How it works

ATP - Adenosine Triphosphate | CES - Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation | MET – Microcurrent Electrical Therapy | Who should not use it?

ATP - adenosine triphosphate

The 1997 Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to a Chinese researcher, Dr Ngok Cheng, who in 1982 published a paper showing how microcurrent stimulation increased the level of ATP in cells by 500%. However, since ATP refers to the name of a molecule and your eyes will probably glaze over if I start mentioning the names of molecules. ATP is no ordinary molecule (if there is such a thing as an ordinary molecule, that is). ATP is the body’s energy currency. Like money, you can’t do business without it. The body’s cells manufacture ATP and then various cell processes use that ATP for power. Without ATP, no reactions can take place inside the cell and the cell dies. Every day, you and I need some 75 kg of ATP to survive. Yes, that’s right: 75 kg!

 

If you say, “I hardly weigh 75 kg, so where do I get 75 kg of ATP from?” ATP is not a use-once-throw-away-twice kind of molecule. It is quite possibly the most recycled item in the universe. Once an ATP molecule has been used to provide energy, it is recycled, re-energised and re-deployed. Every molecule of ATP in your body gets recycled approximately 1,200 times a day. Yes: A DAY. That’s once every minute, give or take.

 

Do you understand why the Nobel prize awards committee got so excited about his research? ATP is mostly formed in the presence of carbohydrates and oxygen. If you don’t eat, you die. If you don’t breathe, you die. Why? Because your cells can’t manufacture ATP. Dr Cheng’s research showed a new way of regenerating ATP, one that did not primarily involve oxygen or carbohydrates. A weak current was all it took to increase ATP levels in the cell by 500% or more. And that is what the Elexoma is all about.

 

CES  – Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation

CES, or Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation, refers to the application of microcurrent to the brain specifically. Some situations where CES may be beneficial are:

  • Depressed mood,
  • loss or grief Anger or irritability
  • Stress Sleeplessness (insomnia),
  • nightmares Lack of concentration / shortened attention span
  • Memory deficits
  • After a stroke or spinal cord injury
  • Lack of drive and motivation
  • Fibromyalgia

CES mostly refers to the application of Alternating Current to the brain (as distinct from Direct Current). In other words, the polarity of the two electrodes keeps on switching between positive and negative (and you thus do not need to take care which electrode is positive or negative). In bio-electronics, the word “biphasic” is used to refer to alternating current. One of the advantages of a biphasic current is that the local tissues don’t get polarised, thus reducing the risk of tissue damage. CES also typically employs low intensity currents, meaning the user hardly feels the flow of electricity.

 

CES is most commonly administered via the earlobes, although it can also be administered by sticking pre-gelled electrodes just behind the ears or on the shoulders.

 

Every chemical reaction in the body involves changes in electrical values and these are not merely accidental. The brain, nerves, muscles, blood vessels and glands all operate based on electrical balance and current flows. The currents involved are tiny, but essential for life. The “old school thinking” that used overwhelming electrical force to achieve therapeutic aims is dying out as new research increasingly proves that cells respond best to electricity that is in the same league as the normal bodily voltage and intensity.

 

MET – Microcurrent Electrical Therapy

MET, or Micro-Electric Therapy, refers to the use of microcurrent to treat the body. Typical situations where you might want to use MET are:

  • Chronic backache, arthritis or other chronic pains.
  • Acute pain due to a sprain, muscle tear, bone fracture, wound, etc.
  • Wound healing, whether an open wound, bruise, sprain, fracture, etc.
  • Refreshing of the whole body, e.g. after strenuous exercise or before a sports event.

MET, short for Microcurrent Electrical Therapy. MET refers to the application of low-level electrical pulses to the body to achieve therapeutic outcomes. Technically, CES is also a form of MET, but the indications and proposed mechanism of action are different in the case of CES. As a result, MET is almost always used to refer to treatment of the body, not the brain.

 

The “micro” in “microcurrent” refers to current intensities that are mostly less than 1 milliAmp (or 1,000 uAmp, as it is displayed on your Elexoma‘s screen). These levels are in line with your body’s own electrical charge.

 

As with CES, MET can be applied either as Direct (monophasic) Current (DC) or as Alternating (biphasic) Current (AC). Your Elexoma Medic has no less than 7 preset MET programmes (more than any other microcurrent device on the planet).

 

There are essentially two reasons why you would want to use MET: injury and pain.

 

If you apply MET to the injured area, the MET increases the ATP in the injured cells. They repair themselves much faster (think 500%). And this is how MET works for pain and healing.

 

Who should not use it?

Electrotherapy is not indicated in people who had a heart pacemaker implanted before 1997, nor in people suffering from epilepsy or cancer. Woman who are pregnant use the device at their own risk, since no published research is available (although I can testify that my wife used electrotherapy while being pregnant with all three our children and our children have shown no signs of any abnormality).