What is the difference between Galvanic and Microcurrent?
Galvanic Current is a treatment taught in the basic studies in aesthetics school. However, it has been taught that microcurrent and galvanic are the same current and yield the same results. This misinformation has led to some confusion on technologies available on the market today -- some being promoted as microcurrent device when in fact they are galvanic devices!
Believe it or not, microcurrent has seldom been taught in aesthetics schooling until the past five years... but even then is has only been given merely two paragraphs in our textbook!
We think it's time to really dive into the difference between Galvanic Current and Microcurrent.
Galvanic Current
The main purpose of Galvanic Current is to force water soluble solutions deeper into the skin. It is also beneficial in De-Incrustation and Iontophoresis. Galvanic Current is a direct and constant current that uses both positive and negative polarities and is measured in milliamps. There is no frequency on galvanic because it is a direct current.
To start with we have 2 probes utilizing polarities. One probe provides negative polarity and the other pole provides positive polarity. This is a two-step facial treatment.
Step One - The negative pole is the one that is on the face first and the positive is the ground and placed on the body area such as under the shoulder. The negative polarity is first used after the cleansing as the exfoliation in a treatment. The negative polarity utilizes an alkaline solution known as the desincrustation solution which is forced into the skin on the face to liquify debris, sebum and congestion in the skin. This is generally used as the exfoliation segment of the facial. The skin is rinsed and followed by extractions and massage if desired.
Step Two - The second part to Galvanic treatment is the use of the positive pole. The positive polarity pole is the one that is on the face second and the negative polarity is the ground and placed on the body area such as under the shoulder. The positive polarity is used at the end of the treatment after the hydration mask. The positive polarity utilizes an acidic solution to hydrate and nourish the skin with the concentrated ingredients of the serum. The serum is placed directly onto the skin and the pole is rolled over the face for 5 minutes followed by a moisturizer and sunblock.
Microcurrent
We have answered the question, "What is True Microcurrent" in previous blog posts, but to summarize the main purpose of a microcurrent is two-fold:
- To recondition the skin by stimulating ATP production by 500%
- To lift, firm and tighten muscles.
To start, we have two specially designed probes. Unlike Galvanic, both probes in True Microcurrent are on the face simultaneously and each probe provides both the negative and positive charge.
Microcurrent is different from Galvanic because Galvanic works with the chemical reaction of the solution and the current. Microcurrent works with 3 principals: correct waveform, the correct intensity for the area, and the correct movement.
Because of this, you can see that Galvanic and Microcurrent have their unique features that distinguish them from one another while both providing powerful treatments.
