Beauty therapy at home: High Frequency Electrotherapy (Darsonval)

If you ever experienced manual cleansing (extraction) at beauty salon you may recognise this "funny glass thing that lights up, makes weird noises and smells like rain". It's Darsonval - device using high frequency current, an electrotherapy instrument. It was invented by french doctor and physicist, Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval.

I am a happy owner of this device from couple of months. I honestly consider it as one of my best beauty investments EVER. So today I would like to tell you a little bit more about electrotherapy at home.

My device's box

How does it work?
Device uses currents  between 300 and 500 kHz. The glass electrode tubes are filled with noble gases. After connecting glass electrode with handpiece and turning the device on, the electrode will light up in blue or orange. Glass electrode produces then high frequency current and creates ozone at it's surface. The current warms up tissue and enlarges blood vessels, while ozone has disinfecting properties. High frequency treatment accelerates blood circulation and improves skin metabolism, kills germs and improves absorption of cosmetic products.

Inside the box - the handpiece and four glass electrodes

Depending of what model of the device you will buy, there are few different kinds of electrodes. My set has four of them:

From left: the handpiece, the comb electrode for scalp treatment, the "mushroom" electrode for large areas, the "point" electrode for spot treatment and "spoon" electrode for hard to reach areas.
In bigger sets you may also come across T-shaped electrode for chin and neck or roller electrode for large body areas.
On the bottom of the device, next to cable, there is a little knob to regulate device's power.

What can you achieve with high frequency treatment?
Darsonval has a long list of possible skincare benefits. It's helpful in treatment of:
- acne
- skin irritations
- seborrhoea
- folliculitis
- hair loss
- dandruff
- eczema
- wrinkles and sagging skin
- enlarged pores
- herpes
- scars and pigmentation
- frostbites
- circulation problems

Contraindications for high frequency treatment:
- pregnancy! The current can harm the baby or even cause miscarriage
- metal objects in body - including braces
- open injuries, wounds
- high blood pressure
- heart diseases
- asthma
- fever
- sensitive skin with visible caterpillars
- rosacea
- epilepsy
- nervous hyperactivity and other nervous system disorders
- fear of electricity

What made me buy my own device?
The high frequency treatment saved my life (or rather face) when I forgot to take my acne antibiotics with me on my holiday. I experienced the worst break out ever: the bottom part of both my cheeks was hot, inflamed mess. I had an appointment in beauty salon for diamond microdermabrasion, but my therapist seeing the state of my skin decided to give my high frequency and ultrasound treatment instead. The effects were great - the inflammation and redness were visibly reduced. After my holiday I changed my antibiotics (the ones that I take now don't change my face into hot mess if I forget to take them), my skin calmed down and somehow I just forgot about the electrotherapy.
Darsonval reminded me of itself when I accidentally came across a review of it on one of the beauty blogs. The review was very positive and remembering that this device helped me with my terrible break out I purchased it without second thoughts.

Is the high frequency treatment painful?
Depending on what level of power we will operate, we may feel from nothing, through tingling sensation to prickling. The tolerance is different on different parts of the body and our skin gets used to it, so the best option is to start low and slowly increase power during next treatments. I was starting treatment of my face at the lowest possible setting, now I am kind of half way through the power scale. My back I could treat with higher power straight away. In general you should never exceed your comfort level.

High frequency treatment step by step:
1. Cleanse your skin - take off all dirt, sebum and make up. Darsonval treatment dries skin out a little bit, so better use the mildest cleansing method available. I normally use cleansing oil and foam, but for high frequency treatment I use cream cleanser. If you wash you face make sure to dry it properly with towel/tissue, if you use cream cleanser/miceral solution give skin a moment to dry, as the treatment has to be proceed on completely dry skin. Using the device on wet skin may cause glass electrode to break!
2. Choose the right electrode. Electrodes should be used according to their destinations - so comb for the scalp, "mushroom" for the face and other large areas, the "point" for spots only. The "point" electrode is the strongest one - so if I use "mushroom" with average power, I need to take the power level down a little before switching to spot treatment.
3. Gently massage your skin with electrode. There is only one rule to follow: do not keep the electrode in one spot for longer than 10 seconds. Longer application may result in skin irritation or in worse case scenario even burn! There are three methods of application:

• Indirect application - before the application coat the electrode in some talcum powder. Method recommended for sensitive skin. Other method is to put on skin some thick gauze and proceed treatment through it. This method is also applicable if you want to use Darsonval to penetrate ampoules deeper in skin, however they have to be oil based ampoules, because water based ones may cause electrode to burst. There are other devices used to penetrate water based products.
• Direct application - apply electrode directly to skin.
• Spark application - the electrode is close to skin, doesn't touch it, but connects with skin by spark (sounds terrible, but it's not ;)). It's easiest to achieve spark with "point" electrode so I use this method for spot treatment only. This method should not be used in eye area! If you have to proceed it anywhere relatively close to your eyes, you should protect your eyes with, for example a piece of damp gauze.

"Mushroom" electrode during treatment

as you can see the electrode lights up and works only in a place of direct contact with skin

4. After the treatment - Darsonval tightens and dries skin a little bit, so it's good to have some well moisturising products handy. If you have any cosmetic products that is a little bit heavy, oily, takes a while to absorb - it will be perfect to use after high frequency treatment, as skin after treatment soaks everything up like crazy. I pat two layers of Hada Labo lotion first, then I use Sidmool serum with astaxanthin, which is a bit oily and normally takes a while to be absorbed, however after treatment my skin soaks it up quickly. Normally I don't use any other products on top of that serum, however after treatment my skin is quite happy to soak up some dessert, so I finish off with my Baviphat Snail Sleeping Pack.

Sidmool Astaxanthin concentrate - my favourite product for use after High frequency treatment. It has skin brightening, anti-inflammatory and skin regenerating properties. It costs around £11 on e-Bay.

5. Disinfection - neither the hand piece nor electrodes cannot be immersed in water. To clean and disinfect your device soak a cotton pad in alcohol (minimum 70% ethanol) and simply wipe your device.

What happens if we overuse treatment?
If you treat your skin with too much power or hold electrode too long in one spot you may experience redness and some swelling. If these symptoms persist after 24h from treatment you should treat it as electrical burn and see your doctor.

Is the treatment effective?
It's VERY effective :) I use this device on myself, my fiance and couple of my friends and so far I noticed great results in treating three different skin conditions:
1. Acne - I battle with acne since I was 13. Since February last year I am on antibiotics, which helps to keep my acne under control, however I still have to deal with some spots from time to time. Darsonval works magic with nodular and cystic acne - my biggest trouble are painful bumps on the skin, either hard (nodules) or filled with puss (cysts). Whenever I feel that some spot on my face becomes harder and sensitive to touch I treat this spot with high frequency up to two times daily. Darsonval just after 2-3 treatments can bring the puss to the surface of the skin, transforming painful cysts into casual spot. And trust me, "casual" spots are much easier to deal with than cysts ;) Different kind of acne haunts my decolletage and back - red bumps on the skin (without white top), called papules. The high frequency treatment helps with them as well, they just disappear...
High frequency treatment also helps my friend with her acne - she had never experienced acne as a teenager, but after she turned 50 her skin breaks out from time to time. In her case Darsonval beautifully dries out the spots and speeds up the healing process.
2. Dandruff - my fiance has long term problems with dandruff. On his scalp there were large, red and flaky spots appearing. We don't know what it exactly is (I find British health services a bit incompetent...), all doctor told us is "it has nervous background" and "it's not psoriasis". We tried several different pharmaceutical anti-dandruff shampoos: Nizoral, Oilatum, Neutrogena T-gel... However none of them seemed to give any significant results. But do not fear, there is high frequency treatment available! My fiance was very sceptical, but I managed to convince him and for two weeks I was treating his scalp every day. After the first week there was no results, during the second week red spots got smaller and paler, after two weeks they just disappeared. Since then I give him prevention treatment every couple of days and his scalp stays healthy and doesn't flake any more.
3. Eczema - my friends had eczema, her skin is dry, red and flaky. Her symptoms get worse when she consumes dairy, eggs or alcohol. Once spontaneously I offered her treatment - the effects were really good, just after one treatment her skin looked better, the redness was reduced, especially on her forehead. However I don't know what could further treatment achieve, as she got freaked out with my snail cosmetics and all the other "weird stuff" that I use and didn't want to me continue her treatment.

How much does it cost and where to buy?
Darsonval is easily available and everyone can buy it. I bought mine on e-Bay for £24. You can also have a look on websites offering professional beauty salon supplies - prices of the big, professional devices for high frequency treatments start from £200. Is there a point of buying big, professional machine? I don't know, I have never used one, but for me the small portable one is well enough. I think it would make sense if you would buy multi-task machine, for example 2in1 Darsonval + Galvan. I already have one big professional device 3in1 diamond microdermabrasion + cavitation + ultrasound, so I wouldn't even have room in my house for another big device ;)

Darsonval or Derma Wand?
Some time ago TV selling channels released "innovation beauty device" Derma Wand. Derma Wand is nothing else than a Darsonval device, high frequency treatment with only one, permanently attached small electrode. So if I would have too choose between branded Derma Wand or no-name brand Darsonval device what would I choose? I would go for my no-name for one reason: the electrodes. Can you imagine scalp treatment on long-haired person with that silly small Derma Wand electrode?

Summing up: even though the treatment my look or sound scary (it makes characteristic crackle noises) it is easy to perform treatment and may help in many skin conditions. I can't imagine my life without Darsonval any more, I also plan to buy another device for my mum.
I highly recommend high frequency treatment! :) And considering that in beauty salons prices of high frequency facials start from £20 up, it is really worth to buy your own device.