This brief
essay is intended to help professionals who want to get involved
with the practice of microcurrent therapy and microcurrent electro-acupuncture
in wading through the often confusing information encountered
when investigating this subject. By its very nature, electro-therapy
tends to be difficult to understand for most health professionals.
Few have training in electronic theory and parameters, physics
or the Universal Laws of energy that clinical success or failure
are based on. Most manufacturers of clinical stimulation devices
offer very limited training and instruction, based on simplistic
and relatively ineffective techniques of application. I'm sure
that the intentions of the people who write electro-therapy training
manuals is to keep the information as simple as possible, but
the vast majority of the instructions given consist of placing
electrodes right over locally painful zones and stimulating these
with currents that are usually way too strong for optimal response.
While this
is a simple concept to grasp, this is not what usually leads to
superior clinical results. Microcurrent devices are those that
output therapeutic currents regulated in the millionth of an amp,
or microcurrent, range. The success and popularity of microcurrent
electro-therapies are based on frequently superior patient responses.
This is due to the fact that most of the human body's innate electrical
activity occurs in the pico (trillionths) and nano (billionths)
of an amp range, and in some cases reaches the microamp range.
Readjustment of these extremely subtle fields is better accomplished
with currents that are just slightly higher than the innate currents.
The high-intensity milliamp currents output by most electro-therapy
devices are truly an 'overkill' response in most clinical cases,
although some acute conditions presenting muscle spasm, gross
edema and severe pain do require this overkill response for first
aid purposes. Even when milliamps are useful, it is advisable
to immediately follow with subsensational microcurrents to ease
the body down from the distortions induced by the high intensity
current intervention. Therefore, a device that offers both milli
and microcurrents, in sequence, will be most clinically useful
for acute conditions. This would allow you to give a patient brief
milliamp treatment followed by a longer period of microcurrents,
preferably without you having to come back to the treatment room
to change parameters.
There are
two main mediums to apply microcurrents to the body - through
probe electrodes and pad electrodes. Probe electrodes have very
small contact points, and so are ideal for stimulation of trigger
and acu-points. Quality devices also allow location of acu-points
through a probe system using an ohmmeter feedback system. We have
found many of the most impressive results with microcurrent therapies
to be with specific point stimulation. It is far better to purchase
a microcurrent device that has a well-crafted dual probe system
that allows two points to be stimulated at the same time, and
allows for accurate searching and location of low-resistance points.
Look for a device with both a visual and audible feedback system.
The visual meter is most useful when you can read the specific
scale from 0 - 100, rather than just a sound or row of LED indicators.
As a whole-body treatment system, microcurrent therapy is often
advantageously applied to multiple body areas at the same time.
Ideally, probe treatment should be simultaneously available as
needed. Superior devices have four output channels to allow for
this flexibility of treatment. One of the most useful styles of
pad treatments is called interferential electro-therapy. This
is a four-pad set-up, with each set of two pads set to slightly
different frequencies. Interferential currents have the advantage
of broader and deeper penetration into the target tissues of the
body. It takes two output channels of your device to create one
interferential pattern. A four-channel unit will allow for two
of these fou-pad set-ups, which is frequently called upon in clinical
practice. Some examples would be treatment of both knees, neck
and back injuries treated together, peripheral neuropathy, or
simultaneous treatment of two or more patients. One of the most
severe drawbacks to many microcurrent stimulators is lack of control
over current polarity. The Law of Polarity is a universal principle
of physics that requires effective energy stimulation to the human
body to be accord with its natural polarization. In my teaching
career, I have found that the in the majority of times practitioners
have reported clinical failures or aggravations to me, the Law
of Polarity was not being followed. Again, in an attempt to simplify
the use of electro-therapy, many manufacturers have only offered
fixed biphasic (alternating polarity) currents. Such currents
are appropriate for local dispersion of energetically blocked
areas, but are not very effective for disorders of the extremities,
acupuncture meridian treatment and balancing, neuropathies and
headaches. In these cases, properly polarized treatment currents
are essential. I do not recommend the purchase of any microcurrent
device that lacks adjustable polarity.
One of the
factors clinicians must deal with in applying any form of stimulation
to the body is accommodation. This is the tendency of the body
to quickly adapt, and thereby tune out, any repetitive input.
This is what happens in a noisy restaurant- you rapidly cease
to be as aware of the backround noise. If some unusual and new
sound reaches your ears, however, you will again sit up and take
notice, as it is a departure from the drone you have accommodated
to. This new sound that grabs your attention is a form of modulation,
or disruption of repetition. This principle is important to understand
in the practice of electro-therapies as well. Most microcurrent
devices only offer repetitive currents. Once a frequency and intensity
is selected, that will continue for the length of the treatment.
As just explained, the body is likely to accommodate, thereby
rendering most of the treatment ineffective. I suggest purchasing
a device that offers several types of current modulations that
helps prevent accommodation. There are several valuable modulation
patterns, some better for acute conditions, and some better for
sensitive, chronic patients. As you can see from reading this
far, there are a lot of variables to understand in applying effective
microcurrent treatment. You may be a technophobe who does not
want to delve that deeply into study of electronic parameters
and how to select them for each clinical presentation. The good
news is that some devices exist that can be simply programmed
through presets. The microprocessor technology of superior devices
allows a clinically effective set of parameters, including correct
frequency, polarity, intensity, modulation, waveform, etc., to
be selected with a single action, such as pressing a button. Look
for a device that offers a broad range of preset treatment protocols,
yet also allows you to customize the presets if you want.
As your skill
and confidence grows, you will probably want to be able to set
up your own presets or alter those programmed by the manufacturer.
Finally, one of the most important factors in this discussion
is the amount and quality of support and training you will receive
from the company selling you your device. As mentioned earlier,
few companies have the knowledge or inclination to adequately
train people purchasing electro-therapy devices from them. In
most cases, the salesperson has only a sketchy knowledge themselves,
and once his or her commission has been earned, is not inclined
to continue the learning relationship. Ask any salesperson wishing
to sell you a microcurrent device exactly what kind of training
program his company offers, especially after the sale is completed.
Good training materials, personal support, access to help and
ongoing seminars and briefings are of tremendous value, and a
good program of this kind is potentially worth thousands of dollars
to you in increased revenues through greater clinical successes
and the resulting new patient referrals. The combination of a
versatile device with the features suggested above and a comprehensive
training and support program will go a long way to ensure your
clinical and business success. Although you may pay more for a
superior device and training program, this difference will come
back to you many, many times over, and is truly a smart investment
rather than an expense. In fact, investment of money and time
into acquiring and learning to use a quality microcurrent stimulator
is an excellent example of business leverage. If you have any
questions or comments about this essay, you may email me at: dstarwynn@neta.com
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