Can Microcurrent Fix Hollow Cheeks
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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No, hollow cheeks are caused by fat pad shrinkage and bone change, and building the muscle underneath can emphasize the hollow rather than fill it.
This article sets out what to check before you start, such as:
- what creates a hollow cheek
- why definition and fullness pull in opposite directions
- the one situation where a device helps here
- what restores volume properly
- how to tell hollow from sagging
and many more!
This is the clearest case in the category where our product is the wrong answer, and we would rather say so than sell it.
Key Points:
The cheek has several distinct fat pads, and the deep medial pad is the one whose loss produces the hollow beneath the cheekbone.
Bone remodeling with age reduces the projection of the midface, so the scaffolding under the soft tissue retreats as well.
Muscle toning increases definition, and definition is a sharper distinction between full and hollow areas, which is the opposite of what you want here.
Dermal filler or fat transfer restores the volume, placed in the cheek rather than in the hollow itself.
Rapid weight loss and some medications accelerate the same change, which is covered separately.
What creates a hollow cheek
The cheek is not one mass of fat but several compartments, each with its own borders and its own rate of change.
The deep medial fat pad sits beneath the cheekbone and provides the projection that reads as youthful fullness, and it shrinks earlier than the superficial pads above it.
At the same time the bone underneath remodels, with the maxilla losing projection, so the support beneath the soft tissue retreats.
The combination produces a shadow under the cheekbone that no amount of muscle work fills, because the missing material is fat and bone rather than muscle.
Why toning can make it worse
Kavanagh and colleagues in 2012 reported an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness over twelve weeks, which is a genuine gain and a gain in a thin layer.
The visible result of better muscle tone is sharper definition, meaning the transitions across the face become more distinct.
If your face is full, sharper definition reads as sculpted. If your face is hollow, sharper definition reads as gaunt.
That is why people with naturally lean faces sometimes report that a toning routine made them look more tired rather than less, and they are describing something real.
The one situation where it helps
If your hollowness is mild and your main complaint is that the lower face has lost definition at the same time, a device improves the jaw while leaving the hollow unchanged.
The net effect in that case can be positive, because a defined jaw changes the overall balance of the face.
That is a different claim from filling the hollow, and it only holds when the hollowing is mild.
If the hollow is the first thing you notice in the mirror, skip the device for this purpose.
Hollow or sagging, which do you have
Lie on your back and look in a handheld mirror. Gravity pulls tissue backward, so sagging improves and hollowing looks the same or worse.
Smile widely. A hollow area fills slightly when the cheek muscle contracts, and sagging tissue bunches rather than filling.
Look at a photograph from ten years ago in similar lighting. Lost volume shows as a change in shape, while sagging shows as a change in position.
The two need opposite treatments, which is why getting this right before you spend anything matters.
What actually restores volume
Dermal filler placed in the deep cheek, not in the hollow itself, which rebuilds the projection and lets the tissue above it sit correctly.
Fat transfer achieves the same with your own tissue, as a surgical procedure with a longer recovery and more permanence.
Both are consultations that cost little and will tell you in minutes what months of device use will not.
Skin quality treatments, including retinoids and resurfacing, improve the surface without changing the shape.
If weight loss caused it
Rapid loss shrinks the facial fat pads before most people notice changes elsewhere, and the hollow that follows is the same hollow described above.
Medications that drive rapid loss produce the same pattern, and the rate rather than the drug is what matters.
We cover that separately in our article on the face after weight loss.
If your weight is still changing, wait before spending on either a device or filler, because the face will keep changing underneath whatever you do. The full technology map 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.