Page 71 - Micro5 Brochure 2017

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Table 3. The changes of VAS in the experimental and
Control groups
group Pre- Post- Mean
intervention intervention difference
EG 6.69±2.00 3.25±1.73 3.44±2.16*
CG 7.31±1.80 6.85±2.11 .46±2.47
Values are M±SE
EG : experimental group
CG : control group
*p<0.05 compared to the control
intervention. In the control group, blood flow rate increased
from 3.51 ± 2.98 mv/V before the intervention to 4.03 ±
2.13 mv/V after the intervention(Table 2).
The VAS pain of the subjects after the intervention
changed as follows: the VAS pain of the experiment group
significantly decreased from 6.69 ± 2.00 before the
intervention to 3.25 ± 1.73 after the 4 weeks of exercise and
that of the control group was reduced from 7.31 ± 1.80
before the intervention to 6.85 ± 2.11 after the 4 weeks of
exercise, but not significantly(Table 3).
DISCUSSION
In this study, we measured the blood flow rate and the
degree of pain in the feet of diabetic patients in order to
investigate the effects of microcurrent application.
As the size of the elderly population increases, the
morbidity rate of chronic diseases is also increasing. To
prevent and treat diabetes, a representative chronic disease
of the elderly, many studies have been performed using
kinesitherapy and drug treatments, however studies
examining the use of electric therapy, especially
microcurrents, have been rare. In the present study, the
subjects with foot pain, which is one of the main diabetic
complications, were asked to wear shoes through which
microcurrents were delivered to the feet and the foot blood
flow rate was measured before and after one hour of
walking exercise. The change in foot pain was measured
before and after wearing the shoes delivering microcurrents
in their daily lives for 4 weeks
Various methods of exercise have been introduced to
maintain blood sugar levels of diabetes patients at the
proper level and to prevent complications such as foot
ulcers by improving peripheral blood circulation. Maiorana
et al.22) reported that 8 weeks of aerobic exercise and
resistance exercise not only enhanced the cardiovascular
functions and muscle strength, but also reduced blood sugar
levels. Nam23) reported that glycosylated hemoglobin level
following 12 weeks of Tai-Chi exercise was significantly
reduced in non-insulin-dependent diabetes patients
compared to a control group. The neural transmission score
was also reduced in the exercise group, but not significantly. daily activities of diabetes patients and that it may help to
The lack of significance may have been because the effect
was insufficient to initiate the exercise-dependent
physiological response that improves neural transmission
due to decreased blood sugar and improved
microcirculation. In our study, we investigated the extent to
which the blood circulation can be improved by the
application of microcurrents accompanied by walking
exercise. Blood flow rate was increased in both groups after
the intervension, but the change was more significant in the
experimental group who wore the microcurrent shoes.
A number of methods to improve peripheral blood
circulation with electrical therapy have been proposed. Park
and Park19) measured the blood flow rate of normal adults
after applying interferential current in order to investigate
the effect on peripheral blood circulation. Their results
indicate that peripheral blood circulation is significantly
increased by electrical stimulation and they predicted a
corresponding enhancement of wound healing and edema
relief. Clarke et al.24) reported that the lower extremity
blood flow rate was increased in patients with chronic
venous insufficiency by the application of NMES. In our
study, blood circulation in the feet of diabetes patients was
also significantly improved by applying microcurrent
electrical stimulation therapy.
Microcurrent application is now actively used in various
fields. Many studies have been published, including those
about wound healing through microcurrent stimulation25),
pain alleviation and functional recovery of chronic back
pain patients26), and fracture healing27). The study of Park et
al.18) used microcurrents delivered by a shoe, as in our
study, to investigate the effect on the changes of muscular
fatigue, pain, and temperature in the foot. In the cases of
patients in their 50s with foot pain, the degree of pain and
the body temperature were significantly changed by the
microcurrent treatment. Since a rise in body temperature
represents an improvement in the blood flow rate, the
microcurrent treatment might have had the effect of
relieving pain. In our study of diabetic foot neuropathy
patients, the blood flow rate was also increased in the group
to which microcurrents were applied, above that induced by
exercise alone, and the degree of pain was significantly
reduced. Based on these results, it appears that microcurrent
stimulation exerts a pain relief effect and improves
peripheral blood circulation in diabetic neuropathy patients.
Foot lesions in diabetes patients can greatly reduce their
quality of life and can lead to amputation in serious cases.
Various methods have been developed and used for early
diagnosis of this type of diabetic neuropathy. Among these,
quantitative sensory nerve tests and microcirculation tests
using Doppler effects are commonly used. In the present
study, the degree of the blood circulation improvement in
the foot, especially at the peripheral tip of the toe, was
investigated using a pulse plethysmogram, which quantifies
blood flow rate increases by estimating the microvascular
diameter based on infrared wave reflection from the blood
vessels. Walking was used as the exercise method since it
can be easily practiced in daily living and the microcurrents
were simply delivered to the human body through the
shoes. Our study demonstrates that a therapeutic effect of
microcurrent stimulation can easily be applied during the
improve blood circulation, provide pain relief, and prevent