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15644 Pomerado Rd., Suite 102    Poway, CA 92064

Micro-current Electro-Acupuncture

Non-Needle Electronic Pulse Acupuncture

What is it?
It is a very comprehensive acupuncture service without needles!  A form of Vibrational Medicine.  

We help many people resolve chronic pain, release stress, have better sleep, lift depressive feelings, and find mental clarity and purpose to enjoy life, and get yourself back!

Non-needle Micro-Current Acupuncture is called MEA for short.  

It is A vibrational Energy Medicine with low frequency gentle microcurrents and LED color light therapy.  A painless Modern Style Acupuncture without needles.  It is comprehensive because it can address both physical, and the root cause of imbalance at the mental-emotional-spiritual levels.

It is designed so that we can give you the best treatment that we feel will help you achieve the best results without the limitations of insurance requirements.

What does it treat?

Experience very rapid relief of acute and chronic pain without needles. Can also be  used in conjunction with acupuncture needles for complex conditions.

  • Joint Pain and Limited Range of Motion
  • Shoulder disorders and pain
  • Lower back pain and sciatica
  • Balancing Chakra and Meridian Energies for Emotional Well-being, anxiety, insomnia, depression, stress

More effective, versatile, creates satisfying, and lasting results

  • Resolve root causative patterns and energetic blockages for chronic conditions, pain, and emotional-spiritual well-being.
  • Balance your meridian system and chakras (psycho-neuro-endocrine centers (PNE); balances nerves, brain, and hormones.
  • Feel strong, powerful, and joyful by finding clarity, purpose, and passion in your life. Self-discovery, business and life passion.
  • Apply selected frequencies (Hz) that target specific tissue that supports homeostasis: myofascial, joint capsule, tendons, organs, psychosomatic
  • Can apply specific frequencies for detoxification, and inflammation
  • Great for kids, athletes, sensitive people, or anyone wanting a whole-body approach to wellness.
  • Not recommended for those with pace makers, or pregnant women.  In these cases, we’ll use color light without the microcurrent.

Direct Benefits for Your Health and Well-Being

  • Endocrine Disorders; thyroid disorders, adrenals, diabetes and blood sugar balance, etc.
  • Women’s health; menopause, infertility, PMS, endometriosis, gynecological complaints
  • Emotional, Mental Health & Soul Healing;  Stress, depression, anxiety, or insomnia
  • Chronic pain and Degenerative Conditions; headaches, neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, low back, hip, knee, ankle, foot.
  • Benefits skin and face; used with Energy-Light Facial Rejuvenation

How it works

micro-current electrical stimulation (MEA)

The Acutron device we use delivers gentle electrical pulses in the microcurrent range.  Microcurrents are closer to the body’s own innate electrical activity than the traditional milliamphere electrical therapy.

Microcurrent devices are those that output therapeutic currents regulated in the millionth of an amp, or microcurrent, range.

The high-intensity milliamp currents output by most electro-therapy devices, such as, “Tens Units”, 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.

Micro-current (usually used in very low frequency level range of 0.1 – 1000 Hz): relieves pain, lifts and rejuvenates the face and body, speeds wound healing, provides effective non-needle acupuncture treatments.  When specific microcurrent frequencies are applied that target dysfunctional organs, systems and conditions it can also produce a wide gamut of remarkable health improvement effects.  Thus, leading to a higher quality of life…longer!

Color Light Therapy

Efficacy of treatment is boosted with the addition of color-wavelengths of light.  Examples include Red for depression; Purple for anxiety; Yellow or Lemon for Anger; Red,Turquoise, or Purple for trauma, or fear; Red or Orange for guilt; and Blue for insomnia.

Color Light (highest frequency range of 430 trillion – 750 trillion Hz):  Helps regulate autonomic nervous system, powerful effects on mood, affect and emotional states, direct effect on endocrine hormones, good adjunct to spiritual/soul healing practices.

Color is so effective because acupuncture points are energetic communication gateways, and highly responsive to light. According to acupuncture researcher Ion Dumitrescu of Romania: “The electrodermal points are electrical pores – concerning two-way energy exchange between the body and the environment.”

The work of German scientist Fritz Popp proved the existence of natural light communication between all living plants, animals and people. He called this phenomenon “biophoton” luminescence. Biophotons are carriers of “information,” without which our bodies are lifeless collections of molecules. According to Popp, the coherent biophoton fields within the body mainly originate in our DNA.

Color light therapy significantly enhances pain-relieving and rejuvenating effects of microcurrent.

Elite Acupuncture Color Light
micro-current color-light (MEA)

This model allows us to treat with or without needles!  All needles are sterile and disposable.

Essential Oils

We often include the addition of essential oils for a calming and relaxing environment, and to enhance results with such oils like peppermint, lavender, wild orange, frankincense, or clary sage.

Essential OilAll of these factors can speed results, provide for better whole-body balancing and improve carry-over of results.  This last point is significant.  There are numerous research studies documenting the tissue healing acceleration produced by micro-current treatment.  By empowering it’s cellular and tissue level healing process, it is much more likely that the root causes of pain and inflammation will be removed.

For complete healing, therapy is similar to other therapies where the healing process is enabled allowing the body to heal itself.  As with acupuncture, physical therapy, chiropractic, nutritional therapy, and exercise programs, optimal effects take place over time from three to four months. Each treatment is cumulative, and builds upon the next with a carefully thought out treatment plan.

Acusimple Online Booking and Practice Management Software for Acupuncturists


Micro-current research links or abstracts

Links

Scientific and Clinical Studies on Microcurrent studies.  http://b-e-st.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/engl_scientific_and_clinical_studies_on_microcurrent.pdf

The Basis for Micro current Electrical Therapy.  https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2c89/f160f61da8265b4f49069c4a6b92793079a9.pdf

Annotations from https://www.avazzia.com/about/microcurrent-research/

Bioelectricity and microcurrent therapy for tissue healing – a narrative review

Source: Poltawski, L and Watson, T: Physical Therapy Reviews 2009 VOL 14 NO 2 (105-114); School of Health and Emergency Professions, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK

Background: Microcurrent therapy (MCT) uses electric currents similar to those produced by the body during tissue healing. It may be a particularly beneficial where endogenous healing has failed.

Aim: To review evidence regarding microcurrent in tissue healing and the application of MCT.

Methods: All peer-reviewed studies concerning microcurrent and MCT were sought, and representative literature was synthesized to indicate the scope and weight of current evidence.

Results: Microcurrent appears to play a significant role in the healing process, and MCT can promote healing in a variety of bone and skin lesions. The evidence for other tissues is encouraging but presently scant.

Summary: MCT may have unrealized potential in the treatment of dysfunctional tissue healing and deserves greater attention by researchers and clinicians.

Conclusions: The evidence in support of MCT is convincing enough to justify its inclusion in the clinician’s repertoire for treatment of several examples of recalcitrant bone and skin lesions. Indeed federal and private health insurance providers in the USA have accepted its use (along with other forms of Poltawski and Watson Bioelectricity and microcurrent therapy for tissue healing) for spinal fusions and hard to heal skin ulcers for some years. In contrast, the lack of substantial and robust human trial evidence for the use of MCT with musculoskeletal soft tissue lesions is frustrating. Clinicians are justifiably cautious when presented with yet another form of electrotherapy, especially when the case for those that are more familiar and well-used, such as therapeutic ultrasound, has been questioned in several reviews.

Yet MCT has several significant features in its favour: there is already substantial evidence that it can promote healing in a variety of tissue types and disorders, especially where other approaches have failed; it may help redress an underlying physiological dysfunction as well as reducing its symptoms; its mechanism of action appears to be as a trigger or facilitator of the whole healing process, unlike some new approaches such as exogenous growth factors, which have specific targets in the healing cascade.

Reported side-effects of MCT are few and minor, and it can be provided by a small, portable generator, over an extended period where necessary, requiring minimal therapist supervision once initiated. The therapy has been shown to be most beneficial when it is used as part of a broader management strategy.

Given these characteristics, the potential for MCT in a range of recalcitrant musculoskeletal disorders is worthy of closer attention by both research and clinical communities.

Electromedicine: The other side of physiology

Source: Kirsch, Daniel L. PhD (2002) Pain Management: A Practical Guide for Clinicians (6th ed.) Boca Raton, Fla.: American Academy of Pain Management. Richard Weiner, Editor. CRC Press. 749-758

Clinical Aspects of Electromedicine: The correct form of electromedical intervention will often have a profound and usually immediate effect on pain. … Even at its present state of evolution, electromedicine offers an unprecedented conservative, cost-effective, fast, safe and powerful tool in the management of the pain patient. As such it should be the first priority on the list of treatment options.

Anti-inflammatory Effects of Electronic Signal Treatment

Source: Odell, Robert H., MD, PhD, and Sorgnard, Richard E. PhD (2008) Pain Physician, 11:891-907 Las Vegas.

Summary: We postulate that pharmaceuticals have a tendency to overwhelm biosystems, a very unnatural progression as evidenced by the side effect profiles. EST works through biosystems and their controls. We have presented multiple mechanisms, most documented and one postulated, which demonstrate initial facilitation and then quick resolution of the inflammatory process to prevent it from leading to chronic inflammation and chronic pain. While complex, all concepts above fit together when taken into the context of signaling cAMP; however, the basic signaling mechanism could easily be the oscillo/torsional ionic action on cyclic AMP. Through this and the other mechanisms discussed, cellular derangements are returned to normal in optimum physiological time.

A paradigm shift in our approach should begin soon. Many patients in chronic pain are simply being under treated for various reasons. Narcotic medications are being diverted in increasing numbers. Most importantly, a recent study on adverse drug events based on the FDA voluntary reporting system has found the death rate has increased out of proportion to the increase in the number of prescriptions written, and the greatest culprits are pain medications and immune modulating drugs. The authors emphasized that these findings “show that the existing system is not adequately protecting patients and underscores the importance of recent reports urging far-reaching legislative, policy and institutional changes.” One purpose of this paper is to get the pain management physician to start to think about modifying the therapeutic approach, which might begin by emphasizing the physics approach as well as the pharmacological approach.

The following from Potter and Funk, written in 1917, still apply: “Success in electrotherapeutics depends on an adequate knowledge of physiology and pathology as related to the human body; on a mastery of the laws that govern electricity [physics]; on the possession of efficient apparatus, the achievement of good technique by practice and the good judgment to apply all these requirements … Electrotherapeutics is not a system to be used to the exclusion of other therapeutic measures, but is a worthy addition to any physician’s armamentarium …”

Conclusion: While we believe additional studies involving the treatment of inflammatory processes with EST are important, there appears to be enough evidence to encourage the primary or adjuvant use of EST for inflammatory conditions and for the potential replacement of chemical steroids. EST and the evidence presented have placed us on a threshold of discovery; it is time to apply this knowledge in the clinical setting. The alternative role of EST will depend on the outcomes of well conducted clinical trials which utilize this reasonable and safe approach.

The use of acupuncture-like electrical stimulation for wound healing of lesions unresponsive to conventional treatment

Sumano H, Mateos G (1999): Am J Acupunct. Sep-Oct;9(5):42-5.

Source: Program of Physical Therapy, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis, USA.

Abstract: Based on previous experimental evidence suggesting improved healing of wounds treated with electrical stimulation, we conducted a clinical trial with patients seeking alternative medicine after unsuccessful conventional medical treatment. Electricity was delivered in two forms: (1) For wounds with extensive loss of tissue and/or those that had failed to heal spontaneously, electrical stimulation was delivered via subcutaneously inserted needles surrounding the wound edges and applying a dose charge of 0.6 coulombs/cm2/day; (2) in second degree burn injuries, lesions were covered with gauze soaked in a 10% (w/v) sterile saline solution and the same dose of electricity was applied as for (1). Forty-four patients were treated with electrical stimulation of the skin; 34 in group (1) and 10 in group (2). Following electrostimulation in all patients in both groups healing proceeded in a thoroughly organized manner, almost regardless of the severity of the type of wound or burn treated. Advantages and limitations of this technique are discussed. PMID: 10513093

Promotion of wound healing with electrical stimulation.

Kloth LC, McCulloch JM (1996) Adv Wound Care., 27(1-2):5-14. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Veterinary Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City.

Abstract: Clinicians involved in the conservative care of chronic wounds have many treatment interventions from which to choose, including debridement/irrigation, dressings, pressure-relieving devices, hyperbaric or topically applied oxygen, whirlpool/pulsed lavage, ultrasound, topical antibiotics, and cytokine growth factors. All except the last two interventions are physical treatments that create a wound-tissue environment conducive to healing. Unfortunately, many chronic wounds heal very slowly, do not heal, or worsen despite the best efforts of caregivers to promote tissue repair. An intervention commonly used to treat chronic wounds, especially by physical therapists, is electrical stimulation (ES).

The rationale for use of this method is based on the fact that the human body has an endogenous bioelectric system that enhances healing of bone fractures and soft-tissue wounds. When the body’s endogenous bioelectric system fails and cannot contribute to wound repair processes, therapeutic levels of electrical current may be delivered into the wound tissue from an external source. The external current may serve to mimic the failed natural bioelectric currents so that wound healing can proceed. Certain chemotaxic factors found in wound substrates contribute to tissue repair processes by attracting cells into the wound environment. Neutrophil, macrophage, fibroblast, and epidermal cells involved in wound repair carry either a positive or negative charge. When these cells are needed to contribute to autolysis, granulation tissue formation, anti-inflammatory activities, or epidermal resurfacing, ES may facilitate galvanotaxic attraction of these cells into the wound tissue and thereby accelerate healing. PMID: 9069747

The Effect of Microcurrent Electrical Stimulation on the Foot Blood Circulation and Pain of Diabetic Neuropathy

Park, RJ; Son, H; Kim, K et al. (2011) Journal of Physical Therapy Science (23)3:515-518

Source: Department of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Science, Daegu University, South Korea

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the effect of microcurrent electrical stimulation on the foot blood circulation and the degree of pain experienced by diabetes patients. Twenty nine patients with diabetic neuropathy over the age of 60 were randomly divided into an experimental (16 patients, 67.9 ± 8.0 years) and a control group (13 patients, 70.4 ± 4.4 years).

Methods: Both groups walked on a treadmill at a comfortable pace for 50 min/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks, and each participant’s body weight, body composition, and blood lipid were examined at the baseline and 4 weeks later.

Results: The results show that the foot blood flow rate increment after the intervention was significantly different between the experimental group and the control group, and the VAS was also significantly different.

Conclusion: Based on the study results, we consider that microcurrent electric stimulation of the foot may be helpful for preventing the pain and diabetic ulcers by increasing the foot blood circulation in diabetes patients.

Electrical signals control wound healing through phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase-gamma and PTEN

Zhao M, Song B, Pu J, Wada T, Reid B et al. (2006) Nature. Jul 27;442(7101):457-60.

Source: School of Medical Sciences and Department of Ophthalmology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK.

Abstract: Wound healing is essential for maintaining the integrity of multicellular organisms. In every species studied, disruption of an epithelial layer instantaneously generates endogenous electric fields, which have been proposed to be important in wound healing. The identity of signaling pathways that guide both cell migration to electric cues and electric-field-induced wound healing have not been elucidated at a genetic level. Here we show that electric fields, of a strength equal to those detected endogenously, direct cell migration during wound healing as a prime directional cue. Manipulation of endogenous wound electric fields affects wound healing in vivo. Electric stimulation triggers activation of Src and inositol-phospholipid signaling, which polarizes in the direction of cell migration. Notably, genetic disruption of phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase-gamma (PI(3)Kgamma) decreases electric-field-induced signaling and abolishes directed movements of healing epithelium in response to electric signals. Deletion of the tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) enhances signaling and electrotactic responses. These data identify genes essential for electrical-signal-induced wound healing and show that PI(3)Kgamma and PTEN control electrotaxis. PMID: 16871217

Electro-membrane microcurrent therapy reduces signs and symptoms of muscle damage

Lambert MI, Marcus P, Burgess T, Noakes TD (2002). Med Sci Sports Exerc. Apr;34(4):602-7.

Source: MRC/UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, P.O. Box 115, Newlands, South Africa.

Purpose: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) occurs after unaccustomed physical activity or competitive sport, resulting in stiff, painful muscles with impaired function. Acustat electro-membrane microcurrent therapy has been used to treat postoperative pain and soft tissue injury; however, its efficacy in reducing symptoms of muscle damage is not known.

Methods: Thirty healthy men were recruited for a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The muscles of their nondominant arms were damaged using an eccentric-exercise protocol. Subjects were then randomly assigned to treatment with either Acustat or a matching placebo membrane for 96 h and monitored for a total of 168 h.

Results: Subjects in both groups experienced severe pain and swelling of the elbow flexors after the eccentric exercise. After 24 h, the elbow joint angle of the placebo group had increased significantly more than those in the Acustat group (13.7 +/- 8.9 degrees vs 7.5 +/- 5.5 degrees; placebo vs Acustat, P < 0.05), possibly as a consequence of the elbow flexor muscles shortening. For the first 48 h after exercise, maximum voluntary contraction of the elbow flexor muscles was significantly impaired in the placebo group by up to 25% (P < 0.05), whereas muscle function was unchanged in the Acustat group. Peak plasma creatine kinase activity was also lower in the Acustat group (peak = 777 +/- 1438 U.L-1) versus the placebo group (peak = 1918 +/- 2067 U.L-1; (P < 0.05). The membranes were well tolerated by the subjects in both groups without any adverse effects.

Conclusion: These data show that treatment of muscle damage with Acustat electro-membrane microcurrent therapy reduces the severity of the symptoms. The mechanisms of action are unknown but are likely related to maintenance of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis after muscle damaging exercise. PMID: 11932567

Microcurrent therapy: a novel treatment method for chronic low back myofascial pain

McMakin, Carolyn R, MA, DC. (2004) Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. Apr(8)2:143–153

Source: Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Clinic of Portland, 17214 SE Division Street, Portland, OR 97230, USA

Abstract: Chronic low back pain associated with myofascial trigger point activity has been historically refractory to conventional treatment (Pain Research and Management 7 (2002) 81). In this case series study, an analysis of 22 patients with chronic low back pain, of 8.8 years average duration, is presented. Following treatment with frequency-specific microcurrent, a statistically significant 3.8-fold reduction in pain intensity was observed using a visual analog scale. This outcome was achieved over an average treatment period of 5.6 weeks and a visit frequency of one treatment per week. When pain chronicity exceeded 5 years, there was a trend toward increasing frequency of treatment required to achieve the same magnitude of pain relief. In 90% of these patients, other treatment modalities including drug therapy, chiropractic manipulation, physical therapy, naturopathic treatment and acupuncture had failed to produce equivalent benefits. The microcurrent treatment was the single factor contributing the most consistent difference in patient-reported pain relief. These results support the observation that rigorously designed clinical investigations are warranted.

Acupuncture Treatment Reduced Phantom-Limb Pain and Sensation

Medical Acupuncture

Volume 25, Number 1, 2013

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

DOI: 10.1089/acu.2012.0928

Synopsis: This study reviewed current publications to determine if acupuncture therapy had been shown to have a positive effect on the symptoms of phantom-limb syndrome. Avazzia technology, especially combined with the Avazzia MEAD, can be used as a needleless form of acupuncture.

Nerve Stimulation Cuts Down on Migraines

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Published: February 11, 2013

Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

Synopsis: A noninvasive device that electrically stimulates the trigeminal nerve prevented migraines for patients whose episodes could not be controlled by medication alone, a trial showed. The number of days with a migraine dropped significantly, by about two per month, in the supraorbital transcutaneous stimulation group, without a change in the sham control group, Jean Schoenen, MD, PhD, of Belgium’s Liège University, and colleagues found.

Annotations from Darren Starwyn

l) Carley and Wainapel: Electrotherapy for Acceleration of Wound Healing:

Low Intensity Direct Current Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 66, July 1985

Summary: 30 hospital patients with non-healing ulcers were divided into two groups, one treated with conventional wound dressings and one with microcurrent stimulation at 300-700 uA. The latter group was given two two hour stimulation periods per day. After six weeks of such treatments, the group treated with microcurrents showed a 150-250% faster healing rate , with stronger scar formation, less pain and lessened infection of the treated area.

2) Wolcott, Wheeler, Hardwicke, and Rowley:

Accelerated Healing of Skin Ulcers by Electrotherapy Southern Medical Journal, July 1969.

Summary: These researchers applied microcurrent stimulation ranging from 200-800 uA to a wide variety of wounds, using negative polarity over the lesions in the initial phase, and then alternating positive and negative electrodes every three days. The treated group showed 200-350% faster healing rates than control, with stronger tensile strength of scar tissue and antibacterial effects in infected wounds in the treated group.

3) Gault and Gatens:

Use of Low Intensity Direct Current in Management of Ischemic Skin Ulcers Physical Therapy, Vol. 56, #3, March 1976.

Summary: 100 patients with skin ulcers were treated with microcurrent stimulation; six of them had bacterial ulcers with one side used as controls. Stimulation of 200-800 uA was applied, with negative polarity used until infection cleared, and then polarity reversed. Patients had diagnosis ranging from quadriplegia, CVA, brain tumor, peripheral vascular disease, burns, diabetes, fracture, and amputation. The lesions with patients treated with currents showed approximately twice as fast a healing rate.

4) Cheng, et Al:

The Effects of Electric Current on ATP Generation, Protein Synthesis, and Membrane Transport in Rat Skin Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, #171, Nov/Dec. 1982

Summary: These researchers used in vitro slices of rat skin to determine some of the biochemical explanations for accelerated wound healing demonstrated in the above studies. By applying various levels of current to the samples, and then chemically analyzing them, they determined that skin treated at currents below 1000 uA showed up to 75% higher amino acids and up to 400% more available ATP than controls, and that skin treated at levels above 1000 uA showed depressed levels of of these substances. Often less than non-treated controls.

5) Rowley, McKenna, and Wolcott:Proceedings:

Use of Low Level Electrical Current for Enhancement of Tissue Healing. Biomedical Scientific Instruments #10, 1974

Summary: This article is an overview of theory and research into the titled field.

6) Tomoya Ohno (Japanese):

Experimental Studies of Influences on Healing Process of Mandibular Defect Stimulated by Microcurrent Shikwa Gakuho, #82 1982

Summary: 50 uA microcurrents were applied to one side of the jaws of a group of dogs with lesions in their jaws. The other side was untreated. The dogs were examined at periods of 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42 and 56 days. Results: “It seems likely that direct microcurrent promotes normal bone formation within the defective area and accelerates the osseous healing process. Prolonged application of electrical stimulus promotes a remarkable bone remodeling mechanism.”

7) Sinitsyn, Razvozva (Russian):

Effects of Electrical Microcurrents on Regeneration Processes in Skin Wounds Ortop Travmatol Protez, Feb. 1986

Summary: 68 patients with post burn and post traumatic wounds underwent treatment constant and modulated microcurrent of negative polarity of 1-10 uA/cm2 over a period of 2-20 days. Although both groups showed accelerated regeneration, the modulated electric current group showed more prolonged and marked effect. Better survival of skin grafts was demonstrated compared with uintreated patients.

8) Sinitsyn, Razvozova, (Russian):

Stimulation of the Regeneration of Skin Wounds by Microcurrents Vopr Juroortol Fizioter Lech Fiz Kult, Nov.-Dec. 1985

9) Nessler and Mass:

Direct-Current Electrical Stimulation of Tendon Healing in Vitro Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research, April 1987

Summary: 80 tendons from white rabbits were surgically transected and removed from the animals after being surgically repaired. They were divided into 4 groups of 20, and cultured with 10 of each group being electrically stimulated, and half not. A 1.4 volt direct current connected through a 150 kOhm resistor was used for stimulation, at a current of about 7 uA. It was found that currents any higher than this caused discoloration of the tendons. Healing was measured by proline uptake and bridging of the repair site by the epitenon. Results: “a continuous direct current causes increased tendon cell activity within seven days and the increased activity may persist as long as 42 days.” The researchers suggested that externally applied microcurrents may be preferable in future studies.

10) Stanish and Gunlaughson:

Electrical Energy and Soft-Tissue Injury Healing Sportcare and Fitness, Sept/Oct 1988

Summary: This article is a summary of research into tendon healing acceleration, including human injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament and the Achilles tendons: “While the results are subjective, the individuals in both groups appear to have returned to usual activities more quickly, and have greater mobility, than people treated more conventionally”.

11) Vanable, Joseph:

The Role of Endogenous Electrical Fields in Limb Regeneration Limb Development and Regeneration, Part A. pages 587-596 Alan Liss Publishing, N.Y. 1983

12) Oweye, Spielholz and Nelson:

Low-intensity Pulsed Galvanic Current and the Healing of Tenotomized Rat Achilles Tendons: Preliminary Report Using Load-to-Breaking Measurements Archives Physical Med Rehab, Vol. 68, July 1987

Summary: 60 rats were divided into three groups of 20. One was unstimulated, one group had their Achilles tendons stimulated with positive (anodal) current, and the third group’s tendons were stimulated with negative (cathodal) currents. A current of 75 microamps, at 10 Hz was used. Results: “The group treated with anodal current withstood significantly greater loads (p<0.001) than did either the group which healed normally (i.e. without stimulation) or the group treated with cathodal currents”.

13) Reichmanis, Marino, and Becker:

Electrical Correlates of Acupuncture Points IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, November, 1975

Abstract: Employing a wheatstone bridge, skin conductance was measured over those putative acupuncture points on the large intestine and pericardium meridians lying between the metacarpophalangeal joints and the elbow. Results were compared to those from anatomically similar locations devoid of acupuncture points. “At most acupuncture points on most subjects, there were greater electrical conductance maxims than at control sites”.

14) reported by Lawrence Altman:

Cell Channel Finding Earns Nobel Prize New York Times Medical Science section, October, 9, 1991

Summary: Two German scientists, Dr. Erwin Neher and Dr. Bert Sakmann, will share the $1 million dollar Nobel prize for their development of the patch-clamp technique that allows the detection of minute electrical currents in cell membranes. This discovery, which “revolutionized modern biology” may shed light on the causes of several diseases, like diabetes and cystic fibrosis. This method allowed the detection of 20 to 40 types of ion channels that allow positive or negatively charged ions into and out of the cells. “This study confirmed that electrical activity is not limited to nerve and muscle tissue, as previously thought, but is intrinsic to ‘all kinds of other cells’”.

15) Richez, Chamay and Bieler, U. of Geneva:

Bone Changes Due to Pulses of Direct Electric Microcurrent, Virchows Arch. Abt. A Path Anat. 357, 11-18 (1972)

Summary: 26 rabbits had platinum electrodes surgically implanted into the medullary cavities of their humerus bones. Microcurrent stimulation was applied at 50 and 250 uA, allowing pause periods of one second between one second treatment bursts. The scientists found that osteogenesis (bone growth) happened more around the cathode (negative polarity), and that slight tissue necrosis occurred around the anode. The tissues stimulated acted as capacitors, discharging 75% of the current absorbed during the rest periods. They concluded that pulsed current is superior to direct current for bone healing acceleration.

16) J.A. Spadaro, S.E. Chase, and D.A. Webster:

Bacterial inhibition by electrical activation of percutaneous silver implants, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Vol. 20, 565-577 (1986)

Summary: Percutaneous silver wire implants were placed in rats, and the wounds inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus to test how much infection would spread. Microcurrent stimulation was passed through the wires, with + anodal current placed into implanted silver wire, and the – cathodal electrode placed on the rat’s belly as a ground. It was found that significant inhibition of infection occurred, with the most marked results at 20uA current level. “Metallic silver can be effectively and efficiently activated to elicit its anti-microbial activity by the application of microampere electrical current.”

17) Byl, McKenzie et.al.:

Pulsed Microampereage Stimulation: A Controlled Study of Healing of Surgically Induced Wounds in Yucatan Pigs, Physical Therapy, Volume 74, Number 3/March 1994

Summary: This study failed to confirm the superiority of microcurrent-stimulated wounds in test pigs over controls. A good review of previous studies is given as well as a discussion of which research variables could account for the inconclusive results, which vary from other studies that found microcurrent to be efficacious for wound healing.

18) Bertolucci and Grey:

Clinical Comparative Study of Microcurrent Electrical Stimulation to Mid-Laser and Placebo Treatment in Degenerative Joint Disease of the Temporomandibular Joint, Journal of Craniomandibular Practice, 1995

Summary: 48 patients were divided into three groups, some receiving placebo, some microcurrent and some laser to treat pain of TMJ sydrome. Both microcurrent and laser were found to be significantly more effective than placebo, with laser slightly more effective than microcurrent. The author acknowledges that lasers are not legally sold in the United States for this purpose, and that microcurrent’s easy accessibility makes it more practical for practitioners here.

19) M. Heffernan:

Comparative Effects of Microcurrent Stimulation on EEG Spectrum and Correlation Dimension, Integrative and Behavioural Science, July-September, 1996, Vol. 31, #3

Summary: 30 subjects were selected for a study comparing the effects of microcurrent on smoothing of EEG measurements of the brain. Subjects were randomly assigned to three groups – microcurrent (100uA) applied to earloble, trapezius area of shoulder, and no stimulation. Electrodes were arranged so subjects could not tell which group they were in. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and correlation dimension from chaos analysis were used to measure results. The researcher found that microcurrent applied to the shoulders was markedly more effective in smoothing EEG patterns than earlobe or placebo. “This would represent a possible cost-effective alternative to neurofeedback in treating (anxiety and attention deficit disorders), by raising low regions in the FFT.

20) DuPont:

Trigger Point Identification and Treatment with Microcurrent, The Journal of Craniomandibular Practice, October 1999, Vol. 17, #4

Summary: This article gives the author’s techniques for locating and stimulating trigger points (TP’s) using a microcurrent stimulator, specifically for the treatment of temporomandibular disorders. He states that electrical conductivity is highest over trigger points, and galvanic skin response (GSR) testing can be used to locate such points. He utilizes probe electrodes to treat small TP’s, and pad electrodes to treat larger ones. Probe treatment is delivered @ 0.3 Hz, 20 – 40 uA, with treatment time of 10 – 30 seconds per site. He suggests administering treatment in 24-48 intervals, and states that results should be seen within 2 – 3 treatments. He acknowledges that these protocols are not necessarily the best ones, but work well for his practice. 2) Vanable, Joseph: The Role of Endogenous Electrical Fields in Limb Regereration Limb Development and Regeneration, Part A, pgs. 587-596, Alan Liss Publishing, N.Y., 1983 2) Vanable, Joseph: The Role of Endogenous Electrical Fields in Limb Regereration Limb Development and Regeneration, Part A, pgs. 587-596, Alan Liss Publishing, N.Y., 1983

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