Microcurrent for Turkey Neck, What It Reaches
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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A device reaches the platysma and can firm the band structure underneath, and it does nothing about the loose skin that usually bothers people more.
This article sets out what to check before you start, such as:
- the two separate problems behind one look
- which one responds to stimulation
- the two areas of the neck to avoid entirely
- why skin laxity needs heat or surgery
- the test that tells you which you have
and many more!
The honest split here is roughly a third muscle and two thirds skin, and we only reach the third.
Key Points:
The platysma is a broad thin sheet running from the jaw down across the collarbone, and when it slackens the vertical bands appear.
Loose skin is a separate problem caused by collagen and elastin loss, and nothing in this category heats tissue or removes skin.
Never work over the front of the throat or over the carotid arteries at the sides of the neck.
A neck lift removes skin and tightens the platysma surgically, which is the only complete correction.
Pinch the skin under your jaw and watch how fast it springs back, which tells you how much of your concern is skin rather than muscle.
Two problems, one name
The first is the platysma, a thin broad sheet of muscle that loosens with age, producing the vertical cords people notice when they turn their head.
The second is the skin itself, which loses collagen and elastin and stops springing back, so it hangs rather than following the shape underneath.
Most people past fifty have both, in different proportions, and the proportion decides what will help.
Sun exposure accelerates the skin side considerably, and the neck is the area people protect least.
The test that tells you which you have
Pinch the skin under your jaw gently, lift it, and let go.
Skin that snaps back quickly means elasticity is reasonably intact and the slackness you see is more muscle than skin.
Skin that returns slowly, or that stays tented for a moment, means laxity is the dominant problem and the muscle work underneath will show less.
Turn your head hard to one side and look for the vertical cords. Prominent cords mean a platysma component worth working on.
What stimulation reaches
Kavanagh and colleagues in 2012 reported an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness over twelve weeks, measured at the cheek, and the platysma was not the muscle measured.
So the neck result is an extension of the same principle rather than a measured finding, and we would rather be clear about that than let the cheek figure stand in for a neck claim.
In practice people report firmer definition along the jaw and under the chin before they report any change in the neck itself.
The effect builds across twelve weeks and reverses when you stop, as with everywhere else on the face.
The two areas to avoid
The front of the throat, over the thyroid gland and the windpipe, is excluded on every device in this category including ours.
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 away from the pulse point, and the upper chest, which is plenty of working ground.
Thyroid conditions, pacemakers and implanted devices all have their own exclusions, set out in our article on implants and the thyroid.
What addresses the skin side
Radiofrequency heats the dermis to trigger a remodeling response, and it is the non-surgical category with direct evidence for laxity. We do not make one and we say so in our comparison.
A neck lift removes excess skin and tightens the platysma under direct vision, which is the only complete answer and a surgical one.
Submental fullness, meaning fat under the chin, is addressed by injectable deoxycholic acid or by liposuction, and by no device at any price.
Daily sunscreen on the neck prevents more of this than anything on this page reverses, and almost nobody applies it there.
The routine that makes sense
Work upward from the collarbone toward the jaw on the toning passes, staying off the throat and the pulse points.
Keep the level below your cheek setting, since the platysma is a thin sheet rather than a dense muscle.
Use more conductive serum than you expect, because the neck dries a layer faster than the face.
Four or five sessions a week, ten minutes, three minutes per side at most, and judge the result at twelve weeks. More detail is in our neck and chest article.
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.