Dr. McMakin has been using FSM since 1994 and various practitioners have been using it since 1997. There have been no permanent adverse effects attributable to the use of the microcurrent units or to the use of the frequencies. There are two effects to be considered- the effect of the current and the effect of the frequencies. The practitioner is protected from the current by wearing latex gloves and is therefore not affected by the current. The practitioner is in the field created by the frequencies and the resonance effect experienced by the patient. This field can be perceived by some practitioners and is either pleasant or bothersome depending on the practitioner’s ability to process the sensations.

The sensation is usually perceived as being “light or floaty” and lasts only as long as the practitioner is using a frequency that is producing a positive effect on the patient. In every class, there is a bell-shaped curve of sensitivity to this sensation. 10% of the class will not feel anything at all in response to the frequencies. 10% of the class will feel a strong sensation of being “floaty or light headed (not dizzy) or slightly “stoned”. The rest of the class will have perceptions someplace in between those two groups. Patients fall into roughly the same bell-shaped curve of sensitivity. The “floaty feeling” response occurs not as a result of any particular frequency but in response to any frequency that resonates with the patient’s condition.

There are no risks to the patient that we know about as long as the practitioner follows the proper contraindications and precautions associated with both FSM and the use of microcurrent. There are frequencies used to remove scar tissue that should not be used with 6 weeks of the time of a new injury. Sometimes when muscles are successfully treated the range of motion increases so much that joints and nerves can become temporarily painful until the range of motion goes back down. Practitioners are aware of these possible reactions and are advised to warn patients about them. After muscles are treated there is sometimes a detoxification reaction that occurs 90 minutes after treatment similar to that seen with massage therapy. This can be lessened by having the patient drink water and take an anti-oxidant combination supplement. The warnings and contraindications appropriate to TENS devices are taught as part of the practicum sessions and reinforced during the lecture.

Practitioners are taught during the seminar that FSM should not be used on patients known to be pregnant. TENS devices are not to be used to run current through a pregnant uterus but FSM carries and additional self-imposed recommendation that FSM not be used once a woman is known to be pregnant. No problems have ever been observed in a patient treated who was found later to have been pregnant at the time of treatment so the recommendation is based on prudence rather than negative experience.

The dramatic reductions in cytokines and prostaglandins seen with use of certain frequencies may have an unpredictable effect on the prostaglandins required to maintain a pregnancy. The dramatic order of magnitude changes in neuropeptides seen in the treatment of fibromyalgia from spine trauma may have an unintended effect on a developing fetal nervous system once the fetal nervous system is developed beyond 8 weeks, the time at which most women know they are pregnant.

Patients who are dehydrated cannot benefit from FSM. It has been observed that patients who are dehydrated. Athletes with large muscle mass and inadequate water intake and patients over 70 who are chronically dehydrated have the most problems. Every patient is advised to drink at least one quart of water in the one hour preceding treatment. Patients who are chronically dehydrated may need more water over several days prior to their treatments.

No technique is 100% effective and FSM is no exception. The effectiveness of FSM depends almost entirely on an accurate diagnosis. Shoulder pain can come from muscles, tendons, bursa, discs, nerves or joints. FSM will treat all of these pain generators effectively. But, if you are treating for muscle and the shoulder pain is from nerves or the bursa you may change the muscle but you won’t change the patient’s pain since it is not coming from the muscle. This analogy applies to every condition.

Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) has been taught in seminars since 1997. FSM is now taught as a three day course available for 24 hours of continuing education credit for many disciplines in most states and it is available on DVD. Practitioners are advised to check with their board if continuing education course credit is important to them. The course has been taught to chiropractic, naturopathic, osteopathic and medical physicians, physical therapists, acupuncturists, occupational therapists and massage therapists and the assistants who function in their practices.

The course includes lecture time and 6 hours of hands-on practice time. The lecture includes the frequencies, frequency protocols, research data and conceptual framework within which the observed and documented FSM effects can be used and explained. The conceptual framework comes from physics, biophysics and thermodynamics but is structured in lay terms. The frequencies and treatment protocols for myofascial pain, disc, facet and nerve pain are taught on the first day. The protocols and frequencies for treating new injuries, the nervous system and visceral conditions and emotional issues are taught on the second and third days.

FSM effects are very specific to the condition and require an accurate clinical diagnosis to be optimally effective. The course includes refreshers for the accurate diagnosis of discogenic and facet generated pain, neuropathic pain and ligamentous laxity, myofascial trigger points caused by overuse, joint dysfunction and visceral referral.

The 6 hours of practical sessions include how to use the protocols to treat pain complaints in various body parts. The treatment method and application is different than any other way of treating muscular pain for example because the contacts are placed in such a way as to allow frequencies and current to flow through the tissue being treated and pressure is used only to move the tissue while the frequency is breaking up the scar tissue.

There are at least 8 FSM Core seminars taught each year in every region of the US and abroad by Dr. McMakin. The FSM Core seminar is also available via DVD with practical hands-on instruction provided by a certified FSM practicum instructor. For those in Ireland and the U.K. Denise Curtis MSc, PT teaches an FSM Core seminar at the National Training Centre (ntc.ie) in Dublin, Ireland that is held over two weekends.

During the practicum portions of the FSM Core seminar, there is generally at least one instructor for every 8-10 students. The Core seminar is available on DVD and practitioners can learn how to use FSM by reading the Frequency Specific Microcurrent in Pain Management text book.  DVD learners can make arrangements with a trained FSM practicum instructor to be trained in the manual techniques and protocols for FSM in physical medicine in a private or small setting tutorial.

Once a year, there is a two day 16 hour FSM advanced course that provides the complete list of frequencies and protocols not taught in the Core seminar. In the afternoon there are 90-minute advanced in-depth workshops presented by various expert practitioner faculty. Every other year on this same weekend, there is a two-day International Symposium with guest lecturers and presentations by practitioners sharing case reports and research findings and workshops for both diagnosis and treatment. There is a two-day instructor training and certification for people wishing to be considered as instructors for the practical sessions.