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KMID : 0948920150140020062
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Clinical Pain
2015 Volume.14 No. 2 p.62 ~ p.66
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Application of Microcurrent in Musculo-skeletal Disorders and Pain
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Kwon Dong-Rak
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Abstract
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Microcurrent is a sort of physical therapy modality delivering subsensory current to the tissues in the microampere (μA) range and thus mimics the electrical intensity found in the living tissues. By comparison, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) provides currents in the miliampere (mA) range causing muscle contraction and tingling sensations. The electrical potential of damaged cells results in an injury site that has a higher electrical resistance than surrounding tissue. Inflammatory changes are increased and healing is impaired by reduced electrical conductance and cellular capacitance. Microcurrent supply current flow to tissues at physiological amperage decreasing resistance, encouraging normal membrane function. The process of tis-sue repair is speculated to be due to the increase in ATP production, membrane active transport, intracellular flow of nutrients and extracellular flow of waste materials demonstrated in animal studies. Therefore, microcurrent has been used to increase the rate of healing in injured athletes, to manage pain, increase the rate of fracture repair, and to treat myofascial pain and dysfunction. However, there is yet no standard care protocol for patients with musculoskeletal disorders and pain considering the stimulus parameters such as the waveforms, amplitude, intensity, frequency, treatment duration, the treatment schedule, and where the electrodes are placed. Further preclinical and clinical trials are needed to determine optimal stimulus parameters.
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KEYWORD
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Microcurrent, Musculoskeletal disorders, Pain, Healing
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