The History of Microcurrent Facial Rejuvenation and the Chiropractic Profession
ANCILLARY SERVICE
Joseph Ventura
It’s no secret that, in an effort to add additional revenue streams to a practice, many doctors of chiropractic are adding spa-like services. One such service is microcurrent facial rejuvenation (MFR). Many are familiar with the uses of microcurrent to reduce pain and muscle spasms, as well as to speed up healing. The purpose of the MFR procedure is to deliver small electrical currents to specific components of the facial muscles, to tone, and in some cases relax, facial muscles. As the muscles tone or relax, fine wrinkle lines diminish, which gives the client a more youthful appearance.
Few chiropractors realize that this procedure was actually developed by two well-known doctors of chiropractic almost 40 years ago. In 1977, a chiropractic journal published a fivepage article titled “The Electrification of Applied Kinesiology: The Golgi Tendon Organ.” In the article, author Thomas Wing, DC, described his work with George Goodheart, DC, by writing, “A breakthrough in electrification of Goodheart’s Golgi Tendon technique promises to revolutionize treatment of trauma and whiplash.” (Wing, 1977) Wing was referring to a discovery made by Goodheart a few years earlier. Goodheart found that he could influence the tone of a muscle by using hard, manual pressure on the origin/insertion in a particular direction. This movement was named the Golgi tendon organ (GTO) technique after the collection of knobby nerve endings in the fascicles of a tendon. When stroked in one direction, the muscle toned; when stroked in the opposite direction, it relaxed.
Wing and Goodheart were close friends. At the time of Goodheart’s GTO technique discovery, Wing was expanding the use of his recently invented microcurrent machine. Wing originally developed the machine to deliver electroacupuncture treatments, but he quickly found that passing the current through injured areas seemed to speed up healing times. After learning of the GTO technique, Wing wondered if the manual pressure over the GTO could be replaced by an electrical signal, a more natural stimulus than pressure on the GTO. The previously mentioned article by Wing chronicled his amazing clinical success of electrifying the GTO technique. By 1980, with the help of Goodheart’s association with the U.S. Olympic medical staff, this technique was being used
^This service’s description quickly raised the ire of plastic surgeons who felt as if they owned the term “facelift,” and the procedure was eventually called microcurrent facial rejuvenation, or MFR. J J
by world-class athletes to help manage the normal “tweaks” of their sports. Eventually athletes such as Carl Lewis were purchasing their own Wing machines so that the technique was always available to them.
Now, fast forward to 1985 when attention was focused on the facial muscles of expression.
„. . .
Since these muscles also had GTO influence, a
.
technique was devel-
oped to tone or relax
those muscles in an effort to reduce wrinkle lines. This technique worked so well that Wing and his group of
collaborators started teaching the technique to others. The author learned this technique from Drs. Baker and Doyle in Kansas City, Missouri and began offering this “nonsurgical facelift” to the city’s residents. This service’s description quickly raised the ire of plastic surgeons who felt as if they owned the term “facelift,” and the procedure was eventually called microcurrent facial rejuvenation, or MFR.
Microcurrent Facial Rejuvenation
MFR is a two-step procedure. Step one is to tone or relax the facial muscles of expression according to the action of
the muscle. Figure 1 shows the common problem areas of facial wrinkles and the underlying muscles of influence. Notice that many of the facial muscles have origin surfaces that are bony but insertion surfaces that are soft tissue. This is especially true around the nose and
mouth. The aging process weakens the insertion areas,
which leads to wrinkles and sagging.
Using the electrified GTO technique developed by Goodheart and Wing, a quick method to reduce facial wrinkles is to send specific microcurrent signals via cotton swabs moistened in a special electrolyte solution.
Step two is the Ion Pump Mask® technique designed to increase local adenosine triphosphate (ATP), protein synthesis, and collagen production.
Causes of Facial Wrinkles: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors
After age 20, the body reduces the production of collagen by the rate of 1% per year. Loss of elasticity is another intrinsic factor affecting wrinkles. Extrinsic factors include sun exposure and lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking, and eating habits. Several studies, such as the works published by Cheng and Chi, show that direct microcurrent stimulation can increase both local ATP and protein synthesis production by 500% and increase collagen production by 40%. In addition, the iontophoretic properties of certain microcurrent signals can drive facial products, such as wrinkle reducing serums, deeper into the skin than application by hand alone.
Chen found this happens with as little as 40 microamps of direct current power.
During iontophoresis, positive ions are repelled from the positive electrode, and negative ions are repelled from the negative electrode. First, an optional product,
such as a wrinkle-reducing serum, is placed on the wrinkle problem areas of the client. Next, a cotton mask is soaked in a solution of distilled water and an electrolyte powder (A
teaspoon to every A cup of water). The mask is folded over and placed on one side of the face (Fig. 2) so that the two masks don’t touch each other. An alligator clip is attached to the mask and the other end of the clip is attached to the machine’s lead wire. This procedure is duplicated for the other side. The two masks now become the active and indifferent electrodes (positive and negative). When the machine is set to deliver a Tsunami Wave™, the pads change polarity every few seconds to both push and pull ions through the upper layers of the skin. This configuration is shown in Figure 2. Treatment time is 10 minutes.
Conclusion:
Microcurrent facial rejuvenation is an outstanding cash service to offer patients. The average fee is $100 per session, and an average plan is 10 to 12 sessions. The procedure is so effective it is even being used by plastic surgeons to help reverse the effects of long-term Botox use.
Joseph Ventura has been involved in all aspects of clinical microcurrent as a clinician, developer, manufacturer, and educator since 1979. His machine, the AXION micro5, is the oldest FDA-cleared microcurrent device still in production. To learn more about clinical microcurrent, visit www.AXIONmicro.com or contact Dr. Ventura at 913 239-8465.
