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development And evolution of Microcurrent therapy
This type of therapy was initially devel- oped in the late 1970’s. The early researchers and developers incorporated some estab- lished scientific principles and challenged some others (such as the medical ideas that the body cannot heal itself, but needs drugs and mechanical technologies as therapies). Early researchers were open to the concept of energy medicine, and the idea that appro- priate therapies either encourage the body’s own energetic systems or add additional (external) energy to those systems.
Dr. Thomas Wing developed the first human microcurrent therapy equipment in the 1970’s for non-needle acupoint therapy. His invention resulted in the MENS (Microcurrent Electrical Neuromuscular Stimulator) devices that deliver electrocurrent into the body via electrodes placed on the skin.
Dr. Robert Becker was one of the early biological researchers and his two books The Body Electric (published in 1985) and Cross Currents (published in 1990) were instrumental in helping establish scientific credibility for energy medicine. He proved the presence of electrical and magnetic forces at the most basic levels within living organisms and showed that they are the basis of many underlying control systems that regulate the complex workings of the body, including healing.
Ngok Cheng and co-researchers pub- lished some of their studies in 1982, and their paper is the most commonly cited research on how microcurrent works. They showed that ATP (adenosine triphosphate) levels increase with the application of microcurrent, but decrease when the current is increased to milliamps (rather than micro- amps). There is a lot of technical explana- tion regarding how it all works to stimulate
amino acid transport and contribute to increased protein synthesis.
Human chiropractors, acupuncturists, physical therapists and athletic trainers have been using numerous variations of microcur- rent therapy since the late 1970’s to provide pain relief. The early devices were large units that had to be placed on a table or cart, along with some smaller hand-held units. Then in 2000, Newmark Inc. revolution- ized the human microcurrent industry
with the invention and patent of portable technology. This utilized a battery-operated power supply that snaps onto self-adhering, replaceable electrodes. The device is worn on the body during daily activities and/or while sleeping to deliver microcurrent therapy at the convenience of the individual. There are a number of human studies that show how well this works. “One of the studies looked at the human version in conjunction with knee replacement. They had such success with this, post-operative, that this modality is now recommended at VA hospitals for use with any hip or knee replacement, because
it reduces the need for corticosteroids and painkillers. Within about 3 days it totally eliminates a need for those, as well as speed- ing up the healing,” says Don. There is a lot of science behind it.
Shortly after the system was introduced to the human market, a number of human customers, veterinarians, and equine therapists began using it on horses. A new company, Equine Microcurrent Systems, was developed to address the needs of the equine industry and the equine products and protocols were introduced in 2015. Microlief ® now gives horsemen a natural, non-phar- maceutical way to manage muscle stress and injuries that occur in equine athletes.
prevent a lot of those problems. It’s especially helpful for older horses because as they age the utilization of the microcurrent tends to stimulate ATP production, which gives a little bit more elasticity for those tendons and liga- ments. You get ahead of the game with that, and then post-competition it speeds healing by reducing any stress and strain. It touches all bases: pre-event, post-event, and recovery,” he explains.
AdAptions For Horses
The unit is secured to the horse in the loca- tion where needed. Standing bandages or polo wraps are easy ways to protect the unit while
it is working on the tendons and ligaments of the lower legs. “Show horses and race horses are used to having wraps on their lower legs to cover the liniments, poultices, braces, etc., that most people use. It’s very simple to utilize those kinds of bandages to protect the unit on the lower legs. For hocks, you just go further up the leg or use a hock boot. The same works for knees; you can either utilize a spider bandage or a knee boot,” Don says.
“When you are dealing with the stifle it’s a little harder to create a good bandage. We use an electrolyte glue gel and a creative type of bandaging to hold it in place. We also utilize it for a lot of back problems; we see a lot of back problems with sport horses and race- horses,” he says.
Don’s wife Lisa also teaches equine sports therapies. “One of the gals who has gone through our program is the wellness manager for an FEI level combined driving team. She
is a huge fan of Microlief ® and says the health of the horses on her team come before her
own health. She has found a lot of uses for Microlief ® proactively in helping manage these horses’ muscle issues so they can compete at their best. Tendons, ligaments and joints can be an issue in older horses, and she has one old horse who literally lives in these, so she really loves the product,” Lisa says.
“We’ve had the product on several high- level performance horses this year, through our personal contacts with people in the industry—in Thoroughbred racing, Grand Prix jumping and combined driving. We’ve had good feedback and many testimoni-
als and experience-based evidence; we just don’t have official studies done yet. One of my clients has a retired Grand Prix jumper (a former Olympic contender) and he wears Microlief® to bed every night! He has ankles that look like softballs, and this gives him a lot of pain relief. This really helps in manag- ing the older horses, in keeping them com- fortable, or managing injured horses,” she says. Often, people start using this product on themselves and then order more products to use on their horses.
Microtherapy on humans can provide pain relief, speed up healing, and can be used
in conjunction with other therapies, thus reducing the need for corticosteroids and painkillers
SPEEDHORSE, July 2016 59
equine health