WHAT'S BOTHERING YOU

An electrical muscle-stimulating facial is a facial treatment that includes electrical stimulation of the muscles in the face. You’ll also see the term ‘microcurrent facial’ used to describe this type of facial.

Passing a low-level electrical current through muscles makes them contract and tighten, which helps to coax face muscles that are becoming stretched and floppy with age into a neater, tighter shape. This treatment won’t make a permanent change to your looks, but it will give a temporary improvement.

Electrical muscle-stimulating facials are safe for most people, but not for everyone. These facials are not recommended for anyone who is pregnant or anyone who has any of the following conditions:

• Heart problems – in particular, anyone who wears a pacemaker should avoid electrical muscle-stimulating facials
• Metal plates in the skull
• Epilepsy
• Phlebitis (inflammation of the veins)
• Thrombosis (blood clotting)
• Cancer

Do electrical muscle-stimulating facials work?

Yes, electrical muscle-stimulating facials are effective at giving your face a quick boost. You will normally see an improvement in your face after a single treatment, but you will need a course of facials to sustain the improvement.

In an electrical muscle-stimulating facial, the practitioner uses two metal prongs to pass a low-voltage electrical current through different areas of your face. The current stimulates the production of collagen and elastin and also increases blood flow. As you know, collagen is the structural protein that keeps your skin strong, and elastin is the fibrous, stretchy protein that keeps the skin bouncy and pliable, so boosting the production of these proteins helps perk up your skin.

Electrical muscle-stimulating facials don’t hurt, but you’ll feel a tingling sensation as the electricity is passed through your skin.

As a facial treatment, electrical muscle stimulation is used to lift and tighten the muscles in the face and the neck. Electrical muscle stimulation also smooths the skin.

Electrical stimulation is also used for various medical purposes. On the face, electrical stimulation is used to treat the condition called Bell’s Palsy, in which one side of the face appears to droop because the muscles have become temporarily weakened or paralysed. On other parts of the body, electrical stimulation is used to treat pulled muscles and similar problems.

You can use the Find a Practitioner tool on this website to find a practitioner who gives electrical muscle-stimulating facials.

Here are examples of the cost of electrical muscle-stimulating facials:

• The CACI Synergy facial costs from £90 upward.
• The Face Gym Signature Electrical Workout costs £85.

An electrical muscle-stimulating facial usually takes 45 to 90 minutes.

The effects of an electrical muscle-stimulating facial last for several days. Interestingly, the length of time for which the effects last increases gradually if you repeat the treatment. For example, the effects of the first facial may last for three or four days; the effects of the second facial may last for four or five days; and so on.

Most people have no side effects from electrical muscle-stimulating facials. However, some people experience the following side effects starting about 90 minutes after the facial:

• Drowsiness
• Fatigue
• Nausea

These side effects typically pass within 24 hours.

Most providers of electrical muscle-stimulating facials recommend that you have a course of treatments at short intervals, such as a week, until you achieve the result you’re looking for. After that, providers suggest switching to one treatment per month to maintain your gains.

If you’ve ever made the mistake of touching a live electric socket – relax, it’s not like that. Here is how I found two of the leading electrical muscle-stimulating facials:

• Face Gym Signature Electrical Workout. The facial workout is divided into a ‘warm-up’, which is a nice firm massage, followed by a ‘cardio’ section where the therapist thrums her fingers across my jawline and up my cheeks at such speed and in such a continuous flow that all tension is forced out of my face. Then there’s even ‘strength training’ to pep up flagging face muscles. For the finale, my face is worked over with the FaceGym Pro device, which looks like some futuristic insect and whose metallic antennae deliver mild electrical charges to the face, to make my dozy face muscles contract and tighten. It tingles, but it’s not unpleasant. Afterwards, my face looks both more relaxed and more awake than before – my cheeks sit a bit higher, and my eyes seem more open. It’s everything that a great facial massage should deliver, and I could see the benefits of a more consistent skin colour (from improved blood flow and lymph drainage) and of relaxed face muscles for several days.
• CACI Synergy facial. This facial feels ‘electrical’ rather than pampering. It’s tingly, having electricity passed through my skin, but no worse than that. I had thought it might make my muscles spasm or twitch, but the treatment is much subtler than that. I get a metallic taste in my mouth, too, as the electricity is stirring up the metal in my fillings, which is strange but again, not too bad. After the prongs, the therapist uses a ‘wrinkle comb’ which helps to soften and relax the muscles that are making some frown lines set in. The facial finishes with light treatment, involving both red light, which helps calm inflammation in the skin and stimulate collagen production, and blue light, to bring down levels of bacteria on the skin. At 90 minutes, this is a long treatment – but it gives a terrific result. All those tiny microcurrents have achieved a noticeable effect, lifting and smoothing my face, and my skin looks impressively smooth and glowing, which must be from the combination of improved circulation and the light therapy.