Can Microcurrent Help TMJ or Jaw Clenching
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, Fisioterapeuta, Doctor en Terapia Física
Doctorado en Terapia Física (DPT), Fisioterapeuta Licenciado (PT)
Read bio
El Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile es Doctor en Terapia Física y CEO y Fundador de Xtreem Pulse LLC. Obtuvo su Doctorado en Terapia Física en Daemen College y aporta más de dos décadas de experiencia clínica y empresarial en terapia física pediátrica, terapia craneosacral e innovación en dispositivos médicos. Su profundo conocimiento de la anatomía humana, la fisiología muscular y la tecnología terapéutica ofrece un enfoque invaluable respaldado por la ciencia para la rejuvenecimiento facial y soluciones antienvejecimiento.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Director Médico, Clínica de Medicina Regenerativa y Antienvejecimiento | Médico Certificado por la Junta | Escuela de Medicina de Dartmouth
Read bio
La Dra. Bertica M. Rubio es una médica certificada y Directora Médica de la Clínica de Medicina Regenerativa y Antienvejecimiento en Redlands, California. Obtuvo su licenciatura en Ciencias en la Universidad Loyola Marymount y su título de Doctora en Medicina en la Escuela de Medicina de Dartmouth (Geisel School of Medicine). Completó su residencia en pediatría en el Centro Médico UC Irvine.
Con décadas de experiencia clínica, la Dra. Rubio se especializa en medicina para el manejo de la edad, medicina regenerativa, cicatrización de heridas y terapias con factores de crecimiento. Su práctica integra la ciencia médica basada en evidencia con tratamientos estéticos y regenerativos avanzados, ayudando a los pacientes a alcanzar una salud óptima y vitalidad juvenil.
La Dra. Rubio siente pasión por educar a los pacientes sobre la ciencia detrás del cuidado de la piel, el rejuvenecimiento facial y las tecnologías no invasivas como EMS (Estimulación Eléctrica Muscular) para el tonificado facial. Sus artículos para PureLift LAB combinan un conocimiento médico riguroso con orientación práctica para lograr resultados reales y duraderos.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Otorrinolaringólogo y cirujano de cabeza y cuello certificado | Miembro, Colegio Americano de Cirujanos | Profesor clínico asistente, Escuela de Medicina Mount Sinai
Read bio
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS, es un otorrinolaringólogo certificado por la junta y cirujano de cabeza y cuello en ENT and Allergy Associates en West Nyack, NY. Obtuvo su título de médico en la Facultad de Médicos y Cirujanos de la Universidad de Columbia, completó su residencia en Otorrinolaringología en el Centro Médico de la Universidad de Nueva York y es profesor clínico asistente en la Escuela de Medicina Mount Sinai. Es miembro de la American College of Surgeons y de la American Academy of Otolaryngology.
La perspectiva quirúrgica de cabeza y cuello del Dr. Grinberg ofrece a los lectores de PureLift LAB una visión clínica más amplia, conectando la práctica de EMS en casa con la anatomía médica subyacente con el mismo rigor científico que aplicamos a cada especificación del dispositivo.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Cátedra de Angiología, Hochschule Médica de Brandeburgo | Director de Clínica, Clínica Universitaria de Angiología, Hospital Universitario de Brandeburgo | Ex Consultor Senior, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlín
Read bio
El Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann es Catedrático de Angiología en la Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane (MHB) y Director Clínico de la Clínica Universitaria de Angiología en el Hospital Universitario de Brandeburgo. Completó su formación médica en la Universidad de Hamburgo, fue becario de la Sociedad Max-Planck en el Instituto Max-Planck de Investigación Cardiaca y Pulmonar, y ocupó cargos de consultor senior en la Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Campus Virchow antes de ser nombrado Catedrático en la MHB en 2016.
El Prof. Buschmann es una de las principales autoridades europeas en arteriogénesis — el crecimiento y remodelación de los vasos sanguíneos impulsados por el flujo — con más de 150 publicaciones revisadas por pares y varias patentes en EE. UU. y la UE sobre dispositivos que estimulan el crecimiento de vasos colaterales mediante terapia controlada de tasa de cizalladura. Su investigación conecta la estimulación mecánica y eléctrica con la adaptación vascular, la microcirculación y la perfusión tisular.
Las contribuciones del Prof. Buschmann aportan a los lectores de PureLift LAB una perspectiva de biología vascular que complementa nuestra autoría clínica, de fisioterapia y de anatomía quirúrgica existente — explicando cómo la estimulación EMS activa no solo los músculos faciales sino también la microcirculación que los abastece, y por qué la administración inteligente es tan importante a nivel del flujo sanguíneo como en la contracción muscular.
Compartir
No facial toning device is a treatment for temporomandibular disorder, and the muscle most involved in clenching is one you should not be trying to strengthen.
This article sets out what to check before you start, such as:
- what TMD actually is and who treats it
- why the masseter is the wrong muscle to build
- what facial devices are and are not cleared for
- what does help with jaw tension
- how to use a facial device safely if you clench
and many more!
If your jaw hurts, clicks or locks, the person to see is a dentist or a specialist rather than a device brand.
Key Points:
Temporomandibular disorder is a clinical condition involving the joint, the muscles or both, and it is diagnosed and treated by dentists and specialists.
Facial devices are cleared for cosmetic facial stimulation, not for pain or joint conditions, and no brand should be selling one as a TMD treatment.
The masseter is usually overworked in people who clench, so strengthening it is the opposite of what is wanted.
Percussion massage, which we do not make, is the device category with the most plausible claim on muscular jaw tension.
Persistent jaw pain, clicking, locking or headaches on waking warrant a professional assessment.
What TMD actually is
Temporomandibular disorder covers a family of problems involving the jaw joint, the muscles that move it, or both, with symptoms ranging from aching and clicking to limited opening and headaches.
Causes are usually multiple, and clenching or grinding, often at night, is among the most common contributors.
It is diagnosed and managed by dentists, oral medicine specialists, maxillofacial surgeons and physiotherapists who work with the jaw.
None of those people is a beauty brand, and the distance between a cosmetic facial device and a joint disorder is larger than the shared location suggests.
Why building the masseter is the wrong goal
The masseter is the thick muscle at the angle of the jaw used for chewing, and it is the muscle most implicated in clenching.
In someone who clenches, that muscle is already working far more than it should, often through the night.
Applying stimulation intended to build muscle to a muscle that is chronically overworked is the wrong direction of travel, and it can also widen the lower face, which is usually the opposite of the cosmetic goal.
This is why we are unenthusiastic about jaw-training gadgets that deliberately load the masseter, a point we make in our muscle chart.
What these devices are cleared for
Facial microcurrent and EMS devices are cleared under indications that read, in substance, facial stimulation for over-the-counter cosmetic use.
That sentence is the whole of what the clearance covers. Nothing in it addresses pain, joint function or muscle disorders.
So a brand marketing a facial toning device as a TMJ treatment is making a claim outside its clearance, and you should treat everything else on that page with the same suspicion.
Ours are cleared under K190269, K230506, K221443 and K243587, on the same cosmetic basis, and we make no pain claim of any kind.
What does help
Professional assessment first, because a splint, a bite adjustment or physiotherapy addresses causes that no home device touches.
Percussion massage has the most plausible claim among consumer devices for muscular jaw tension specifically, and Therabody's TheraFace PRO is the obvious example. We do not make a percussion device and have no stake in recommending one.
Heat, gentle stretching and stress management are all part of standard advice, and they are boring for the same reason they are recommended.
Botulinum toxin into the masseter is a recognised medical approach for severe clenching, administered by clinicians rather than at home.
Using a facial device if you clench
If you clench and you want a facial device for cosmetic reasons, that is a perfectly reasonable purchase, provided you are clear it is not treating the clenching.
Work the jawline along the platysma beneath the jawbone rather than over the belly of the masseter.
Keep the level lower over the jaw angle than elsewhere, because an already tight muscle responds to stimulation differently.
If a session leaves your jaw aching or brings on a headache, stop, and read our article on headaches after a session.
When to get help rather than a device
Jaw pain that wakes you, clicking that is new, any locking or catching of the jaw, or headaches that are worst on waking.
Pain that is spreading, or any change in how your teeth meet.
Any of those warrants a dentist rather than a purchase, and the purchase will still be there afterwards.
We would rather lose the sale than have someone treat a joint disorder with a cosmetic device.
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.