Microcurrent massage: features of the method
Let's find out what dermatological and cosmetic problems microcurrent massage solves.
Ekaterina Glagoleva – dermatocosmetologist, scientific editor of the portal on aesthetic medicine (Russia, St. Petersburg)
Something a little disturbing has crept into the new era of cosmetology: everyone is concerned about neocollagenesis. Moreover, the division has occurred along a certain clear line: some assure that only these methods are capable of replenishing young collagen in the skin, while others insistently ask to remember that it is impossible to endlessly stimulate synthetic processes - you will have to pay for everything. While the "holy wars" are gaining momentum, professional massage therapists and cosmetologists continue to improve the techniques of plastic, lymphatic drainage and general strengthening classical and exotic massages, achieving successes sometimes comparable, and sometimes surpassing modern revolutionary methods. Utopia? No! The truth of life. Stability is a sign of skill. And time-tested methods of therapeutic effects sometimes turn out to be irreplaceable assistants in the hands of a cosmetologist. One of such methods is microcurrent therapy (MTT).
Microcurrent therapy cannot be called a revolutionary method. It would seem that there is nothing new to say about it. But I hasten to please the reader: every year microcurrent therapy gains more and more fans among both doctors and patients. New scientific publications and studies appear, confirming the success of the method and the expansion of its areas of use in aesthetic medicine. In this article, I would like to summarize the accumulated experience, starting from the moment MENS (microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulation) appeared and ending with the latest discoveries in the field of cybermedicine.
Relevance yesterday and today
We are accustomed to the physiotherapeutic definition: microcurrent therapy is one of the electrotherapeutic methods of influencing the human body, which uses a weak pulsed electric current in the range from 10 to 600 μA, with a frequency of 0.1-300 Hz. We tell our patients that microcurrent therapy uses subthreshold currents. And this definition is the most important in understanding the method.
In 1883, psychiatrist professor Rudolf Arndt, conducting experiments on the effect of galvanic current on muscles, formulated a law that later formed the basis of microcurrent therapy. According to this law, weak stimuli awaken the activity of living elements, medium ones - enhance it, strong ones - inhibit, and very strong ones - paralyze.
In the 1950s, this law became especially relevant. Neurophysiology was actively developing, and such concepts as the electrical potential of a cell, action potential, and resting potential were in the sights of scientists. One of the important stages in the development of the microcurrent theory was the work of Robert Becker and Bjøm Nordsten (USA, 1958), who proved that any pathological process (trauma, inflammation, changes in physicochemical parameters during chronological and photoaging, etc.) changes the electrical potential of cell membranes. And this is the factor that often remains outside the attention of practicing cosmetologists. We see specific changes in muscle structures, loss of tone, elasticity - and we undertake to eliminate these visible defects, forgetting in the hustle and bustle of everyday life that influencing the pathogenetic link, that is, the cause of these disorders, is very useful.
In my practice, when telling patients why it is worth including microcurrent drainage or microcurrent massage in a course of procedures, I draw a simplified diagram of the action potential and resting potential of cells (including skin) (Fig. 1–3).
Synchronous, uniform change of positively and negatively charged sides is extremely important for the full flow of K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ ions, oxygen and nutrients into the cell.
Under the influence of microcurrents, the membrane potential and healthy vital activity of cells and intercellular space are restored.
This physical method of treatment in dermatocosmetology is successfully used by:
- for various dermatoses (erythematous and papulopustular rosacea);
- for the correction of edema (including iatrogenic, caused by hypercorrection with hyaluronic acid fillers);
- in lymphatic drainage programs (to eliminate edematous forms of cellulite);
- to prepare tissues for invasive interventions and improve microcirculation;
- in post-surgical rehabilitation;
- to restore the balance between muscles in hypo- and hypertonicity.
I deliberately did not provide the usual list of indications for microcurrent therapy, because by attributing the characteristic “for everything” to the method, we often undermine confidence in the method. It is the physiological and medical justification of microcurrents that allows us to successfully cope with the above-mentioned problems.
Microcurrents vs. myostimulation
Very often these terms are interchangeable, so it can be difficult for a specialist and a patient to figure out what is what.
As already noted, microcurrent therapy uses minimal current values, which fluctuate within the limits of subsensory (subsensitive) stimulation, in which the current strength is several tens of microamperes and there are no visible muscle contractions. External microcurrents accelerate the accumulation of ATP by cells by 2-3 times, intensify protein synthesis, ion exchange, absorption of nutrients and removal of cellular waste products, while the use of traditional myostimulation inhibits these processes. These data were confirmed in an experiment on rat skin: a current strength of up to 600 μA increases ATP synthesis and amino acid transport. During the same studies, it was established that electric current up to 1,500–5,000 μA (i.e. 5 mA) does not affect the cellular level.
By restoring the functional activity of tissue at the cellular level, MTT simultaneously affects the epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous fat, facial muscles and blood vessels. This allows us to combat both the deforming, or large-wrinkle, and fine-wrinkle types of aging. In the case of the deforming type of aging, the active point of application for microcurrents is the facial muscles that have lost their physiological state. This type of aging is characterized by the fact that some facial muscles are in a state of hypertonicity (m. depressor labii inferior, m. procerus, m. frontalis, etc.), while others are in an atonic state (m. zigomaticus major, minor, m. orbicularis oculus, m. risorius, m. buccinator, etc.). This muscle imbalance and parallel chaotic change in membrane potential leads to external manifestations of wrinkles in the area of tense muscles - furrows, sagging tissue, stretching of ligaments and displacement of fat packets in the projection of hypotonic, stretched muscles.
Under the influence of MMT, the initial state of the facial muscles is restored, namely: if the muscles were in hypertonicity, they relax, lengthen, and, consequently, the formed folds and wrinkles are straightened. In the initial atonic state, the initial physiological tone is returned to the muscles, they are shortened, the muscle frame is strengthened, and thus, the facial oval is modeled.
Sounds magical, doesn't it? However, this method has many years of practical and theoretical basis. Why is microcurrent therapy not gaining popularity too actively and not displacing injection techniques from the cosmetology services market? The answer is simple: speed. To achieve the described effects, both the cosmetologist and the patient need to be patient. In order for the programs of normalization of cellular ion, microcirculatory and muscle balance to be fully implemented, as well as to consolidate the success, it is necessary to do the microcurrent procedure at least two or three times a week. The general course is 15-20 sessions.
Safe efficiency
What should those who are not ready to wait and strive for instant results do? In particular, remember that all procedures that give quick results require tissue preparation. So, before injection intervention, I always recommend microcurrent drainage and, if time allows, the normalization and toning procedure.
Fortunately, a healthy and harmonious appearance is becoming a new beauty trend. More and more specialists are thinking about delayed effects, safety is already on the same level with efficiency, and time-tested methods that meet the main motto of all medicine are coming onto the scene - "Do no harm!"
First published: KOSMETIK international journal, №3/2013