Microcurrent Facial Diagram, Where to Move the Probe and Why
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, kinésithérapeute, DPT
Doctorat en physiothérapie (DPT), physiothérapeute agréé (PT)
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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Every pass should follow the direction the muscle underneath actually runs, which on most of the face means starting near the centre and working upward and outward.
This article walks through the routine step by step, such as:
- the four zones and the order to work them in
- which muscle each pass is following
- why upward and outward is the rule, and the exception to it
- where people habitually work in the wrong direction
- how long to spend in each zone
and many more!
Read this once with a mirror and you will not need a diagram again.
Key Points:
Jawline passes follow the platysma and the depressor muscles, running from the chin outward toward the ear.
Mid-face passes follow the zygomaticus muscles, running from beside the nose up toward the cheekbone and temple.
Forehead passes follow the frontalis, which runs vertically, so the pass runs from the brow upward.
Around the eye the orbicularis oculi is a ring, so work on the bone around it rather than sweeping across the lid.
Three minutes per side in total, weighted toward wherever your own face has changed most.
Why direction matters at all
A facial muscle has a direction of pull, running from where it anchors on bone to where it inserts into skin or another muscle. Working along that line asks the muscle to do what it is built to do, while working across it mostly moves skin about.
This is also why the same number of minutes produces different results for two people. Someone following the muscle is training it; someone sweeping horizontally is giving themselves a pleasant massage.
The general rule on the face is upward and outward, because most of the muscles that hold the mid-face and jaw run in roughly that direction, and because the change people want to reverse is downward.
Zone one, the jawline
Start with the probe near the chin, sitting just under the jawbone rather than on it, and move slowly out toward the angle of the jaw below the ear.
You are following the platysma, the broad sheet running from the jaw down into the neck, along with the depressor muscles that pull the corner of the mouth downward. Both contribute to the softening that people notice first.
Lift off at the ear and return to the chin to start again, rather than dragging back along the same line. The return stroke does nothing and doubles the friction.
This zone usually deserves more than its share of your three minutes, because it is where a changing face shows first.
Zone two, the mid-face
Place the probe beside the nostril and move up and out toward the top of the cheekbone, finishing near the temple.
That line follows the zygomaticus major and minor, which run from the cheekbone down to the corner of the mouth and are the muscles that lift when you smile. Kavanagh and colleagues measured cheek muscle thickness in this region specifically, finding an 18.6 percent increase across twelve weeks of motor-level stimulation.
Keep the passes overlapping rather than spaced out, and resist the temptation to sweep straight across the cheek toward the ear, which crosses the muscles rather than following them.
Zone three, the forehead
The frontalis runs vertically, from the brow up to the hairline, which makes this the simplest zone to get right: start at the brow and move straight up.
Work in short overlapping passes across the width of the forehead rather than in one wide sweep, and keep the probe moving rather than holding it in one spot.
If you have had botulinum toxin in this area, follow your injector's timing before working over it, which we cover in combining the two.
Zone four, around the eye
The orbicularis oculi is a ring of muscle around the eye socket rather than a strap, which is why sweeping across it in one direction makes little sense.
Work on the bone around the orbit rather than on the lid itself: along the brow bone above, and along the upper edge of the cheekbone below, at the lowest level you use anywhere on the face.
Okuda and colleagues used CT imaging to measure change in the orbital muscle, which is unusually direct evidence for an area most brands describe vaguely.
A brief eyelid flutter as you pass is ordinary. A flutter that continues after you have moved on means the level is too high for this zone.
Where people go wrong
Sweeping horizontally across the cheek, which crosses every muscle in the mid-face rather than following one.
Working downward along the jaw from ear to chin, which is the direction gravity is already taking the face.
Moving too fast. A pass that takes two seconds delivers far less to any given point than one that takes six.
Spreading the three minutes evenly across the whole side out of a sense of fairness, rather than spending it where the face has changed.
Pressing harder to compensate for a drying serum layer, which increases friction without increasing delivered current.
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.