- • PEMF uses electromagnetic energy, so it is not suitable with a pacemaker
- • It is not used with any implanted electronic device
- • It is not used during pregnancy
- • If either applies, we talk through other options that are safe for you
The same clinical rules apply
PEMF follows the same contraindications as our hands-on work.
- • We do not do drainage or device work on AFib, COPD, emphysema, blood clots, or active infection
- • These are outside our scope of care
- • Severe or acute lymphedema can need a hospital lymphedema clinic with emergency care on site
- • In cancer treatment, autoimmune care, or surgery recovery, we coordinate before adding anything
What we will not promise
PEMF is supportive wellness, and we do not overpromise it.
- • It is a supportive wellness therapy, not a medical treatment for any disease
- • The research is limited and developing, so we make no clinical promises
- • We do not claim it treats or cures a condition or reduces inflammation as fact
- • For some patients a session helps the body feel at ease, and that we stand behind
How a PEMF session tends to run.
PEMF is added by a therapist who has already looked at whether it is safe and sensible for you. The session follows your history and how you respond, and the manual drainage work stays the foundation underneath it.
Your therapist asks about pacemakers, implanted devices, and pregnancy before anything else, because PEMF uses electromagnetic energy and is not safe for everyone. This is where we decide whether PEMF belongs in your session at all. Nothing happens without your say so.
Details+
- • Health history, prior surgeries, current conditions, medications
- • A specific check for pacemakers, implanted devices, and pregnancy
- • Candidacy screen against the contraindications list
- • A plain answer on whether PEMF belongs in your plan
The work, explained by Sharon
The full team.
Hover to read each name. Certified care across all three Illinois clinics, every session to the Vogel Method standard.
Sharon M. Vogel
LMT · CLT · CDT · BCTMB · CVMLD™
All three clinics
Abdul Alagha
LMT · CLT · LANA
Downers Grove
Ludmila Lynch
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT
Joliet
Stephanie Kos
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT · LET
Hinsdale
Hana Echevarria
LMT · OMT · CDT
Downers Grove
Ricky Sharma
LMT · CVMLD™ · MLD
Downers Grove
Sharon M. Vogel
LMT · CLT · CDT · BCTMB · CVMLD™
All three clinics
Abdul Alagha
LMT · CLT · LANA
Downers Grove
Ludmila Lynch
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT
Joliet
Stephanie Kos
LMT · CVMLD™ · CLT · LET
Hinsdale
Hana Echevarria
LMT · OMT · CDT
Downers Grove
Ricky Sharma
LMT · CVMLD™ · MLD
Downers Grove
What patients tell us
4.8★ across 1,000+ reviews on Google, Yelp & More
“The Vogel Method is the only manual lymphatic massage that has decreased my joint swelling and improved my quality of life. I am willing to drive over an hour to see Sharon and team. She keeps my vertigo and joint swelling at bay.”
Mary H.
Google · joint swelling & vertigo · May 2026
Three Illinois clinics.
Reserve your visit.
No referral needed.
Choose a therapist and a time that works for you, at any of our three Illinois clinics. Same-specialty care, whether it is your first visit or your tenth.
See pricingA self-pay clinic, with a superbill for your insurer.
We do not bill insurance directly. For medically necessary lymphatic therapy, we provide an itemized superbill you can submit to your insurer for possible reimbursement. Coverage varies by plan, so check with your provider.
Have questions about referrals or reimbursement? Our front desk is happy to help. 630-828-6582
Related lymphatic services
Curious whether PEMF is worth trying?
That is exactly what the assessment is for, and we would rather be honest with you than book you into something you do not need. Call us, tell us what is going on, and we will say plainly whether PEMF might help or whether your time is better spent on hands-on drainage. If it fits, we will get you in at the clinic nearest you: Hinsdale, Downers Grove, or Joliet.