Microcurrent Therapy (MCT) use Microcurrent Electrical Neuruomuscular Stimulators (MENS Machines) to send a very small electrical current into a patient, in the hopes of relieving their headache symptoms.
The idea of using electric currents to help heal and mange medical conditions is not new:
The body's electrical capabilities were studied at least as early as 1830, when the Italian Carlo Matteucci is credited as being one of the first to measure the electrical current in injured tissue. Bioelectricity received less attention after the discovery of penicillin, when the focus of medical research and treatments turned toward the body's chemical processes. [1]Attention began to return to these properties and the possibilities of using very low current for healing in the mid 1900s. In a study published in 1969, for example, a team of researchers led by L.E. Wolcott applied micro-current 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 stimulation ranged from 200-800uA and the treated group showed 200%-350% faster healing rates, with stronger tensile strength of scar tissue and antibacterial effects.[2] In 1991, the Germen scientists Dr. Erwin Neher and Dr. Bert Sakmann shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their development of the patch-clamp technique that allows the detection of minute electrical currents in cell membranes. 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 and confirmed that electrical activity is not limited to nerve and muscle tissue.
However, articles like this one in the UK's Daily Mail point to an increasing marketability of these types of products. The article quotes Prof Tim Watson, professor of Physiotherapy at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK in saying his department tested units following up on clinical evidence that supported their use.
The Allevio Clinic will not endorse this treatment formally. We suggest you ALWAYS check with your health-care provider or a certified expert to learn more about the best treatments for your condition. We tend to be most comfortable with care and products that are proven with scientific research, however some of our approaches are steeped in the art more than the science because different treatments can have different effects on different people.