Which Face Muscles Does a Microcurrent Device Work
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 handheld device reliably reaches about eight superficial facial muscles, and roughly thirty others are either too deep, too small, or ones you should deliberately avoid.
This article sets out what to check before you start, such as:
- the eight muscles a device actually reaches
- the three you should deliberately leave alone
- why facial muscles behave differently from body muscles
- which muscle produces which visible result
- how to work each region in a ten minute session
and many more!
Knowing which muscle sits where turns a vague face massage into a session with a purpose.
Key Points:
Facial muscles are unusual because most of them attach to skin rather than to two bones, which is why toning them changes the surface rather than moving a joint.
The eight a device reaches are the frontalis, orbicularis oculi, zygomaticus major and minor, buccinator, masseter, depressor anguli oris, mentalis and platysma.
Three of those should be left alone or worked carefully, the masseter if you clench, the depressor anguli oris because it pulls the mouth corner down, and the corrugator between the brows.
The strongest published result in this field, an 18.6 percent increase in muscle thickness over twelve weeks, was measured at the cheek rather than at the jawline.
Deep muscles, the ones responsible for chewing power and deep expression, are out of reach of any device applied to the skin surface.
Why facial muscles are different
Most muscles in the body run from one bone to another across a joint, so contracting them moves a limb. Facial muscles mostly do not work that way.
They attach to skin, not bone
The majority of facial muscles have at least one attachment into the underside of the skin rather than into bone, which is why a contraction moves the surface of your face rather than a joint.
That anatomy is what makes facial expression possible, and it is also why toning these muscles changes how the skin above them sits.
It is the mechanical basis for the whole category, and it is a genuine difference from a bicep rather than a marketing analogy.
They are small, thin and superficial
Many facial muscles are only a few millimeters thick, far thinner than the muscles people train in a gym.
Thin and superficial is good news for a surface device, because the stimulation does not have far to travel before it reaches the muscle.
It also means the margin between too little and too much is narrower, which is why level control matters more here than anywhere else.
They fatigue and recover quickly
Small muscles fatigue faster and recover faster than large ones, which is why a facial session lasts ten minutes rather than an hour.
Maffiuletti and colleagues in 2018 reviewed the methodology of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and the principles that govern dose and recovery, and the same principles apply at this smaller scale.
Three minutes per side is the maximum on all our models for exactly this reason.
The eight muscles a device reaches
Frontalis, the forehead
A broad flat sheet across the forehead whose only job is to raise the eyebrows, and every contraction creases the skin horizontally.
This is the one muscle where more activity is the problem rather than the solution, which we set out in full in our article on forehead lines.
Pass over it gently at a low level for circulation rather than working it for tone.
Orbicularis oculi, around the eye
A ring of muscle circling the eye, closing the lid and tightening when you squint or smile.
Toning the ring firms the tissue around the socket, and a brief lid flutter means you have found the right level for the area.
Stay on the orbital bone and never on the lid itself, covered in our article on crow's feet.
Zygomaticus major and minor, the lift
These run from the cheekbone down to the corner of the mouth and are the muscles that lift when you smile.
They are the most useful target on the whole face, because better tone here raises the midface and improves how everything below it sits.
Kavanagh and colleagues in 2012 measured an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness over twelve weeks, and this is the region that measurement came from.
Buccinator, the deep cheek
A flat muscle in the cheek wall that pulls the cheek against the teeth, used in chewing and in blowing.
It sits deeper than the zygomaticus and is reached less reliably, but it contributes to the fullness of the mid cheek.
Work it as part of the general cheek pass rather than targeting it separately.
Masseter, the jaw angle
The thick chewing muscle at the angle of the jaw, and the strongest muscle in the body relative to its size.
If you clench or grind, this muscle is already overworked and building it widens the lower face, which is usually the opposite of the goal.
We set out why in our article on jaw clenching.
Depressor anguli oris, the downturn
Runs from the jaw up to the corner of the mouth and pulls that corner down, which is the expression of sadness.
Strengthening it deepens exactly the downward pull behind marionette lines, so this is a muscle to avoid rather than train.
Full reasoning is in our article on marionette lines.
Mentalis, the chin
A small paired muscle in the chin that raises and wrinkles the chin skin, producing the dimpled orange peel look when overactive.
Gentle work here is fine, and heavy work can emphasize the dimpling.
Keep the level low and keep moving rather than sitting on the spot.
Platysma, the neck
A broad thin sheet running from the jaw down across the collarbone, responsible for the vertical neck bands.
This is the most useful target below the face and the one that contributes most to jawline definition.
Avoid the front of the throat and the carotid area at the sides, covered in our article on turkey neck.
The muscles no device reaches
The deep muscles of mastication, including the medial and lateral pterygoids, sit behind and beneath the jaw and are inaccessible from the skin surface.
The levator palpebrae superioris, which lifts the upper eyelid, sits inside the orbit and is both unreachable and not something you want to stimulate.
The deep facial fat compartments and the bone beneath them are not muscle at all, and they are responsible for most of the volume change people notice with age.
That last point matters more than the anatomy. Toning the muscle layer does not address volume loss, which is why our hollow cheeks article and our nasolabial folds article both exist on this blog.
How the current actually reaches a muscle
Ward and colleagues in 2009 described the thresholds that separate sub-sensory stimulation, where you feel nothing, sensory stimulation, where you feel a tingle, and motor stimulation, where the muscle contracts.
Below the motor threshold nothing contracts, so the lowest settings on any device are doing something to tissue rather than training muscle.
Above it, the muscle fires involuntarily, which is what you can see in the mirror and what produces the adaptation over weeks.
On our devices, level 1 delivers nanocurrent and level 2 microcurrent, both below the motor threshold, with EMS from level 3 upward, which is where muscle work begins.
A ten minute session, muscle by muscle
Minute one and two, platysma. Start at the collarbone and work upward toward the jaw on one side, staying off the throat and the pulse point.
Minute three, jawline along the mandible, keeping off the masseter belly if you clench.
Minutes four and five, zygomaticus. Work from the corner of the mouth upward and outward toward the cheekbone and temple, which is the highest value region of the session.
Then switch sides and repeat, which brings you to ten minutes with three minutes per side at most on any single region.
Finish with a gentle pass around the orbital bone and across the forehead at a lower level, for circulation rather than tone. The full technique guide is in our step by step article.
What toning each region actually changes
Cheek work changes midface position, which is the most visible single result and the one most people notice first.
Jaw and neck work changes the definition of the jawline, which is the result people photograph.
Eye area work firms the tissue around the socket without touching the lines themselves.
Nothing on this list changes skin quality, volume or bone, which are three of the four layers that determine how a face ages. The fourth is the muscle layer and it is the one you are working.
Frequently asked questions
How many muscles are in the human face
Counts vary between about forty and fifty depending on how paired muscles are counted and which deep muscles are included. A handheld device reaches roughly eight of them.
Can you overwork facial muscles
Yes. Soreness the next day, a heavy or tired feeling in the face, or results that plateau and then reverse all indicate too much frequency or too high a level. Take three days off and return at a lower setting.
Which facial muscle makes the biggest difference to a jawline
The platysma in the neck contributes most to jawline definition, with the zygomaticus group above it improving how the midface sits on top of it.
Do facial exercises work the same muscles as a device
They work the same muscles, with less control over intensity and consistency. A device delivers the same contraction repeatably at a level you set, which is the practical difference.
Should you work the masseter with microcurrent
Not if you clench or grind, because the muscle is already overworked and building it widens the lower face. Work the platysma beneath the jawbone instead.
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.