- Victoria Rockliffe, 48, was first diagnosed with a prolapsed disc back in 2010
- Doctors gave her codeine, morphine and a spinal procedure – but none worked
- In desperation, she resorted to a pioneering £250 device called Arc4Health
- Ms Rockcliffe, from East Sussex, is now set to return to work as an antique dealer
A mother forced to give up work for eight years because of her crippling back pain has found a bizarre cure – in a device designed for horses.
Victoria Rockliffe, 48, was diagnosed with a prolapsed disc in 2010 and again three years later before medics admitted they didn’t know the cause of her agony.
Doctors gave her codeine, morphine and a spinal procedure – but none worked in combating her daily agony and left her feeling like a ‘zombie’.
In desperation, she resorted to a pioneering device called Arc4Health, which claims to relieve pain by sending electrical signals to the site of injury.
And the £250 gadget – originally created to rehabilitate horses and return them to competition – worked.
Ms Rockcliffe, from Battle in East Sussex, is now set to return to work as an antiques dealer after being left bedridden and unable to look after her two children.
She told MailOnline: ‘The Arc4Health unit has made an incredible difference to my life; I now don’t need to take any painkillers until late afternoon.
‘I am now looking into starting up my own business and can look after my family as a single mum, something I never thought possible four years ago.’
Ms Rockcliffe also hopes that the gadget, which measures 10cm and weighs 65g, will help her to come off opiate painkillers completely.
Victoria Rockliffe, 48, was diagnosed with a prolapsed disc in 2010 and again three years later, before medics admitted they didn’t know the cause of her agony
Ms Rockcliffe has been living with back pain, a modern-day plague which strikes around four in five adults at some point, since 1998.
Doctors initially prescribed her codeine, in order to help her cope with the agony before her dose was eventually bumped up.
After undergoing a series of tests in 2010, she was diagnosed with a prolapsed disc, also known as a slipped disc.
She underwent a discectomy two years later, in which the disc causing her agony was removed.
However, this procedure was unsuccessful and doctors switched her onto morphine, initially taking 30mg each day.
She suffered another prolapsed disc just one year later and was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease – when normal changes in the back cause pain.
Two spinal probes carried out to determine the root cause of her discomfort proved inconclusive, and doctors were left scratching their heads.
Ms Rockcliffe told MailOnline: ‘I was left thinking I would have to either live with the pain forever or take high doses of morphine for the rest of my life.
Ms Rockcliffe, from Battle in East Sussex, is now set to return to work as an antique dealer after being left bedridden and unable to look after her two children
By the end of 2013, I was almost bedridden, partially paralyzed, had lost control of my bladder and had little feeling in my right leg.
‘I couldn’t tidy the house, or even dress myself. I had truly hit rock bottom, and was diagnosed with depression and fibromyalgia.’
Reliant on morphine
Ms Rockcliffe was offered a spinal fusion – a complicated five-hour procedure, which joins two or more vertebrae together.
Her morphine dose was bumped up to 200mg each day, before being dropped back down again when her pain decreased.
However, Ms Rockcliffe was still unable to carry out daily chores without relying on painkillers, which left her brain foggy.
Her life was then transformed after a chance conversation with her brother, who had heard about Arc4Health, which uses microcurrent therapy.
Ms Rockcliffe said: ‘My brother had come round for lunch and noticed me wincing in pain as I sat down in the kitchen chair.
‘He mentioned that he had heard of a device that could help manage my pain and sent me a link to Arc4Health.’ She then bought the gadget.
The method
In the body, every cell communicates by a series of minute sequences of electrical current, which regulate proper functioning.
When disease, injury or stress is present, these currents are compromised, resulting in the impairment of natural healing processes.
Microcurrent therapy can kick-start this process, studies have shown, and accelerate healing by targeting processes involved with correct cellular functioning.
Ms Rockcliffe said that within weeks of using Arc4Health, she noticed she ‘wasn’t reaching for morphine first thing in the morning’.
She told MailOnline: ‘In addition, my energy levels were higher, my brain felt clear, and I felt positive about the future and my capabilities.
Microcurrent therapy
Microcurrent therapy has been used in Europe and the US over the last two decades and has repeatedly been refined.
Now the method is generally regarded as a safe, convenient, effective and drug-free solution to chronic pain, such as a backache, arthritis and sciatica.
The Arc4Health device has been developed from the successful use of microcurrent technology with injured horses.
And trials using it proved effective in helping horses rehabilitate and return to competition, and to normal, everyday exercise.
Arc Family, which owns the product, then carried out a five-year programme worth £150,000 to adapt the technology for humans.
It recently gained full regulatory approval for use on humans and is an EU certified Class IIa medical device, alongside hearing aids.
The Arc4Health, which can be strapped to ankles, arms and legs, is the first microcurrent therapy device to be portable.
The patient activates the treatment, allowing a bio-electrical current to flow to the area of pain.
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