Pulsed current of low frequency and low voltage

Intermittent (pulse) currents also have therapeutic properties. Unlike galvanization, pulse currents are delivered to the patient in the form of individual impulses, i.e. "shocks" (or "portions"), alternating with pauses.

Diadynamic therapy is the effect of constant pulsed electric current with a frequency of 50 and 100 Hz. The method was proposed by the French doctor Bernard (P. Bernard), who called this current diadynamic (sometimes these currents are also called Bernard currents).

Diadynamic currents, encountering high resistance of the epidermis and exciting exteroceptors (skin receptors that perceive irritation), cause a burning sensation and hyperemia under the electrodes. The characteristic clinical effect of diadynamic therapy is pain relief.

Electrical stimulation is based on the use of electric current to excite or enhance the activity of motor nerves and contract skeletal and smooth muscles. The use of pulsed currents is due to the fact that the sensitivity of the nerve fibers of the skin and skeletal muscles, assessed by the threshold strength of the excitatory current, is approximately 3 times higher for pulsed currents compared to direct currents.

In cosmetology, electrical stimulation finds limited application, since high frequencies often cause prolonged muscle contraction - tetanus, which is quite painful for the patient. Microcurrent therapy, which is free of this drawback, has found much wider application in cosmetology.

Microcurrent therapy is a complex method of influencing the body with modulated pulsed currents of low power (microamperes) and low voltage with different frequency characteristics for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes. By influencing the skin, muscle tissue and lymphatic pathways, microcurrent therapy stimulates muscles and creates a lasting lifting effect.

The method is intended for non-surgical correction of age-related changes in the facial contour, smoothing wrinkles, treating cellulite, performing lymphatic drainage, and increasing metabolic processes in the skin and muscles. Less often, microcurrent therapy is used to treat pain syndrome, depression, and insomnia.

The main difference between microcurrent therapy and electromyostimulation is that the methods of the former are more effective when acting directly on cells, while the latter is more preferable for stimulating muscles. Unlike classical massage, microcurrent therapy methods are applicable even in case of serious damage to the skin, being almost the only method of combating edema in such cases.

Alternating compression and relaxation of muscle fibers under the influence of microcurrents acts like a pump - when compressed, the blood and lymphatic capillaries between muscle fibers close, when relaxed, on the contrary, the lumen of the capillaries opens, and they fill up again. The aftereffect of such lymphatic drainage lasts about a day.

Microcurrents are effective in combating wrinkles. They do not cause subsequent sagging of the skin or worsening of expression wrinkles in the absence of repeated effects. However, for the final elimination of the problem, a sufficient number of microcurrent therapy procedures are necessary. The simplicity of the method, a small number of contraindications, and high efficiency determined the wide application and great popularity of this method in aesthetic medicine.

Electrolipolysis is one of the options for using pulsed or low-frequency current on adipose tissue.

In case of using pulse currents, skin electrodes are applied to problem areas. If low-frequency currents are used, thin long disposable needle electrodes are inserted into the subcutaneous fat tissue. From 8 to 14 needles are used, the injection is sometimes imperceptible, sometimes a little unpleasant. The sensations during the procedure itself are approximately the same as during myostimulation. The results of electrolipolysis are:

• increasing metabolic activity and decreasing fat mass of cells;
• increase in temperature in the treated area;
• improvement of circulatory processes in tissues, i.e. stimulation of capillary circulation and subsequent restoration of normal tissue nutrition conditions, stimulation of lymph flow and final removal of all decay products as a result of increased diuresis;
• increasing muscle tone and strengthening the skin.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ]