Electrotherapy (cosmetic)

Cosmetic electrotherapy is a range of beauty treatments that uses low electric currents passed through the skin to produce several therapeutic effects such as muscle toning in the body^: 226 and micro-lifting of the face. In rehabilitation medicine, electrotherapy has been widely utilized and studied; however, its use on healthy muscles, particularly in cosmetic and non-clinical settings, remains controversial. Some studies have questioned its effectiveness in these contexts, citing a lack of sufficient scientific evidence to support its claimed benefits.".

The use of electricity in cosmetics goes back to the end of the 19th century, almost a hundred years after Luigi Galvani discovered that electricity can make the muscle in a frog's leg twitch (see galvanism). In the 20th century, researchers such as Robert O. Becker, Björn Nordenström, and Thomas Wingmade significant contributions to the development of microcurrent devices. Becker's work focused on bioelectric phenomena and their role in tissue regeneration; Nordenström proposed the potential therapeutic applications of endogenous electric currents in disease treatment; and Wing developed some of the earliest microcurrent stimulation devices for use in both clinical and cosmetic settings.