The Tsunami Wave: Dr Thomas Wing’s Legacy in Facial Microcurrent

By Julia Hart The Electric Facialst

When we talk about Microcurrent, we often focus on how small the current is. But there is another part of the story that deserves attention: the way that current is delivered.

Its timing, pulse shape and changing direction all form part of the electrical signal. One particular approach has an intriguing name and a long history in electrical aesthetics: the Tsunami Wave.

Associated with Dr Thomas Wing’s pioneering work, it became part of both clinical microcurrent equipment and professional facial systems. For me, this history has a personal connection: I own an AXION device developed by Dr Joe Ventura, whose work belongs to this early generation of clinical microcurrent practitioners and developers.

To understand the Tsunami Wave, we need to look beyond the name and explore the electrical thinking behind it.

Who was Dr Thomas Wing?

Dr Thomas W. Wing was a chiropractor and inventor whose work helped shape modern microcurrent equipment. His early patents describe electroacupuncture instruments that applied electrical signals through electrodes placed on the skin, without traditional acupuncture needles.

An instrument patent granted in 1979 describes combining electrical signals of different frequencies and amplitudes. A related method patent, US 4,446,870, was granted on 8 May 1984. In his own 1989 article on microcurrent stimulation, Wing identified this as the Tsunami Wave patent and linked it to the My-O-Matic-i device.

This gives us a documented connection between the name, the inventor and the electrical method. Wing was an influential developer within a much longer history of electrotherapy; his contribution deserves recognition without attributing every form of microcurrent to one person.

What is the Tsunami Wave?

The Tsunami Wave describes a particular approach to delivering an electrical signal, including repeated changes in polarity.

Polarity tells us which electrode is positive and which is negative. In an alternating-polarity setting, the electrodes exchange those roles at regular intervals.

Wing’s original method patent describes combining a slow square-wave signal, with an approximately four-second cycle, and a second signal with a higher frequency and smaller amplitude. The description explains that charge builds in one direction before the applied voltage reverses, discharging it and building charge in the opposite direction.

Wing proposed that a negative application could condition the skin to respond differently to the positive application that followed. This was the rationale described in his patent; it should be understood as his explanation of the method rather than proof of cosmetic results.

In his later writing, Wing described Tsunami pulse trains switching polarity every two to four seconds. Later devices specify their own timing, so the name alone does not tell us every detail of a machine’s output.

The ocean imagery makes an evocative visual metaphor. Electrically, however, we are discussing pulses and polarity changes over time. The name does not mean that current becomes more powerful as it travels deeper into the face.

Why the way we deliver current matters

A microamp number describes only one aspect of a treatment. Several settings help define an electrical signal:

These details help explain why two devices set to the same microamp level may deliver different signals. Electrode placement, contact with the skin and treatment duration also help determine the exposure.

For anyone interested in electrical aesthetics, this is a useful shift in perspective. Understanding the treatment requires looking at the whole signal and how it is applied.

From clinical microcurrent to facial aesthetics

CACI’s own history credits Dr Wing’s work with Bell’s palsy patients as the medical background to its microcurrent technology. The company describes how Dean Nathanson subsequently introduced this technology into aesthetics, and dates CACI’s launch to 1992.

This is an important part of the manufacturer’s account of the transition from clinical electrotherapy to professional beauty treatments. It should not be read as evidence that cosmetic microcurrent treats Bell’s palsy, or that results in a medical setting automatically translate to healthy, ageing skin.

CACI helped make facial microcurrent familiar to a much wider audience. AXION provides another relevant connection to this technology’s clinical history.

Dr Joe Ventura and AXION

Dr Joseph Ventura identifies himself as a Doctor of Chiropractic. In his first hand account of microcurrent facial rejuvenation, he says he has been involved in clinical microcurrent as a clinician, developer, manufacturer and educator since 1979.

He describes learning facial techniques from Drs Baker and Doyle and beginning to offer facial rejuvenation in Kansas City in 1985. His account places these techniques within the work of Wing, George Goodheart and their collaborators. It offers a valuable practitioner perspective on the early development of facial microcurrent, although it does not establish the exact dates or nature of Ventura’s direct collaboration with Wing.

The connection between AXION equipment and the Tsunami Wave is documented more specifically. Ventura’s 2015 AXION micro5 brochure lists a Tsunami Wave, square and ramped wave options, and a setting that alternates polarity every 2.5 seconds.

The same brochure describes adjustable current, frequency and wave slope, alongside constant-current delivery. These are specifications for that model and should not be assumed to apply identically to every AXION device.

As an AXION owner, I find this history especially interesting. It connects equipment in my own practice with an earlier generation of electrical treatment design, and highlights the importance of understanding what a machine actually delivers.

Where cellular energy and ATP fit in

ATP is a molecule cells use to transfer energy for their activities. It frequently appears in explanations of microcurrent, largely because of a study published by Cheng and colleagues in 1982.

The researchers found that direct electric currents between 10 and 1,000 microamps increased ATP concentrations and stimulated amino acid incorporation into proteins in rat skin. They also reported changes in amino acid transport across cell membranes.

This is an interesting biological foundation for investigating low-level electrical stimulation. However, the experiment studied rat skin exposed to direct current. It did not test a Tsunami facial protocol or measure lifting, wrinkles or collagen production in human faces.

What can we say about skin rejuvenation?

The Tsunami Wave has a traceable history, a documented electrical rationale and a place in microcurrent equipment used for facial treatments. Those are meaningful facts.

Evidence that one named pattern produces better facial rejuvenation than another is a separate question. In researching this article, I did not identify a convincing independent, head-to-head human facial trial demonstrating the Tsunami pattern’s superiority over other microcurrent patterns.

Likewise, a patent documents an invention; it does not establish clinical effectiveness. Practitioner observations and manufacturer descriptions can add context, but should be presented alongside, rather than in place of, controlled research.

This leaves room to value the history and practical use of the technology while being precise about what has been demonstrated.

Julia’s perspective

My interest in electrical aesthetics has always included the thinking behind the treatment. The Tsunami Wave is a reminder that microcurrent has a history of clinicians and inventors exploring how carefully delivered electrical signals might interact with tissue.

Owning an AXION gives me a personal connection to that history (I also own quite a few other clinical Microcurrent machines!) It also reinforces something I want my clients to understand: the name of a device or waveform is only the beginning. The settings, the application and the individual receiving the treatment all deserve attention.

Wing’s legacy gives us a fascinating starting point for understanding facial microcurrent—and a reason to keep asking thoughtful questions as the technology develops.

Explore my What Is Microcurrent? article for a broader introduction to electrical skincare, or discover The Energy Facial to learn about my approach to professional electrical treatments.