This is in 2 parts due to its size. On another list, the subject using electricity for healing came up. Since we had discussed using electricity for pain relief earlier this month I am providing some info found regarding using electricity for healing There appears to be three approaches: high voltage (150V), medium voltage/currents or low voltage/ultralow currents. I suspect that the end use might determine which approach is best for a particular application. There is great similarity between using electricity for healing, pain reduction or muscle stimulation. The 3 applications could easily share common electronics. Below are some NCBI abstracts that I think are informative - Steve N
GENERAL INFO: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2568073 Accelerated healing of skin ulcers by electrical stimulation and the intracellular physiological mechanisms involved. Evidence is reviewed (8 studies involving 215 clinical patients with ischemic skin ulcers and 7 animal tissue or tissue culture studies) that electrical stimulation of fibroblast cells accelerates the intracellular biosynthesis necessary to form new granulation tissue in a healing wound, and that both a direct local tissue effect and a circulatory improvement occur. A model is presented in which transmembrane currents open voltage-controlled calcium channels in fibroblast cells, causing ATP resynthesis, activation of protein kinase mechanisms to synthesize new cellular protein, and the DNA replication necessary for mitotic cell division. Stimulation efficacy appears to be determined by a number of basic electrical parameters, and judicious waveform control is desirable. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20434602 Electrical stimulation therapy increases rate of healing of pressure ulcers in community-dwelling people with spinal cord injury. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether electric stimulation therapy (EST) administered as part of a community-based, interdisciplinary wound care program accelerates healing of pressure ulcers in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Single-blind, parallel-group, randomized, controlled, clinical trial. SETTING: Community-based home care setting, Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (N=34; mean age +/- SD, 51+/-14y) with SCI and stage II to IV pressure ulcers. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects were stratified based on wound severity and duration and randomly assigned to receive either a customized, community-based standard wound care (SWC) program that included pressure management or the wound care program plus high-voltage pulsed current applied to the wound bed (EST+SWC). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Wound healing measured by reduction in wound size and improvement in wound appearance at 3 months of treatment with EST+SWC or SWC. RESULTS: The percentage decrease in wound surface area (WSA) at the end of the intervention period was significantly greater in the EST+SWC group (mean +/- SD, 70+/-25%) than in the SWC group (36+/-61%; P=.048). The proportion of stage III, IV, or X pressure ulcers improving by at least 50% WSA was significantly greater in the EST+SWC group than in the SWC group (P=.02). Wound appearance assessed using the photographic wound assessment tool was improved in wounds treated with EST+SWC but not SWC alone. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that EST can stimulate healing of pressure ulcers of people with SCI. EST can be incorporated successfully into an interdisciplinary wound care program in the community I include this one because it shows that random pulses work in addition to periodic pulses: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20559186 The effect of stochastic electrical noise on hard-to-heal wounds. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of electrical stochastic noise stimulation on hard-to-heal wounds. METHOD: This open-label observational case series aimed to evaluate the effect of the Bioelectrical Signal Therapy (BST) device on the treatment of hard-to-heal (recalcitrant) wounds. The study group comprised nine patients (three males and six females), with a total of 11 ulcers that had not healed (ulcer duration range: 18 months to 20 years) despite being treated with other standard methods. Ulcer aetiologies were: EPUAP grade IV pressure ulcers (n=6) and grade III pressure ulcer (n=1), vasculitic ulcer (n=1), post-actinic lesion (n=1), ischaemic (n=1) and post-surgical lesion (n=1). The median patient age was 75. Treatment was delivered for 30 minutes, three times a day for 60 days. RESULTS: Four patients (five ulcers) closed completely. Ulcers in three patients reduced in size with signs of epithelialisation. No improvement was observed in one patient (who had paraplegia). One patient stopped treatment due to skin irritation at electrode sites. No other adverse effects were observed and all of the treated patients defined the treatment as painless. CONCLUSION: Stochastic white noise applied to hard-to-heal ulcers for 60 consecutive days reduced the wound surface area by an overall mean closure rate of 82.5% (SD=25.2%). This open-label observational case series provides preliminary indication of the possible role of stochastic resonance in wound healing. HIGH VOLTAGE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12495409 Effect of electrical stimulation on chronic leg ulcer size and appearance. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Electrical current has been recommended for use on chronic pressure ulcers; however, the ability of this modality to improve healing of other types of chronic ulcers is less well established. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of high-voltage pulsed current (HVPC) on healing of chronic leg ulcers. SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven people with 42 chronic leg ulcers participated in the study. METHODS: The subjects were separated into subgroups according to primary etiology of the wound (diabetes, arterial insufficiency, venous insufficiency) and then randomly assigned to receive either HVPC (100 microseconds, 150 V, 100 Hz) or a sham treatment for 45 minutes, 3 times weekly, for 4 weeks. Wound surface area and wound appearance were assessed during an initial examination, following a 1- to 2-week period during which subjects received only conventional wound therapy, after 4 weeks of sham or HVPC treatment, and at 1 month following treatments. RESULTS: The results indicated that HVPC applied to chronic leg ulcers reduced the wound surface area over the 4-week treatment period to approximately one half the initial wound size (mean decrease=44.3%, SD=8.8%, range=2.8%-100%), which was over 2 times greater than that observed in wounds treated with sham units (mean decrease=16.0%, SD=8.9%, range=-30.3%-83.7%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that HVPC administered 3 times a week should be considered to accelerate wound closure of chronic leg ulcers. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3258429 Acceleration of wound healing with high voltage, monophasic, pulsed current. The purpose of this study was to determine whether high voltage electrical stimulation accelerates the rate of healing of dermal ulcers. Sixteen patients with stage IV decubitis ulcers, ranging in age from 20 to 89 years, participated in the study. The patients were assigned randomly to either a Treatment Group (n = 9) or a Control Group (n = 7). Patients in the Treatment Group received daily electrical stimulation from a commercial high voltage generator. Patients in the Control Group had the electrodes applied daily but received no stimulation. The ulcers of patients in the Treatment Group healed at a mean rate of 44.8% a week and healed 100% over a mean period of 7.3 weeks. The ulcers of patients in the Control Group increased in area an average of 11.6% a week and increased 28.9% over a mean period of 7.4 weeks. The results of this study suggest that high voltage stimulation accelerates the healing rate of stage IV decubitis ulcers in human subjects. I include this one because it shows the benefit with ischemic wounds: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15289715 Electrotherapy promotes healing and microcirculation of infrapopliteal ischemic wounds: a prospective pilot study. OBJECTIVE: To determine if high-voltage pulsed current (HVPC) electrotherapy augments ischemic wound healing and increases periwound microcirculation. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, single-blinded, sham-controlled clinical trial was conducted on a homogenous subset of quasi-stable ischemic wounds. INTERVENTION: Active HVPC or sham HVPC was applied to wounds for a 14-week period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Wounds were monitored every 4 weeks, except 2 weeks between weeks 12 and 14, for wound area, wound appearance, and microcirculation, which was measured by transcutaneous oxygen (TcPO2) levels and laser Doppler flow. RESULTS: Ischemic wounds treated with active HVPC decreased in size, contrary to the expected increase in ischemic wound size that was observed in wounds in the control group (P <.05, Student t test; week 4). A trend toward smaller wound area occurred in wounds in the HVPC group compared with wounds in the control group (week 14). Among the HVPC group, an improvement in periwound microcirculation occurred at weeks 8 (P <.05, TcPO2; P <.01, laser Doppler) and 12 (P <.05, laser Doppler). These increases suggest that HVPC promotes arteriolar vasodilation and dermal capillary formation. HVPC was well tolerated. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that HVPC decreased the area of ischemic wounds, reversing the expected increase in wound size, and improved microcirculation. The promising results of this pilot study require a larger Phase II study to confirm and generalize these findings. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Electrotherapy may prove to be a relatively safe and effective complement to surgical revascularization to improve the odds of healing ischemic wounds and promoting limb salvage. -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Rules and Instructions: http://www.silverlist.org Unsubscribe: <mailto:silver-list-requ...@eskimo.com?subject=unsubscribe> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/silver-list@eskimo.com/maillist.html Off-Topic discussions: <mailto:silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com> List Owner: Mike Devour <mailto:mdev...@eskimo.com>
