Changes

There is some good evidence that electrical stimulation can improve wound healing<ref name="woundsinternational.com"/><ref name="McCaig-2005"/>. The mechanism may be the electrical potential of ~23 mV (10-60mV) that exists in the skin, known as the "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transepithelial_potential_difference transepithelial potential]". A skin wound causes this potential to collapse (0 mV) and an "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_of_injury injury current]" is created (~10-100 µA), which may attract or repel nearby healthy cells<ref name="Kloth2005"/>. As the wound heals, different types of cells are required which have different polarization<ref name="Kloth2005"/>. A review of the research into Electrical Stimulation for Wound Healing<ref name="Balakatounis-2008"/> indicated that the effective range is 200 to 800 µA, with underlying studies using 130 Hz, 130 μs for >30 minutes/day. The general recommendation is to apply the negative electrode close to the wound and the positive electrode proximally. One study reversed the polarity after 3 days if no infection was seen. If infection did occur than polarity was reversed 3 days after infection had subsided. After that, polarity was reversed each time healing reached a plateau. (NB, I found that I could only handle ~15 EMS devices have current in the 1-100 mA range, so the lowest setting is 1 mA or which is 1,000 µA due to muscle activation.)