Microcurrent Facial Chart, the Muscles You Are Actually Working
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, kinésithérapeute, DPT
Doctorat en physiothérapie (DPT), physiothérapeute agréé (PT)
Read bio
Le Dr Andrew Conrad Barile est docteur en physiothérapie et PDG ainsi que fondateur de Xtreem Pulse LLC. Il a obtenu son doctorat en physiothérapie à Daemen College et possède plus de vingt ans d'expérience clinique et entrepreneuriale en physiothérapie pédiatrique, thérapie craniosacrale et innovation en dispositifs médicaux. Sa profonde connaissance de l'anatomie humaine, de la physiologie musculaire et des technologies thérapeutiques offre une approche scientifique précieuse pour le rajeunissement du visage et les solutions anti-âge.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Directeur Médical, Clinique de Médecine Régénérative Anti-âge | Médecin Certifié par le Conseil | École de Médecine de Dartmouth
Read bio
Le Dr Bertica M. Rubio est une médecin certifiée et directrice médicale de la clinique de médecine régénérative anti-âge à Redlands, en Californie. Elle a obtenu son Bachelor of Science à l'Université Loyola Marymount et son Doctorat en médecine à la Dartmouth Medical School (Geisel School of Medicine). Elle a effectué sa résidence en pédiatrie au UC Irvine Medical Center.
Forte de plusieurs décennies d'expérience clinique, le Dr Rubio est spécialisée en médecine de gestion du vieillissement, médecine régénérative, cicatrisation des plaies et thérapies par facteurs de croissance. Sa pratique intègre la science médicale fondée sur des preuves avec des traitements esthétiques et régénératifs avancés, aidant les patients à atteindre une santé optimale et une vitalité juvénile.
Le Dr Rubio est passionnée par l'éducation des patients sur la science derrière les soins de la peau, le rajeunissement du visage et les technologies non invasives comme l'EMS (stimulation électrique musculaire) pour le tonus facial. Ses articles pour PureLift LAB allient connaissances médicales rigoureuses et conseils pratiques pour obtenir des résultats réels et durables.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Otolaryngologiste et chirurgien de la tête et du cou certifié par le conseil | Membre, American College of Surgeons | Professeur clinique adjoint, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Read bio
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS, est un oto-rhino-laryngologiste certifié par le conseil et chirurgien de la tête et du cou chez ENT and Allergy Associates à West Nyack, NY. Il a obtenu son diplôme de médecine au Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, a effectué sa résidence en oto-rhino-laryngologie au New York University Medical Center, et est professeur clinique adjoint à la Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Il est membre de l'American College of Surgeons et de l'American Academy of Otolaryngology.
La perspective chirurgicale de la tête et du cou du Dr Grinberg offre aux lecteurs de PureLift LAB une vision clinique élargie — reliant la pratique EMS à domicile à l'anatomie médicale sous-jacente avec la même rigueur scientifique que celle que nous appliquons à chaque spécification d'appareil.
Prof. Dr med Ivo Buschmann
Président d'Angiologie, Hochschule Medizinische Brandenburg | Directeur de clinique, Clinique universitaire d'angiologie, Hôpital universitaire de Brandebourg | Ancien consultant principal, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Read bio
Le Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann est titulaire de la chaire d'angiologie à la Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane (MHB) et directeur de la clinique universitaire d'angiologie à l'hôpital universitaire de Brandebourg. Il a effectué sa formation médicale à l'Université de Hambourg, a été boursier de la Société Max-Planck à l'Institut Max-Planck de recherche sur le cœur et les poumons, et a occupé des postes de consultant principal à la Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Campus Virchow avant d'être nommé titulaire de la chaire à la MHB en 2016.
Le Prof. Buschmann est l'une des principales autorités européennes en arteriogenèse — la croissance et le remodelage des vaisseaux sanguins induits par le flux — avec plus de 150 publications évaluées par des pairs et plusieurs brevets américains et européens sur des dispositifs stimulant la croissance des vaisseaux collatéraux par une thérapie contrôlée du taux de cisaillement. Ses recherches relient la stimulation mécanique et électrique à l'adaptation vasculaire, à la microcirculation et à la perfusion tissulaire.
Les contributions du Prof. Buschmann apportent aux lecteurs de PureLift LAB une perspective en biologie vasculaire qui complète notre expertise clinique, en physiothérapie et en anatomie chirurgicale — expliquant comment la stimulation EMS engage non seulement les muscles faciaux mais aussi la microcirculation qui les alimente, et pourquoi une administration intelligente est aussi importante au niveau du flux sanguin qu'à celui de la contraction musculaire.
Partager
Eight muscles account for most of what people mean by facial contour, and each one shows its weakening in a specific and recognisable way.
This article explains what is actually happening, such as:
- the eight muscles worth knowing by name
- what each one does, and how it looks when it weakens
- which pass in a routine works which muscle
- why the face is different from the rest of the body
- the muscles no device should be trying to strengthen
and many more!
You do not need anatomy to use a device, and it does turn a vague routine into a targeted one.
Key Points:
Frontalis raises the brow, and its weakening shows as a heavier, lower brow line rather than as forehead lines.
Zygomaticus major and minor lift the corner of the mouth and support the cheek, and their weakening reads as a flattened mid-face.
Orbicularis oculi rings the eye and contributes to crepiness and hooding when it loses tone.
Platysma runs from the jaw into the neck, and its slackening is the single largest contributor to a softened jawline.
Masseter and temporalis are chewing muscles that are usually overworked rather than weak, and no facial routine should be trying to build them.
Why facial muscle behaves differently
Most muscles in the body attach bone to bone, so they move a joint. Many facial muscles attach bone to skin, which is why they move your face rather than your skeleton and why their tone shows directly on the surface.
That connection is the whole reason this category exists. When a muscle attached to skin loses bulk and tone, the skin it supports sits differently, and the change reads as contour rather than as texture.
It is also why facial muscle responds to stimulation at all. Kavanagh and colleagues, whose twelve-week trial used ultrasound to measure an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness in 108 women over twelve weeks, which is a change in the muscle rather than in the skin above it.
The four that matter most
Frontalis. A broad vertical sheet across the forehead that raises the brow. When it weakens the brow sits lower and the upper lid looks heavier, which people usually blame on the eyelid rather than on the forehead.
Zygomaticus major and minor. Running from the cheekbone down to the corner of the mouth, these lift when you smile and support the fullness of the mid-face. Their decline reads as flatness through the cheek and a deepening line from nose to mouth.
Orbicularis oculi. The ring of muscle around the eye socket, responsible for closing the eye. Loss of tone here contributes to crepiness and to the general softening of the eye area.
Platysma. A thin broad sheet from the jaw down across the front of the neck. It is the largest single contributor to what people call a lost jawline, and it is the reason jaw work tends to show results first.
The supporting cast
Depressor anguli oris, which pulls the corner of the mouth down. Overactivity here contributes to a permanently downturned mouth, so it is a muscle to work thoughtfully rather than aggressively.
Mentalis, at the point of the chin, which contributes to chin dimpling when it is overactive.
Buccinator, in the cheek, which holds the cheek against the teeth and contributes to mid-face support.
Risorius, which draws the mouth corner outward and works alongside the zygomaticus muscles in the lower cheek.
The two you should leave alone
Masseter, the thick muscle at the angle of the jaw used for chewing, and temporalis, the fan-shaped muscle at the temple.
Neither of these weakens in the way the muscles above do. In most people they are overworked rather than under-worked, particularly in anyone who clenches or grinds, and building them widens the lower face rather than defining it.
This is the reason we are unenthusiastic about jaw-training gadgets that load the masseter, and it is worth knowing before you buy one.
If you clench, the useful work near the jaw is relaxation rather than strengthening, and that is a conversation for a dentist rather than for a device brand.
Matching muscles to passes
The jaw pass, running from chin to ear beneath the jawbone, works the platysma and the depressors.
The mid-face pass, from beside the nose up toward the cheekbone, works the zygomaticus pair and the upper fibres of the buccinator.
The forehead pass, running from brow to hairline, works the frontalis along the direction it runs.
The orbital passes, on the bone above and below the eye, address the orbicularis oculi without working on the lid itself.
Our diagram article sets out the directions in detail.
What has to be true for any of it to work
The current has to reach the muscle. Ward and colleagues described the three thresholds separating sub-sensory, sensory and motor current, and only the third produces a contraction.
Most consumer microcurrent devices publish outputs in the hundreds of microamps and sit below that threshold by design, which their manufacturers generally acknowledge.
PureLift publishes 7 mA at 500 ohms on Face and Pro, 7.7 mA on Pro Edition and 9 mA on Pro Plus and GLOW, with levels 1 and 2 in the calm bands and the motor work above.
If you want to know where your own device sits, the published figures for 33 devices are in one table.
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.