By Deborah L. Wieder, MS, PT

Microcurrent therapy is one of the most controversial. Confusing. Frustrating.Amazing and fascinating modalities available to the physical therapist. How can one modality create so many different emotions in one clinician? Each day therapistsworking with microcurrent became amazed with the clinical results in some cases and frustrated with the results in others, Probably the greatest frustrations encountered are the dearth of professional research and the difficulty in determining the ideal protocol of use for a specific patient.

Microcurrent is a much smaller current than was previously available for clinical use. Historically, the approach has been that if some electricity is good, perhaps more is better the microcurrent original thinkers and investigators have recently challenged this concept. Among them Dr. Robert Becker and Dr. Bjorn Nordenstrom. It has been demonstrated that trauma will affect the electrical potential of cells is tile damaged tissue.

Because electricity will always take the path of least resistance. Traditional electrical charges placed on the body will travel around the traumatized cells. A smaller current - one that can penetrate the cell and balance the cell electrically - can restore a more normal physiological state to the damaged cells. Small electrical charges may be helpful in initiating and perpetuating the numerous electrical chemical reactions in the healing process. Microcurrent Therapy: 'Wave' of the Future?

The effectiveness of microcurrent therapy has recently been clinically documented by Wallace ins study of 1,531 patients with a large variety of diagnoses 94% of the patients experienced a reduction in pain during the first treatment. The average number of treatments to achieve a zero/one pain level (zero to ten scale) was 3.8. Ninety percent of the subjects studied achieved a zero/one pain level in less than ten treatments. (4)

All the physiological rationale behind the clinical effects of this instrument has not been ascertained. It would appear to be more clinically effective than other form of electrical stimulation for the following reason

1. -The microcurrent unit is biologically more compatible.

2. -It is more effective in neutralizing the oscillating polarity of injured cells.

3. -The current under 600 microamps has a positive effect on increasing local availability of ATP.

4. Microcurrent has a positive effect on increasing cell permeability.

3. Microcurrent increases local protein synthesis Microcurrent therapy will continue to he controversial until a substantial number of clinical research studies are published.

In order for confusion and controversy to rest. supportive scientific research in thisarea must be encouraged.

In short, micro-current therapy is more popular as a natural therapy in now and the future.