Leaders in Frequency Specific Microcurrent Education
ITEMS -

SCLERODERMA – Frequency Specific Microcurrent Improves Hand Function and Raynaud’s Symptoms in Scleroderma: Results of Two Pilot Studies

< Back to Papers

Frequency Specific Microcurrent Improves Hand Function and Raynaud’s Symptoms in Scleroderma: Results of Two Pilot Studies

Authors: Walter M. Gregory¹, Katherine Bagley², Sookhoe Eng³, Carolyn McMakin⁴, Francesco Del Galdo³

¹ Division of Clinical Medicine, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
² Chapel Allerton Osteopath, 32 Roxholme Grove, Gledhow Mount Mansion, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, UK
³ University of Leeds Faculty of Medicine and Health, Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, Leeds, UK
⁴ Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Clinic of Portland, Portland, Oregon USA

Corresponding Author: Walter Martin Gregory
Email: walterg1728@hotmail.com
Address: The Medical School, University of Sheffield, Beech Hill Rd, Broomhall, Sheffield S10 2RX

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of frequency specific microcurrent as a treatment designed to improve hand function and alleviate Raynaud’s symptoms in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Methods: Seventeen patients were treated in two separate pilot studies for 60 and 45 minutes respectively over 1 or 2 days with microcurrent frequencies specific to scarring in the hands and capillaries, and to Raynaud’s disease. Efficacy was evaluated using the Cochin hand function score questionnaire before and after treatment, and a visual analogue scale to evaluate the severity of the Raynaud’s symptoms.

Results: Improvement in hand function was observed in both studies, being significant in the second pilot study with an average improvement of 38% (95% CI 22%-55%, p = .002) and in both studies combined with an average improvement of 40% (95% CI 26%-55%, p = .0001). There was a significant improvement in mean Raynaud’s VAS scores pre-and post-treatment of 18 points (out of 100), 95% CI 3.3-33 points, p = .016. A proportion of patients achieved very substantial improvements in hand function, with particular tasks improving from being nearly impossible to do to being able to be performed without difficulty.

Conclusions: The degree of improvement in hand function obtained over a very short treatment period of 45 minutes to 1 hour was significant. Further randomised, controlled studies are needed to confirm these results, and longer-term follow-up will be required to establish whether the changes are maintained, and whether repeated treatments can produce further improvements.

Keywords: Microcurrent, FSM, scleroderma, sclerosis, Raynaud’s, Cochin, scarring, frequencies, capillaries, skin

Key Messages:

  • Substantial and sustained improvements in hand function were observed after only an hour of treatment
  • The treatment is non-invasive, easy to deliver, and can be repeated without side-effects
  • Significant improvements were also seen in Raynaud’s symptoms, over a short 40-minute treatment period

Introduction

More than half of the patients with Systemic Sclerosis (scleroderma) are disabled from poor hand function for which treatment options are limited¹. Frequency specific microcurrent (FSM) treatment has previously been used effectively to treat scarring²⁻⁴, so it was hypothesised that this might be an effective treatment for scleroderma. Microcurrent treatment uses physiologic subsensory current that has been shown to increase ATP³⁻⁵. Wet contacts connected to the microcurrent device conduct the current and frequencies so they flow through the affected area.

FSM uses frequencies from a list found on a medical device made in 1922, which included a frequency to change “scar tissue”. For patients with scleroderma scarring is the primary issue. Frequencies for scarring have been in use clinically since 1995 and several published papers show their efficacy in reducing nerve adhesions, dry macular degeneration and improving pediatric torticollis⁶⁻⁸. Scleroderma includes scarring in the capillaries and connective tissue⁹’¹⁰ for which frequencies were available from the 1922 list which were used in treating this patient group. No information is available on how the frequencies from the 1922 list were derived.

Almost all patients with systemic sclerosis also have Raynaud’s syndrome¹¹. The rationale for also treating their Raynaud’s with FSM is given in Supplementary Data S1.

Patients and Methods

Scleroderma patients with reduced hand function, defined as having a positive Cochin hand function test score were treated in two pilot studies with a CE marked two-channel microcurrent medical device manufactured by Microcurrent Technologies (Seattle, Washington) delivering three-digit specific frequencies simultaneously on each of two channels at 100 to 200 microamperes current. All patients were members of a local scleroderma support group and consented to the treatment.

In study 1, treatment was applied using microcurrent frequencies from the 1922 list¹² (see supplementary table S1) targeted at treating scarring of skin, connective tissue, capillaries, tendon sheaths and joint capsules. Frequency effectiveness was evaluated by the tissue softening produced.¹³ When the frequency no longer softened the tissue the frequency was changed. In study 1, a range of settings were used to establish which settings were the most useful. Frequency combinations that softened the tissue and continued to soften the tissue for minutes at a time were considered to be effective combination settings.

In study 1 patients were treated for approximately one hour on two consecutive days. Following encouraging results from this study, the second study was designed to use a simpler set of frequencies, focusing on those that had been most effective in study 1. The combination frequencies for scarring (13 Hz), sclerosis (3 Hz), and vitality (49 Hz), in the skin (355 Hz), connective tissue (77 Hz) and capillaries (162 Hz), produced the most change in the affected tissue.

Following the first trial, several patients were treated in demonstrations to the local scleroderma group, and with additional one-on-one private treatments. These treatments established the rapid and effective response of the settings for scarring in the skin and capillaries. The frequency described as increasing “vitality” in the skin and capillaries was used after the frequencies to relieve the known pathologies. In study 2 frequencies were used for about 40 minutes in total; 15 minutes for scarring in the skin and approximately 5 minutes each for the other 5 frequency combinations. Details of the treatment are given in Supplementary Data S2.

In study 2, patients were also treated with a second microcurrent device using the frequencies 40 Hz & 562 Hz thought to be effective for Raynaud’s (Supplementary Data S1). These frequencies were used simultaneously with the scarring frequencies for the duration of the 40-minute treatment session. Follow-up was shorter in the second trial, since the results in the first trial showed the pattern of early change was sustained for a period of weeks.

Study 1 included 6 patients and was carried out between 19 September 2019 and 21 September 2019, at a complementary medicine venue in Chapel Allerton organised by the Leeds scleroderma support group. All patients were treated by CM. Study 2 included 11 patients and was carried out on 17 January 2022, at the osteopathy/microcurrent clinic run by KB in Chapel Allerton. Patients were treated by either WG or KB. Patients were identified from the HRA Strike study¹⁴, which has ethical approval (Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 REC: 15.NE.0211), and as part of Strike patients also consented to be approached for related research, including analysis of hand function using the Cochin questionnaire. Patients gave additional written informed consent for the microcurrent procedures.

All patients completed the Cochin hand function score questionnaire (CHFS).¹⁵ The magnitude of changes in the CHFS can be evaluated by reference to the minimally clinically important difference (MCID) in this score in scleroderma, which has been estimated by the Cochin group to be -3.38¹⁶. For the evaluation of the Raynaud’s treatment a linear visual analogue scale (VAS) was used, as described in Merkel et al.¹⁷ Schedules and timings for administration of both scales (CHFS and VAS) are given in Supplementary Data S3-4.

Statistical Methods

Cochin hand function scores and VAS Raynaud’s scores were compared pre- and post-treatment, and at different times after treatment, using the exact version of the Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank sum test¹⁸. Further statistical methods details are given in Supplementary Data S5.

Results

First Pilot Study

An average improvement of 44% in hand function scores was seen during treatment. Three of the 6 patients exhibited very substantial improvements in hand function (see figure 1A) with improvements averaging 77% from the pre-treatment scores to the post-treatment scores a day later.

Second Pilot Study

The changes in individual hand function scores pre-and post-treatment are shown graphically in figure 1B, with mean pre-and post-treatment levels (± 95% CIs) displayed in figure 2A. There was an average improvement in total Cochin hand function score of 8 points, corresponding to an improvement of 38% in the mean (95% CI 22%-55%, p = .002, Wilcoxon test). Note that the improvements happened very quickly, over the duration of the 40-minute treatment. 10 of the 11 patients showed improvement.

The changes in individual Raynaud’s VAS score are shown graphically in figure 1C with the mean VAS scores comparing pre-treatment with one week shown in figure 2B, which shows a mean improvement of 18 points out of 100 (95% CI 3.3-33 points, p = .016, Wilcoxon test). Patient characteristics for the two studies are given in supplementary table S2.

Pilot Studies Combined

Although the duration of treatment was longer (over 2 days rather than one day) in study 1 compared to study 2, changes appear to occur very quickly, so it was deemed reasonable to combine the results of the 2 pilot studies looking at mean changes pre-and post-treatment in the Cochin hand function score (figure 2D). Improvements were similar over the 2 studies, with overlapping confidence intervals on the means. With longer treatment, there was a slightly greater improvement in study 1, though the numbers are too small for this to be definitive. The combined pre-and post-treatment changes in the 2 studies showed a highly significant improvement of 40% in the mean Cochin hand function score (95% CI 26%-55%, p = .0001, Wilcoxon test).

Responses to component questions of the Cochin hand function questionnaire are given in Supplementary Data S6D, and showed some remarkable changes, with two patients reporting improvements in the ability to pick up coins from a tabletop from “Nearly impossible to do” before treatment to “Yes, without difficulty” after treatment.

Further, more detailed results for both pilot studies and for the two pilot studies combined are given in Supplementary Data S6.

Discussion

The degree of improvement in hand function after such a short treatment time was a surprise. That patients should have sufficiently large improvements after 40 minutes of treatment that they could now pick up coins from a tabletop easily, whereas previously this had been nearly impossible for them (see above and Supplementary Data S6), is very encouraging for this new form of treatment. Some patients repeated these tasks a number of times expressing amazement that they could now perform them.

The data in supplementary table S3 suggests that after the microcurrent treatment patients had more feeling in their hands and fingers, and more dexterity, and so activities like buttoning a shirt or turning a round-doorknob became easier. One patient later reported that she loved to sew, and had not been able to for some time, but the microcurrent treatment gave her the sensitivity and strength in her fingers to be able to sew again. Another patient, who was a musician, later reported that he was able to play the double bass again since his fingers now had the sensitivity to feel and manipulate the strings and their vibrations effectively.

Activities that required more force or strength to be exerted, like cutting meat with a knife, or holding a bowl or a plateful of food, or grasping a full bottle and raising it were perhaps not affected to such a degree by the treatment. Treating with frequencies thought to address the capillaries may have improved blood perfusion to the sensory nerves at the fingertips; no frequencies thought to affect scarring in the nerves were used.

The lack of response in the 2 patients with very high Cochin hand function scores suggests that microcurrent treatment may be ineffective if the disease is too severe. The damage to the joints in the fingers may be too great for the treatment to affect them significantly. Otherwise, the treatment appears to show benefit even with patients having moderate hand function impairment.

The study was not randomised, and so it is possible that the responses were a placebo effect. Controlled trials are still needed to confirm that the treatment has genuine benefit. However, the magnitude and persistence of the improvements suggests that the treatment effect is real. The changes in hand function persisted out to 3 months in two patients in study 1 where we had this duration of follow-up. A placebo effect would likely be more short-lived and disappear once the patients were no longer in contact with the microcurrent practitioners and their enthusiasm for the treatment, though of course it cannot be ruled out.

These pilot trials had limited time and resources so there was no control group, no blinding, and every patient was treated. It is possible that the observed improvements are attributable to placebo effects, expectation bias, or confounders such as the attention paid to the patients from the practitioners. To counterbalance these obvious limitations, changes in function were both large and sustained in many of the patients who responded. Massage alone had been used in these patients previously with no sustained benefit so the treatment could be tested against massage alone in a future controlled trial.

Although pre-and post-treatment comparisons gave highly significant p-values the studies were also very small, and the confidence intervals were wide, reflecting the variability in individual responses and making it problematic to generalise too strongly from the results. The follow-up was also relatively short, and it is possible that the effects of the microcurrent would fade over time. If so repeated microcurrent treatments may be necessary to maintain the large improvements observed in the responders.

This new treatment approach shows great promise in a clinical manifestation that is not currently targeted by any intervention trial despite its social and healthcare burden¹. It is easy to deliver, non-invasive and had no reported adverse effects. Future controlled trials could include sham microcurrent treatment, massage alone, more treatment sessions, longer-term follow-up and should be limited to patients with mild to moderate disease. Exclusionary criteria for this trial should be determined by the initial Colchin hand function score. All evaluations in these studies were subjective, and therefore potentially prone to bias. We intend to include additional objective measures in future studies, such as grip strength, capillaroscopy and thermography for Raynaud’s.

The dramatic results of these pilot studies suggest that further study of FSM is important to determine whether its short term or long-term use could maintain or surpass the improvements seen in these studies.

Data Availability Statement

The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Financial Support

No specific funding was received from any bodies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors to carry out the work described in this article.

Author Disclosure Statement

FDG is an Associate Editor of Rheumatology. The authors have declared no other conflicts of interest.

References

  1. Sandqvist, G., Scheja, A., & Hesselstrand, R. Pain, fatigue and hand function closely correlated to work ability and employment status in systemic sclerosis. Rheumatology (Oxford, England). 2010; 49(9), 1739–1746. https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keq145

  2. Lennox AJ, Shafer JP, Hatcher RN, Beil J, Funder SJ. Pilot study of impedance-controlled microcurrent therapy for managing radiation-induced fibrosis in head-and-neck cancer patients. Int J Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys. 2002; 54 (1): 23-34.

  3. Adams J, McMakin C. Frequency specific microcurrent resolves chronic pain and adhesions after ulnar transposition surgery. Journal of Novel Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation 2017.

  4. Thompson R, Kaplan S. Frequency-specific microcurrent for treatment of long-standing congenital muscular torticollis. Paediatric Physical Therapy 2019; 00:1-8

  5. Cheng N. The Effect of Electric Currents on ATP Generation, Protein Synthesis and Membrane Transport in Rat Skin. Clinical Orthopedics 1982; 171: 264-272.

  6. Seegers JC. Activation of signal transduction mechanisms may underlie the therapeutic effects of an applied electric field. Med Hypothesis; 2001; 57(2), 224-230

  7. Seegers JC. A Pulsed DC electric field affects P2-purinergic receptor functions by altering the ATP levels in in vitro and in vivo systems. Medical Hypothesis 2002; 8(2): 171-176

  8. Chaikin L, Kashiwa K, Bennett M, Papastergiou G, Gregory W. Microcurrent stimulation in the treatment of dry and wet macular degeneration. Clinical Ophthalmology 2015; 9:2345-2353.

  9. Maricq HR, Spencer-Green G, Carlwile Leroy E. Skin capillary abnormalities as indicators of organ involvement in scleroderma (systemic sclerosis), Raynaud’s syndrome and dermatomyositis. The American Journal of Medicine 1976; 61: 862-870.

  10. Carpentier PH, Maricq HR. Microvasculature in systemic sclerosis. Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. 1990; 16(1):75-91.

  11. Fernandez-Codina A, Canas Ruano E, Pope JE. Management of Raynaud’s phenomenon in systemic sclerosis – a practical approach. J Scleroderma Relat Disord 2019; 4(2): 102-110.

  12. McMakin, C. The Resonance Effect. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, 2017.

  13. Visceral and Somatic Disorders: Tissue Softening with Frequency Specific Microcurrent, McMakin C, Oschman J, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2012, Vol 18 Number 00, pp 1-8

  14. https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/strike/

  15. Duruöz MT, Poiraudeau S, Fermanian J, Menkes C, Amor B, Dougados M, et al. Development and validation of a rheumatoid hand functional disability scale that assess functional handicap. J Rheumatol 1996;23:23–7.

  16. Daste C, Rannou F, Mouthon L, Sanchez K, Roren A, Tiffreau V, Hachulla E, Thoumie P, Cabane J, Chatelus E, Sibilia J, Poiraudeau S, Nguyen C. Patient acceptable symptom state and minimal clinically important difference for patient-reported outcomes in systemic sclerosis: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial comparing personalized physical therapy to usual care. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, 2019; 48(4):694-700.

  17. Merkel PA, Herlyn K, Martin RW, Anderson JJ, Mayes MD, Bell P et al. Measuring disease activity and functional status in patients with scleroderma and Raynaud’s phenomenon. Arthritis Rheum 2002; 46(9): 2410-2420.

  18. Wilcoxon F. Individual comparisons by ranking methods. Biometrics 1945 1:80-83.

© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

< Back to Papers
Translate »