Early Interest

• Electrical stimulation of muscles was known as far back as the 18th century when Luigi Galvani demonstrated that the muscles of dead frogs can be made to twitch by putting a spark into them. This was seen to be the beginnings of bioelectricity and is an experiment carried out today in many school science labs.
  
  It began a study of how electricity and the human body operate together and the importance of electricity to health. Some of these experiments ended in quackery as electro-stimulators were developed to grow hair and calm the nerves of "excitable persons" with no basis of scientific proof, let alone results.
  
  

Bioelectricity Experiments

• The mid-19th century saw experiments that showed muscles generate electricity and respond to it and this led to the development of electro-stimulators. These stimulators were used to create muscle contractions to warm the muscles and attempt to make them grow. The experiments also showed that wounds themselves produced small amounts of electrical current.
  
  The 20th century saw a growth in experimental uses of microcurrent for wound repair. Skin and bone, it was discovered in several experiments beginning in 1969, responded very well to microcurrent stimulations, and wounds healed anywhere from 200 to 350 percent faster than the control groups.
  
  

Microcurrent Treatments

• Microcurrent is currently an accepted therapy used in orthopedic procedures for post-operative healing and is used to speed healing of a variety of muscular, tendon and ligament injuries and has been shown to reduce recovery times from 18 months to six.
  
  The therapy has also been adapted to the ancient Chinese art of acupuncture where the microcurrent device is attached to needles already placed on the patient's body and the needles energized. In the past the needles would have been manipulated by the acupuncturist but the microcurrent has been found to produce better results than the trained fingers of the specialist.
  
  

Microcurrent with Animals and People

• Microcurrent has also been adapted for use with animals, specifically race dogs and horses. These animals have highly specialized musculatures and the microcurrent therapies have been shown to improve the healing of tendons, ligaments and muscles as well with these animals as they have with human athletes.
  
  That skin, bone and some muscle tissue respond well to this treatment is not in question. But this success in these areas seems to have spurred other experimentation in other areas of the human body, and these results have not been tested thus far. There are now treatments for skin aging, eyesight and others with "specialized" equipment for each whose claims of success have not been approved by medical bodies in the United States.
  
  

The Future of Microcurrent Treatments

• Microcurrent treatments are being developed, and testing carried out, to deal with a variety of other ailments and conditions. From glaucoma and other eye ailments to spinal research designed to re-grow damaged spines, the use of this technology seems destined to grow in the coming years.
  
  It may not be that far-fetched to imagine a time when "Star Trek" technological uses of this form of therapy can re-grow damaged bones, skin and muscles and regenerate tissue without an operation.