Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) is a clinical approach that combines microcurrent stimulation with specific frequency pairings delivered on two independent channels. The modern FSM method emerged in the mid-1990s, but its story begins much earlier—during a period when electrotherapeutics were widely explored in medicine.

This page summarizes the key milestones and context. If you’re looking for clinical literature, go straight to Published Papers.

Looking for evidence? Visit our Published Papers archive.

A short timeline

Late 1800s–1920s: early electrotherapeutics

Medical and osteopathic physicians in the US and the UK began experimenting with electrical therapies and frequencies in the late 1800s. By 1922 there were thousands of physicians using frequency devices to treat a great number of conditions. The research and methods were recorded in books and journals such as Electromedical Digest and physicians shared their research, results and findings at meetings of groups such as the Pathometric and Electromedical Societies.

1906–1930s: regulation and standardization accelerates

Modern U.S. federal regulation of foods and drugs begins with the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act and evolves over the following decades into what becomes known as the FDA (the name “Food and Drug Administration” is adopted later).

1910 onward: medical education reforms reshape the landscape

The Flexner Report was funded in 1910 by powerful interests and declared that there should be fewer medical schools, attended primarily by white males, and medicine should use pharmaceutical therapies as the standard of care. Electromagnetic therapies, homeopathy, herbs and nutritional therapies were dismissed as fraudulent, the physicians were persecuted and some were even jailed. The devices and the frequency lists were covered up with sheets and went into the back rooms of clinics or onto the trash heap. When the generation who developed the frequencies and devices died out, the last memories of this therapy and all of the development, research and outcomes were lost.

1930s–1950s: electrotherapeutics decline in mainstream practice

By mid-century, many forms of electrotherapeutics declined as clinical practice shifted, technologies changed, and some modalities became associated with over-commercialized “cure-all” devices outside medicine.

1946: Harry Van Gelder rediscovers the device

They were lost until a British osteopath named Harry Van Gelder bought a practice in Vancouver, BC in 1946, walked into the back room and pulled the sheet off of a device built in 1922, found the list of frequencies and began using them and the device as a way of treating patients. He became well known all across Canada and the US because of his success in treating all kinds of very difficult illnesses.

1983: George Douglas brings the list to Portland

George Douglas, DC worked with Van Gelder in 1983 for three months and brought the list of frequencies home to Portland written on pieces of binder paper and put them in a desk drawer.

1995–1997: Reliable Results and the first FSM course

Dr. Douglas joined Carolyn McMakin, DC in her first year in practice in 1995 and found the list when he moved his desk into the office. They began using the frequencies on chronic pain patients by applying them with an FDA approved two-channel microcurrent device. The treatments were remarkably successful and Dr. McMakin taught the first FSM course in January 1997 to see if the results were reproducible. Once it was clear that the frequencies produced reliable reproducible results, the courses continued to be taught, consistent protocols were developed and the conditions being treated expanded. After that first course, the basic FSM course evolved from two days to five days and there are now 5,000 FSM practitioners from every clinical license allowed to use electrical stimulation on patients in 23 countries.

2010: Textbook publication and research expansion

The textbook Frequency Specific Microcurrent in Pain Management was published by Elsevier in 2010. There are 17 peer reviewed published papers documenting the positive effects of FSM in case reports and controlled trials.

Principles and Healing

FSM uses the principles of biophysics and the effects of biological resonance and frequencies that seem to change cell signaling and thereby change cell function and even structures, such as scar tissue, to reduce pain and improve function. The frequencies seem to improve healing from physical and emotional injuries, resolve nerve pain, phantom limb pain, muscle, joint, neck and low back pain, fibromyalgia, shingles and inflammatory conditions such as irritable bowel, asthma and chronic fatigue. FSM is not used to treat active infections or cancer or any potentially fatal condition.

The Resonance Effect describes how FSM was developed and the textbook, Frequency Specific Microcurrent in Pain Management, was published by Elsevier in 2010. There are 17 peer reviewed published papers documenting the positive effects of FSM in case reports and controlled trials.

From early devices to modern FSM

The early 20th-century devices referenced in FSM’s origin story were not the same as today’s portable microcurrent systems. FSM, as it is currently taught, uses microamp-level current and two independent frequency channels—a structure that allows practitioners to apply a frequency pairing (one channel often associated with a tissue target, the other with a clinical focus), as described in FSM training materials.

Why education matters in FSM

FSM’s development pathway emphasized reproducibility: teaching the method, refining protocols, and expanding training based on observed consistency across clinicians. This is why FSM is organized around structured education (Core Training, practicum options, and advanced topics) rather than a “device program.”

Research and reading

If you want to review the literature and ongoing discussion:

• Published Papers (papers archive)
• FSM Bibliography (supporting references)
• Frequency Specific Microcurrent in Pain Management (Elsevier, 2010)

Scope & safety note

FSM training materials and site content include clear boundaries on scope and contraindications. Always consult the Contraindications and Precautions page before applying any protocol clinically.