How to Add Microcurrent To Your Spa Services & Retail Offerings

It seems like everyone has a new gadget or device these days. Plug it in, charge it up, add batteries and you too can probe, glide, pinch and zing your face back into place through the magic of microcurrent. Electrotherapies for the use of beautification have been in practice since the electric plug was invented to power on devices.

Microcurrent is a proven science that uses a low level of electricity that often mimics our bodies natural bioelectrical currents. We understand from the 1982 Cheng study, that the ADP to ATP conversion or our cellular currency increases when microcurrent of 500 microamperes (uA) or less is applied regularly to the skin’s tissue. Bert Sakmann, MD, and Erwin Nehr, MD, were awarded a Nobel prize for their work on the response of applied microcurrent on the physiology of human membranes, tissue and muscles. More recent studies have proven that applying microamperes above 500uA is just as beneficial due to the advances in applied waveforms.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared most microcurrent devices for the use of treating skin, tissues, injuries, muscles, nerves, certain degenerative diseases and relief of pain, both for professionals and consumers. So, the question isn’t whether to incorporate microcurrent in your practice, but what should you be considering when investing in a microcurrent system.

I see many estheticians buying, using and reselling microcurrent home devices in their spa. Many are available online and sold direct to anyone. I am not against retailing devices to your clients; I am for it. Electrotherapies have evolved so much in the last 40 years that we can easily separate consumer devices from professional devices.

Dynamic Vs. Static Microcurrent

There are proven scientific and even psychological reasons why you want to invest in a professional, dynamic microcurrent system for your practice. The first reason is the consumer’s perception of value. When a client comes to you for services, they observe your willingness to invest in your own business. If they see you using products and tools that they can easily purchase from a local retailer or online, they will question your level of knowledge and professionalism.

All home care devices are created to deliver low levels of static microcurrent for obvious safety reasons. Your clients will not see long-term transformation, but will experience visual cosmetic improvements. If they are going to a party, they look better for the night. Home care devices, whether they are charged by a power cord or use batteries, all use static microcurrent. Static currents are fixed simple waveforms, and when used on the skin will plump fine lines, temporarily tighten and penetrate topical ingredients. In other words, they are programmed to work the same way on everyone! Well, no two faces are the same, nor do they age the same.

The best professional systems use true dynamic microcurrent that is not fixed. Dynamic microcurrent technology will adjust the microcurrent to the skin’s natural impedance to deliver optimal benefits and target the specific ways we age. Dynamic microcurrent systems offer more channels, more ports for different tools and multiple waveforms to address individual needs.

Systems without dynamic microcurrent capabilities or that boast only delivering a maximum of 500uA will only work on the same level as home care devices but at a higher price tag. Do your research and invest in professional systems that are using up-to-date technology, especially if you want to grow repeat dynamic microcurrent business.

Let’s observe how we age and why investing in professional dynamic microcurrent systems will deliver long-term sustainable results to your clients over static microcurrent home care devices.

Related: Electric Youth: Exploring the Benefits of Microcurrent

Expression Lines

We look at facial expression lines and think it is only related to motions of the face. We assume they are made from smiling, frowning, scowling, squinting, dehydration and lifestyle choices like smoking or sucking on straws. Actually, it is related to the fascia webbing that holds our skin, fat and muscles to our skeletal structure. Fascia is the soft collagen threads that interweaves and interpenetrates the body to give us our youthful, lifted appearance. Through dehydration and tension, fascia becomes hardened and binds down and with every movement our face and muscles make, causing lines to form. It’s also responsible for those rings of life or lines around our necks and down the chest. You can almost gauge a person’s age by counting those rings as they form over time.

Dynamic microcurrent will soften and relax bound fascia while stimulating it to tighten and lift the skin back into place. It is also beneficial for treating the fascia that contributes to the appearance of cellulite, lax skin and crepe like skin texture as we age.

Fat Displacement

Another way we age is fat displacement. The face has subcutaneous fat pads in many different zones. The first place we notice fat displacement is when we start to see hooding above the eyes, then puffiness under the eyes, and eventually the fat pads on the forehead and sides of the face begin to migrate forward. We start to notice folds near our mouth, then our cheek pads begin to drop down and jowls begin to form along the jaw line. Many clients who get regular peels and esthetic services will barely develop a fine line but will show signs of fat displacement. Dynamic microcurrent helps to lift, sculpt and set the fat pads back in place depending on the tools chosen and their applied technique.

Increasing Circulation and Lymph

Of course, there is the typical way many will age by getting to much sun, bad diet, medications and poor skin care habits. This way of aging will manifest in the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, hyper or hypopigmentation and even glycation. Skin types and disorders also contribute to an unhealthy appearance of the skin with clogged pores, acne, rosacea and scarring. Dynamic microcurrent increases circulation to soften blackheads, reduce inflammation, strengthen the capillaries, stabilize melanocyte function and stimulate fibroblast activity for denser collagen and elastin in the dermis.

Lymphatic drainage is an important and sometimes overlooked service in esthetics. Getting proper circulation and nourishment from our lymph fluids is vital to skin health as well as halting fluid retention around the eyes and other areas of the body. If you’re a practicing oncology esthetician, dynamic microcurrent is extremely beneficial for post cancer patients suffering from lymphoedema.

Freqeuncy and Treatments

The fact that ATP can be increased and stored by the application of regular dynamic microcurrent treatments is what will give a client long term sustainable results. It is a skin gym, and depending on where your client is in their aging will determine the number of treatments needed to jump start them on their way.

I often start my clients on a series of 10 treatments. Sometimes I start them just once a week, but I often will do it twice a week for the first 10 treatments. I document at the first, fifth and last treatment to see the progress we have made. From there, we may need to incorporate another series, but will start to back off based on how often they come, giving them the choice to say how long they can go between maintenance treatments.

The best professional dynamic microcurrent systems have the tools, education and technology to support all your services. I professionally incorporate dynamic microcurrent before, during or after every peel, facial, dermaplane treatment and microneedling service. I can apply it to my modelage masks, gel masks and light services. I have even used it post wax to reduce inflammation to prohibit the possibility of ingrown hairs or post inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

Home Care Microcurrent

Hang on, what about all those fun home devices? How should we incorporate those for our clients? Home care microcurrent devices have their value as we listed earlier. If you want to increase your bottom line, retail home devices. I personally use the pico toner home care system when I travel and in between my own scheduled treatments and can honestly say it’s very beneficial. You must educate your client that they will not work in the same way your professional system does but will support and aid results from the services you offer. They can be extremely profitable when combined with professional dynamic microcurrent services, and who doesn’t want that? I can say that in the last several years after incorporating dynamic microcurrent services for my clients, my business has grown, and my clients love their results. Some have even gotten a little mad when they can’t get in when they want for their facelift facials!

Malinda McHenry is a licensed cosmetologist, esthetician, instructor, former school owner, published author, speaker and business owner with over 32 years of experience. Known as “The Esthetic Professor,” she currently owns Bronzed N Beautiful Day Spa and The Academy of Advanced Aesthetic Arts, a post graduate hands on training center with online advanced education in Overland Park, Kansas.