The third instalment of the ‘Microcurrent Conversations’ series featuring the doctor and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Vlastimil Voracek, MD. This episode follows on seamlessly from the previous one, with Dr Voracek explaining his practical approach and why examining the patient, understanding the pathogenesis and the functional processes are so important for working successfully with microcurrent.

“Naturally, the examiner – be it the doctor treating the patient or a physiotherapist – must properly assess the patient in order to examine them, rather than just glancing at them as if they were an X-ray image or something through their trousers. You have to actually ‘get to grips with’ the patient and simply examine them. […] We know, of course, that pain arises due to a change in pH within the tissue. This means the cause lies within the tissue; it is not in the nerve pathway, but within the tissue itself. In other words, if I influence the pH value in the tissue, I indirectly influence the pain. If the tissue is in a physiological state, from a metabolic point of view, then it doesn’t cause any pain either.” (Dr Voracek, 2020)

Part (1) “Microcurrent Discussions”

Part (2) “Microcurrent Conversations”

00:00:00
Patrick: Welcome to a new podcast from LuXXaMed GmbH. My name is Patrick Walitschek, and in this week’s episode I have the third part of the interview with orthopaedic surgeon Dr Voracek on the topic of ‘Microcurrent Conversations’. As in the two previous episodes or parts, Dr Voracek explains, from his perspective as a doctor and orthopaedic surgeon, the procedure and effects of microcurrent therapy, illustrating this very effectively with examples from his practice, based on his experience with microcurrent therapy over the past 20 years or so, how microcurrent therapy has evolved for him over the last 20 years, and, of course, the future prospects for this form of therapy in the field of pain management. So, yet another very, very fascinating episode. If you’ve only just tuned in to this episode or our podcast, do have a look back through the archive. There you’ll find other interviews with different guests, as well as, of course, Part 1 and Part 2 of our podcast episode ‘Microcurrent Conversations’ with Dr Voracek. With that, I’d like to wish you every success and hope you enjoy this episode, and we’ll catch up again at the end.

00:01:34
Dr Voracek: For the hip, I approach from the front, moving from the groin towards the back, if I want to go directly into the joint capsule. If I want to access the bone, I can, for example, go up from the inner side of the thigh to the (unint.) or along the lateral edge of the pelvis, and then I know I’ll end up somewhere completely different. And that is, of course, one way of looking at it: there is, of course, also the systemic approach, where I follow a specific systematic procedure, involving a pattern where one starts at the extremities, moves to the spine, and so on. That works too, and some colleagues use it in this way. I’ve got into the habit of using this approach because it allows me to achieve my result – the local result – very, very quickly. Of course, one can also integrate every joint or anatomical part of the body with the brain. That’s the next step: alongside the lymphatic drainage, which we naturally always apply, we can also incorporate a technique targeting the brain. We know that the current enters the brain; we know that. There are a number of studies on this, and through a certain modulation of brain stimulation, we can influence that part of the body from a neurophysical perspective.

00:03:21
Patrick: Yes, there’s some great research from the US on that, that’s true. It’s fascinating. Yes, that would actually have been a follow-up question, because when we’re talking about the knee or the shoulder, you’ve always described it using two channels – that is, four electrodes – but we do have two further channels and two or four additional electrodes. And that’s where the lymphatic system might come into play, or perhaps the whole issue of primary versus secondary injury, because I mean, the knee joint can certainly be painful, but it could just as easily be the SI joint, the lumbar spine or the hip, respectively…

00:03:49
Dr Voracek: Yes, but that’s what the anatomical examination reveals, leading you to realise: “Goodness me, it’s not my hip joint, it’s my SI joint or my spine” – and the problem manifests itself more or less in the knee joint. But of course, it’s a medical error to make that mistake and say: “Yes, the patient’s knee hurts, but the hip joint is the cause.” And, of course, the machine cannot solve this problem; so, of course, the examining or treating doctor – or even a physiotherapist – must properly assess the patient and examine them properly; not just by looking at an X-ray or glancing through their trousers, but you simply have to get to grips with the patient and actually examine them!

00:04:40
Patrick: Yes. I’d just been thinking about a conversation I had: I was talking to a doctor from northern Germany, and we were discussing this very topic, and I said: “Well, ultimately I always say that the device is both a blessing and a curse, because” – and this is just my opinion; feel free to correct me if I’m wrong – “I’d say, ‘actually, it isn’t really a pain therapy device at all. The fact that the pain decreases is actually a side effect; if you look at it from the traditional perspective – including the WHO’s definition of pain management and its step-by-step approach – what we’re achieving is actually a side effect.” Or how would you see it?

00:05:20
Dr Voracek: Well, of course. I mean, we know that pain arises due to a change in pH within the tissue. That means the cause lies within the tissue; it’s not in the nerve pathway, but within the tissue itself. So, if I influence the pH level of the tissue, I’m indirectly influencing the pain. In other words, if the tissue is in a physiologically normal state from a metabolic point of view, then it doesn’t cause any pain. And these studies – which were, after all, carried out in Heidelberg – demonstrated the extent to which the pH level ultimately triggers the sensation of pain, and, of course, someone who is overly acidic is much more sensitive to pain than someone who has just returned home from Hawaii after an eight-week holiday and is fully recovered.

00:06:19
Patrick: Exactly. Yes.

00:06:21
Dr Voracek: So, ultimately, I have a bit of a problem with so-called classical pain therapy, because it’s more or less a pharmacological approach that very rarely tackles the root cause.

00:06:38
Patrick: And, as far as I can tell, it very rarely achieves a level of long-term relief that’s satisfactory for the patient. That’s what I’ve gathered from conversations and all the news reports and so on.

00:06:51
Dr Voracek: Yes, of course, it’s pain-free as long as the medication works, but if you don’t eliminate or treat the cause, the pain will return.

00:07:02
Patrick: Yes, and I believe that microcurrent is definitely an important, if not essential, step towards moving in the right direction.

00:07:09
Dr Voracek: Yes, yes. Absolutely right.

00:07:11
Patrick: That brings me straight to the next topic, which is, so to speak, closely related to this one. Lots of people ask me about – you’ve just explained the electrode placement and how you go about it – I always say: “Well, most people would like to have a cookbook. They want you to have lateral meniscus stimulation. You have medial stimulation, you have this, you have that with the patient, and they want a fixed electrode placement.” What I always say then is that this ‘cookbook’ of electrode placements – or it doesn’t have to be just adhesive electrodes: there are other forms of application, such as via water, towels soaked in water, via light, of course with light, and tile electrodes – is where I say: “This handbook actually takes the wrong approach from the perspective of microcurrent therapy,” because the point is, first and foremost, to clarify – as you’ve already said – “What exactly am I trying to treat in this patient? Is it specifically about function? Or is it perhaps also about other things, such as classic irritations and so on?”, and what would you say about this ‘cookbook’ on the subject? What would you recommend?

00:08:22
Dr Voracek: Well, of course, for a few standard diagnoses, one can recommend or suggest set protocols which we’ve, of course, tried and tested over many years and which work. But of course there are individual variations where you don’t have to stick strictly to the protocol; for example, you might place a channel slightly differently, but that’s something you’ll just have to decide for yourself. As I said, you can recommend a few basic set-ups: for the knee, for the hip, and for the organs, but ultimately it’s always the same: with the shoulder, of course, there are a few more variations, and for the knee I’d say there are perhaps three set-ups that you can vary. For the hip, there are perhaps two, but for the shoulder there are, of course, perhaps six or seven different set-ups. Then there’s the spine: there are a few more options there too, because it could, of course, be the cervical spine or the muscles of the upper plexus, but there might also be radiculopathy or nerve irritation involved. That means there’s another factor to consider, and of course that varies too, but for the spine, I’d say I use about ten different techniques, though these always depend to some extent on the specific nature of the problem.

00:10:08
Patrick: And on the individual nature of the patient and the circumstances.

00:10:11
Dr Voracek: Yes, exactly. Then one patient might also have swollen legs, or whatever the case may be. In that respect, you do need to be able to think dynamically yourself and simply understand what it is you’re trying to treat, because the device can do nothing other than run through a certain measurement procedure, accept the programme you set there, and carry out certain treatment protocols based on that programme and the measurement. In itself, nothing bad can happen, but I can, of course, provoke a problem by saying, ‘My foot hurts, so I’ll attach the electrodes to my earlobe.’ Then, naturally, it won’t work.

00:11:08
Patrick: Sorry to interrupt, but according to the broader theory of frequencies, it’s supposed to work – though that takes us very, very far into the realm of esotericism.

00:11:17
Dr Voracek: Quantum physics…

00:11:17
Patrick: … and also, to some extent, esotericism.

00:11:19
Dr Voracek: Yes, of course, logically. I mean, the flap of a wing in the jungle causes a tsunami in northern Germany. So, I mean, that…

00:11:27
Patrick: You do have to keep your feet on the ground, though.

00:11:30
Dr Voracek: Yes, we don’t want to go down that route; instead, we want to work with real figures and realistic conceptual models that most people can still get to grips with. And I mean, even if this therapy works, people still can’t understand it. I mean, lots of drivers drive a car but have absolutely no idea how it works: Most people just use it; they don’t know how an engine works, so just because I explain it to them doesn’t mean they’ll understand it, or that they’ve been to driving school – and perhaps they can even change a tyre – but it’s the same with microcurrent therapy: It’s hard enough for us to understand how it works, but that’s why we’re looking into it.

00:12:25
Patrick: And we’re trying to do just that, for example through this podcast or via many, many other media channels, seminars, YouTube and all sorts of other platforms to raise awareness of the whole thing, as well as through studies: In August this year, we were able to publish yet another recent study on the use of microcurrent therapy with the LuXXaMed for chronic pain and fibromyalgia – a university study has just been published on this, and I’ll definitely be releasing a special podcast episode on this topic in the near future. Yes, and to wrap up, I’d like to ask: what is your intention, your vision and your hope for microcurrent therapy in the future?

00:13:05
Dr Voracek: Well, simply that anyone can use the therapy and, regardless of the device to a greater or lesser extent, still feel the benefits of the treatment, don’t you think? I know it works. It works for me, I’d say, 100 per cent of the time, but it would be ideal, of course, if it worked for everyone – even those who haven’t really looked into the subject and just try to use it like a washing machine. However, if we ever reach that stage, we might no longer need doctors or therapists – if we simply attach four electrodes to a person and let the whole process run its course on its own: that would, of course, be the fully automated, autonomous driving of medicine, and that is not my aim: I simply want this treatment to be accepted as a standard means of accessing a therapeutic pathway, just as an injection might be, or – from a diagnostic perspective – just like an X-ray; it’s simply a matter of broadening one’s perspective. In other words, using an additional perspective on a problem, thereby enabling every patient – or rather, us – to achieve better treatment, faster treatment and recovery for the patient, or a quicker recovery for the patient. And that would be my wish: that, as I said, alongside pharmacology, alongside functional treatment and rehabilitation, it becomes a standard treatment model.

00:15:13
Patrick: Yes, that’s lovely. I’d say those are the perfect closing words for this podcast. We’ll certainly be recording a few more episodes together in the future on all sorts of topics. But for now, I’d like to thank you very much for your time and for the conversation. I think it was very insightful and also important in terms of content, particularly for those practising the therapy, and perhaps also for one or two patients listening to this podcast, who might like to get a little behind-the-scenes insight into the thinking behind it all. And with that, I’d like to thank you very much.

00:15:53
Dr Voracek: Yes, it was my pleasure. I hope the listeners find this useful, and perhaps in future they’ll either ask about this therapy as patients or put a bit of pressure on their therapists to think along these lines too.

00:16:16
Patrick: Yes, brilliant! Well then, as I said, thank you very much!

00:16:19
Dr Voracek: You’re welcome, and thank you very, very much for such a lovely chat – at last!

00:16:27
Patrick: See you next time, then!

00:16:28
Dr Voracek: Until next time! Bye for now.

00:16:30
Patrick: That was the third episode, or rather the third part of the series ‘Microcurrent Conversations: An Interview with Dr Voracek, a doctor and orthopaedic surgeon with over 20 years’ experience in the field of frequency-specific microcurrent therapy for specific orthopaedic conditions. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series, and that you’ve particularly enjoyed this final part. If you have any feedback, suggestions for improvement, or perhaps a topic you’d like us to cover in the podcast – and maybe even have something to say about it yourself – then please get in touch: you’ll find our contact details in the show notes via our website or directly at www.luxxamed.de. If you’re listening to us on Apple, Google, Spotify or anywhere else, you’re of course welcome to leave us a review on those platforms. We’d be delighted if you could give us five stars or whatever rating system is available to you there: we’d really appreciate it. And with that, I’d like to thank you for tuning in and listening. One more quick tip: next week we’ll be bringing you an episode specifically on the topic of frequency-specific microcurrent, with a brief overview of frequency-specific microcurrent therapy as it’s used in the US and how it’s also been in use here in Germany for quite some time now, and what ‘frequency-specific’ actually means and how it can be used. So stay tuned. Thank you once again for tuning in, and see you next week!

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