Microcurrent for the Neck and Chest, What Changes Below the Jaw
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
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Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
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Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
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Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
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The platysma responds to stimulation and is worth working, the crepey texture on the chest does not respond to toning because there is no muscle there to tone.
This article sets out what to check before you start, such as:
- what the platysma is and why it matters
- the two areas on the neck to avoid entirely
- why the chest is a different problem
- the direction of travel that matters
- what will not change no matter what you do
and many more!
Sunscreen on your neck and chest will do more for both over ten years than any device will do in twelve weeks.
Key Points:
The platysma is a broad thin sheet of muscle running from the jaw down across the collarbone, and it is the muscle behind the vertical neck bands and much of the loose look under the jaw.
Avoid the front of the throat over the thyroid and the sides of the neck over the carotid arteries, which every manufacturer including us lists as areas to keep off.
The chest has no substantial muscle under the skin where the crepey texture appears, so there is nothing to tone and the problem is dermal.
Work upward and outward on the neck, finishing toward the collarbone on the drainage passes, and keep the level lower than on the face.
Sun damage is the dominant cause of neck and chest ageing, and no device reverses it.
What the platysma does
The platysma is a thin broad sheet rather than a thick muscle, running from the lower jaw down over the front of the neck and across the collarbone.
When it loosens with age, it produces the vertical bands people notice in the mirror and contributes to the loose look under the jaw that gets blamed on the jawline itself.
It responds to stimulation as other skeletal muscle does, and it is the single most useful target below the face.
Kavanagh and colleagues in 2012 measured cheek muscle thickness rather than platysma thickness, so the neck result is an extension of the principle rather than a measured finding, and we would rather be clear about that than imply the 18.6 percent figure applies here.
Where not to go on the neck
The front of the throat, over the thyroid gland and the larynx, is an area every manufacturer excludes, ours included.
The sides of the neck over the carotid arteries, roughly where you would take a pulse, are excluded for the same reason.
That leaves the area under the jaw, the broad sides of the neck away from the pulse, and the upper chest, which is plenty of ground to cover.
If a brand's instructions do not name these exclusions, treat the rest of its instructions with the same caution.
Why the chest is a different problem
The crepey, finely lined texture that appears on the upper chest is dermal: collagen and elastin loss driven overwhelmingly by decades of sun exposure through open necklines.
There is no substantial muscle under that skin to tone, which means the toning mechanism has nothing to act on.
What does help is what helps photodamage anywhere: daily sunscreen, a retinoid if your skin tolerates it on that area, and professional resurfacing for the texture.
A device's infusion and LED channels have something to offer on the chest, and the EMS channel does not, and selling the whole device for the chest would be dishonest.
Direction and technique
Work upward from the collarbone toward the jaw on the toning passes, because that is the direction you want the tissue to go.
Finish with downward passes toward the collarbone when you are working on fluid, because that is where lymph drains, which we cover in our drainage article.
Keep the level below what you use on the cheek, since the skin is thinner and the platysma is a thin sheet rather than a dense muscle.
Light pressure, and more conductive gel than you think you need, because the neck dries a layer faster than the face does.
What will not change
Horizontal neck lines that are etched into the skin, sometimes called necklace lines, are dermal creases and toning the muscle underneath does not fill them.
Loose skin that has lost its recoil needs heat or surgery, and we do not heat tissue, as we say in our comparison with radiofrequency.
Submental fullness, the fat under the chin, is not addressed by any device in this category at any price.
Sun damage on the chest is the clearest example of prevention beating correction anywhere on the body.
The honest priority order
Sunscreen on your neck and chest every day, which almost nobody does and which matters more than everything else on this page combined.
A retinoid, introduced slowly, for the chest texture.
Platysma work with the device, four to five sessions a week, ten minutes with three minutes per side at most, expecting results at twelve weeks.
A consultation if the loose skin is what bothers you most, because that is the one thing this will not fix. The full picture of what each technology does is in our category overview.
This article sits inside our full map of the category, where we set out all 33 devices we track, what each one carries and what each brand publishes: Nine Technologies on One Dial, What the Rest of the Market Actually Carries.