Drainage Massage Technique, Stroke by Stroke
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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Two mistakes account for almost every ineffective drainage routine: pressing too hard, and starting at the face instead of at the neck.
This article covers what actually decides the answer, such as:
- The pressure
- Clear the exit first
- The face, in order
- Why the direction is never downward along the jaw
- Doing it with a device
and many more!
This is the technique itself, stroke by stroke, whether you are using your hands or a device.
Key Points:
The pressure should be roughly what it takes to move the skin without pressing into what is underneath.
Clear the neck first, then work the face outward toward the ear and down.
Slow and repeated beats fast and firm; the system moves at its own pace.
Always finish at the collarbone, which is where the route ends.
Never drag downward along the jawline itself.
The pressure
Lighter than feels useful. The lymph vessels in the face sit close to the surface, and pressing firmly compresses them shut, so a heavy hand achieves the opposite of the intention.
The test is whether the skin moves with your fingers without you feeling the bone or muscle underneath. If you can feel structure, you are past where the vessels are.
Using a device, the same applies: the probe should glide rather than press, and the current is doing a job that pressure cannot do anyway.
Clear the exit first
This is the step almost everyone skips. The drainage route ends near the collarbone, and pushing fluid from the face toward a route that is still congested does not achieve much.
Start with a few slow strokes down the sides of the neck, from just below the ear toward the collarbone.
Then a few above the collarbone itself, working inward. Repeat five or six times before touching the face at all.
The face, in order
Jaw first. From the centre of the chin, along the jawline, out toward the ear. Five to eight repetitions each side, slowly.
Then the cheek. From beside the nose, outward across the cheek toward the ear, following the same destination.
Then the area under the eye, and this is where pressure matters most because the skin there is thinnest. Very light, from the inner corner outward toward the temple, using the pad of the ring finger if you are working by hand.
Then the forehead. From the centre outward toward the temples on each side.
Then down. From the temples, in front of the ear, down the side of the neck to the collarbone. Everything you have moved needs the exit.
Why the direction is never downward along the jaw
Dragging down the jawline moves fluid away from the drainage route rather than toward it, and it is also the wrong direction for the tissue.
It is the instinctive stroke because it feels like you are pulling something taut, and it is wrong for drainage and wrong for muscle work at the same time, which is unusual in a technique question.
Toward the ear, then down. That single rule covers the whole routine.
Doing it with a device
The strokes are identical; the probe replaces the fingers and the glide replaces the pressure.
Use a low level for the drainage pass. On PureLift, levels 1 and 2 are nanocurrent and microcurrent and do not contract anything, which is the right band for this.
If you are also doing muscle work, drain first at the low level, do the muscle work at your working level, then finish with the neck strokes to clear what the contractions moved.
Keep the skin damp with a water-based serum. Three minutes per side is the maximum on any PureLift model, and the ten minute session ends on its own.
What to expect from it
A visible difference within the session, largest in the morning when overnight fluid is at its peak, and gone by tomorrow because tonight you will lie down again.
That is maintenance rather than progress, and it is worth doing for what it is. The cumulative work a device does is muscle tone, on a scale of months.
When to leave it alone
Swelling on one side only, or puffiness that does not settle through the day, is worth mentioning to a doctor rather than massaging.
Do not work over broken skin, an active cold sore, or anything inflamed, and skip the routine entirely if you have a condition affecting lymph nodes unless a clinician has said otherwise.
For the mechanism behind the fluid, see the science behind facial depuffing.
Two related questions come up often alongside this one, and we have answered both in full: the step by step method, and where to move the probe.