Facelift: Info, Prices, Photos, Reviews, Q&A

The electric stimulation machines might help to improve muscle tones, but facial laxity is due to laxity of SMAS, which is not typical muscle that would respond to electrical stimulation.

They will never be a substitute for a good facelift. They will remove excess skin. (Kevin Sadati, DO, Orange County Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Stimulation Machines WILL NOT help Firm or Lift Facial Muscles

To date there is still no technology that will firm facial muscles. These machines come and go like the tide of the ocean. I feel bad for the patients that spend several thousand dollars on these “snake oil” non-invasive procedures, only to eventually end up in the office asking for a traditional facelift.

Some things are tried and true, simply because they work, and in this case it is surgery. Maybe someday the technology will be there, but don’t be someone else’s guinea pig. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

These machines usually end up in a closet gathering dust, or are used to hold a door open (Burke Robinson, MD, FACS, Atlanta Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Stimulation Machines Help Firm Facial Muscles

The benefit of using electrical stimulation machines to firm facial muscles are greatly debated. Consult in person with a treating physician that you trust as he or she will know you and your expectations. (Kris M. Reddy, MD, FACS, West Palm Beach Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation for face

There is not scientific evidence that “face firming machines” will help tighten facial muscles. I would highly recommend that you seek a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon to get an expert opinion as to what procedure(s) would be best for you. (Michael H. Wojtanowski, MD, Cleveland Plastic Surgeon)

Facelift vs. electrical stimulation of facial muscles

There is no conclusive scientific data yet, confirming electrical stimulation helps to firm up the facial muscles. In fact, none of the “non surgical” modalities can achieve what a surgical facelift can in terms of structural change (tightening the SMAS, excision of loose skin, getting rid of the folds & jowls), the final facial rejuvenation (when combined with other procedures such as bleeps & fat transfers) & the longevity of outcome. (Sameer Karkhanis, MS, DNB, India Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation for facial muscle firming

Unfortunately, electrical stimulus machines to activate the facial muscles and strengthen them have not benefited from strong evidence that people actually look better after using them. We do have good, objective evidence on facelifting that we can improve or eradicate facial features that are associated with aging–jowls, nasolabial folds, flattening of the cheeks, skin excess. (Alyson Wells, MD, FACS, Baltimore Plastic Surgeon)

Facial firming machines

Go ahead and try it since you are already committed. However, more facial expressions just create more lines. That is why we use Botox the opposite effect of what you are doing. (Susan Kaweski, MD, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)

In my book, this doesn’t make sense, many of the lines we see are softened by using botox which relaxes muscles. there is certainly no study that shows improvement in facial appearance through muscle stimulation. (Michael E. Kelly, MD, Miami Plastic Surgeon)

We know that this won’t work for you. If you watch someone with Parkinson’s disease they have reduction in their wrinkles because they have less movement but they don’t sag because they don’t lose tone.

There are plenty of examples of how facial expression increases the lines on the face rather than decreasing them. Facial palsy patients might have their face sag because they have no tone in their muscles of facial expression but they also lose all their “lines”.

They show us that muscle activity induces lines. (Dan Kennedy, MBBS, FRACS (plast), Brisbane Plastic Surgeon)

If you think about muscle activity improving facial tone, given the amount we move our faces based on the daily activities of just talking and eating, we would all have perfect tone! (Louis P. Bucky, MD, Philadelphia Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation can not lift a face. The skin, subcutaneous fatty tissue and muscles of the face sag with aging. No amount of electrical stimulation can reverse this. Elcetrical stimulation will just make your facial creases deeper.

Surgery can reverse this and I have seen some nice improvement with Ultherapy (focused ultrasound). (Jonathan Pontell, MD, FACS, Philadelphia Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical Stimulation for Facelift

Electrical stimulators increase tone in the facial muscles temporarily. They are usually sold at treatment packages by aestheticians. Most plastic surgeons do not offer these types of treatments, well, because they don’t work other than temporarily at best.

So if you have a social function to go to Saturday and want to see if that will spruce you up, you can give it a try. But if you really want to rejuvenate your face, fillers, facelifts, laser peels are much more effective. (Gilbert Lee, MD, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)

I have seen good results with products like NuFace, but if you are really in need of a facelift, there is no amount of microcurrent that can get you those results. (Sheila S. Nazarian, MD, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)

You may see firming, but it will not rival the results of a facelift.

To an extent, these machines can prove effective however the effect is temporary. In addition, these results will not be on a par with those of a facelift and should not be considered as an alternative. (Yannis Alexandrides, MD, London Plastic Surgeon)

electrical stimulation can help maintain some muscle activity and strength, but not really increase muscle strength. Therefore, its use is somewhat limited. (Sandy Sule, MD, Dallas Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Unfortunately there is no known proven benefit to electrically stimulate facial muscles in order to firm up the facial muscles. It will certainly have no direct effect on the quality and character of the overlying skin and fat which with age and the force of gravity will droop and sag with time.

This latter scenario is best corrected with a facelift. There are a lot of gimmicks in the cosmetic industry unfortunately. But its best to always keep in mind the maxim, “if if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. (Michael J. Yoo, MD, Irvine Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Stimulation Machines

In my experience electric stimulation machines can give some patients a very temporary effect of skin tightening. It is, in my opinion, more of a waste of money in the long term because the results (if any) are usually for just the day.

It is better to safe your money on these types of procedures for a more traditional facelift. If you are interested in non surgical skin tightening/lifting procedures I would look into Ulthera. to you. (Milind K. Ambe, MD, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical Stimulation Does Not take the place of a face lift

Firming facial muscles by electric stimulation or other means will not help your skin and therefore will not result in rejuvenation. You age in three ways: lax drooping skin and underlying muscles, skin surface aging and loss of volume – for example in your cheeks.

Each is addressed separately. For example when considering your lower face and neck: An exam is always needed to determine how the specific causes of your undesired neck and facial appearance. In particular there are 4 main factors that need to be evaluated:

1. the amount of redundant skin, including excess fat in your jowls and below the chin, (requires neck or lower facelift (mini – lift)
2. banding of your neck mid-line neck muscles (platysmal bands) – requires platysmal plication (neck tightening)
3.elasticity of your skin. – requires laser or peels, thermage, ultherapy
4. a weak chin (supports the skin structure) – requires chin augmentation

Each of these components are dealt with in a different manner. For example, excess fat requires direct removal or liposuction (more common), widely spread playtsmal bands are brought together (neck tightening), and excess skin is removed with a lower facelift or neck lift (this can be done with minimal scars).

Certain lasers and peels can help with elasticity problems and your photo seems to indicate adequate chin projection. (Larry S. Nichter, MD, MS, FACS, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)

Your muscles will get exercise.

What is the reason to exercise your facial muscles? People who have had a Bell’s Palsy, or stroke, or for some other reason have weak facial muscles would benefit from stimulation and exercise. If, however, you are using muscle stimulation for rejuvenation, you are being misled. Aging of the face manifests as loose skin with no elasticity, and loss of volume. Exercising muscles of the face will not make you look younger. (Stephan Finical, MD, Charlotte Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation may be helpful in cases where the facial nerves have been injured (such as Bell’s Palsy) during the nerve recovery period but there is no evidence that e-stim is helpful in firming, tightening or bulking the facial muscles.

If you are asking this question to determine if e-stim will help hold off or improve facial aging then the answer is probably not. The real problem in facial aging is the change in the skin and the fat of the face.

As we age our skin loses its elasticity and, in effect, slides off the underlying muscles. We also lose significant amounts of facial fat that changes the shape of our faces. Facial rejuvenation surgery is required to reposition those tissues over the muscles and to restore facial volume for a youthful and healthy shape. (Kevin L. Smith, MD, FACS, Charlotte Plastic Surgeon)

Facial stimulation may be useful if you have a medical condition such as Bell’s palsy or other neurological problem in which eventual muscle recovery is anticipated. However, it is not useful in reversing the signs of facial aging.

Facial aging changes are primarily caused by volume loss and loss of skin elasticity. Actinic damage (sun damage) expedites the aging process as well. The stimulation may lead to a small increase in the amount of muscle bulk, but do not expect this to reverse the signs of facial aging. (John Zavell, MD, FACS, Toledo Plastic Surgeon)

There is no data that supports microcurrent stimulation as a way of reversing the signs of aging in the face. Your money is better spent on other types of procedures that provide meaningful and measurable improvement. (Christopher Khorsandi, MD, Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Stimulation to Firm Facial Muscles

The facial mimetic muscles are amongst the most utilized muscle fibers in the body. They are fast twitch muscles with a very high nerve to muscle fiber ratio. Increasing stimulation to these muscles isn’t likely to yield any functional or aesthetic benefit fr the average patient. (Stephen Prendiville, MD, Fort Myers Facial Plastic Surgeon)

You can try electrical stimulation and facial exercises, but I don’t believe it will provide a huge benefit or the desire you may be hoping for. (Glynn Bolitho, PhD, MD, FACS, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)

Although most muscles in the body benefit from exercise and can tone and tighten with exercise or electrical stimulation, the facial muscles are an exception. We are all familiar with the lines on the face being caused by movement and expression.

Crows feet from smiling, forehead lines from frowning and deepening nasolabial lines from expression. Even the lines around the mouth are caused from puckering. Botox smooth and improves the lines by paralyzing muscles and preventing movement.

Exercising or stimulating the muscles of the face can cause lines to become more prominent and deeper while having little tightening effect. (Michelle J. Place, MD, Danville Plastic Surgeon)

Will electrical stimulation to help firm facial muscles

Electrostimulation of the muscles may temporarily help muscle tone, however is not going to give a face lift type effect. A comprehensive face/neck lift will address tightening excess facial and neck skin, tighten loose neck and facial muscles surgically, and remove a fat deposits in the neck.

The aging process involves skin, muscle, and fat in the face and neck and that is the reason that a facelift would have a better result. For many examples of face lifting results in our practice, please see the link below. (William Portuese, MD, Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Stimulation and the Aging Process

When your facial muscles become lax the only way to reliably lift them is via surgical facelift and or neck lift. If you are looking for a true lift, other measures are not going to work for a fully corrected result.

I don’t personally believe in stimulators. These machines are often used in rehabilitation of muscles and nerves after injury, but they will not work to reverse sagging of muscles due to aging. Surgery is truly the best way to lift muscles that have sagged. (Amir M. Karam, MD, San Diego Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation and exercises aren’t going to reverse the aging process.

Although electrical stimulation machines are beneficial during physical therapy for healing after injury or trauma, that’s not the same thing as improving muscle looseness that naturally occurs with age. There will always be a marketed alternative to surgery that’s tempting, but unfortunately the ad campaign isn’t necessarily reflective of its efficacy.

At this point, the only real solution for improving the major signs of aging through the face and neck is to surgically tighten the muscles and remove excess skin and tissue for smoother contours. (Glenn M. Davis, MD, FACS, Raleigh-Durham Plastic Surgeon)

Facial Firming and Lifting with Electrical Stimulation

It would be easy to prove any beneficial effects of electrical stimulation of either facial muscles or facial skin by simply treating one side of the face until a noticeable difference in appearance was evident.

So if this treatment actually worked, there would be plenty of unbiased scientific support behind it. However, this is not the case that I’m aware of. I have not seen any peer-reviewed, unbiased studies without conflict-of-interest relationships with the equipment manufacturer.

Until those studies are done and confirm benefit, you nor anyone else should believe the claims. However, it is true that facial creases (crow’s feet, forehead lines, frown lines, etc.) are deepened by repeated muscle contraction — so that, in effect, when you over-exercise your facial muscles, you over-exercise your facial wrinkles and creases.

This is at least something to factor into what might seem like a harmless treatment. (Richard Parfitt, MD, Madison Facial Plastic Surgeon)

I generally say that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Although I do not have first hand knowledge about this treatment, I would definitely consult a board certified plastic surgeon to get a more thorough answer. (Christopher J. Davidson, MD, FACS, Boston Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation of facial muscles

Stimulation of facial muscle exercises will not have any firming of facial muscles. In fact, its the repetetive overcontraction which is responsible for deep creases. Physical therapists use TENS units to stimulate other muscles mainly in rehab and nerve injury. (Raj S. Ambay, MD, Tampa Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Stimulation for Muscle Tone or Bulk

The “stim” or “e-stim” treatments often used in physical therapy or rehab medicine are meant to help in patients with nerve injuries. These may keep up muscle bulk while a partially damaged nerve is regenerating.

To my knowledge, there is not convincing evidence of other uses. (Evan Ransom, MD, Bay Area Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Will Electric Stimulation Machines Help Firm Facial Muscles?

Although there are a lot of proactive steps you can take to help prevent the signs of aging from showing up in the first place, there’s not much you can do at home that will reverse lax facial muscles.

Electrical stimulation for facial muscles is usually reserved for treatment of serious health issues like nerve paralysis or Bell’s palsy. Despite claims to the contrary, positive effects from using electrical stimulation for cosmetic or anti-aging purposes don’t have any scientific backing as yet.

If you’re troubled by loose facial muscles, I’d recommend going with the tried and true method of a surgical facelift rather than experimenting with a trendy gadget. (Mark Berkowitz, MD, Sterling Heights Oculoplastic Surgeon)

Muscles with electrical stimulation

Electric stimulation to muscles is not a new concept. Some patients have tried these in the past. I am unaware of any evidence based peer review which shows long term improvement. In my past, I have used good surgical technique to improve appearance, and the long term results have been successful. (Thomas A. Narsete, MD, Denver Plastic Surgeon)

There is No Scientific Data to Suggest that Facial Stimulation or Facial Exercise has any Impact on Facial Aging

There is no scientific data to suggest that facial stimulation or facial exercise has any impact on facial aging. Never the less, claims are frequently made that devices that utilize facial stimulation and exercise can reverse the aging process.

These claims are numerous and can be frequently seen on late night television. If you have significant facial aging your best option is a consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon. Every patient has unique aesthetic goals and specific anatomic findings. Your surgeon will be able to help find the option that is best for you. (Richard J. Bruneteau, MD, Omaha Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical Stimulation of Facial Muscles

There is no scientific evidence of any benefit from electrical stimulation of facial muscles. What are you trying to achieve? Ask to see pictures of individuals ( I won’t call them patients) who previously experienced your regimen.

It may feel good, but at what cost? (Richard W. Fleming, MD, Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Therapy Has been a Quack Treatment for over 100 years

Use electricity to smooth wrinkles, reduce weight, relieve menstrual cramps, increase male potency and female sexual interest, among MANY others, has been used since the late 1890’s.
(Peter A. Aldea, MD, Memphis Plastic Surgeon)

Facial stimulation will not be visibly apparent

Facial stimulation may tone the muscles but it will not be anything that is externally visible or significant from a functional stand-point. The outer skin and fat contours that you see will not change. It is the quality of the skin and distribution of the fat that gives you the facial appearance that you will see.

To look younger you need to consider skin treatments as well as skin toning. (Marcus L. Peterson, MD, Saint George Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical Stimulation (e-stim) for muscle growth or muscle bulk or as as substitute for resistance exercise

Electrical stimulation has been used to maintain muscle growth/volume to prevent atrophy in cases of denervation (nerve injury) or when resistance is eliminated (zero gravity enviroments that occurs with astronauts) but it is my understanding that it has not been successful in enhancing muscle growth or bulk (Otto Joseph Placik, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)

Facial muscle stimulators do not work

Facial exercises and muscle stimulators do not work. The facial muscles are not weight bearing muscles and do not respond to exercises etc the way that core body muscles do.

There are many gimmicks and devices that are advertised on infomercials but there is no merit to these things and you will be wasting your money and time. (Jason B. Diamond, MD, FACS, Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation machines do not prevent facial aging

There have been no scientific studies that demonstrate any long term improvement in facial tone or appearance from using electrical stimulation machines. That is the reason why all these devices are no longer being advertised.

The FDA has pulled them for false advertising. You may look better for a short period of time, while the muscles are still contracting (or twitching) but the results don’t last.

You may also look better temporarily from swelling induced by these machines.

Unfortunately, if you need a lift, there is no substitute for surgery. Sometimes fillers and Botox can help by restoring youthful volume and smooth wrinkles. (Steven J. Pearlman, MD, New York Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Facial exercises and electrostimulation for facial aging

I am not aware of any respected study demonstrating noticable benefits from facial exercises. I am aware of many of my patients who tried them before their facelifts. None of them noted a significant improvement.

Personally, I would be even less enthusiastic about electrostimulation. Do you plan on having this procedure performed by an experienced plastic surgeon or physician? In order them such a treatment to go deep enough to reach the SMAS, significant currents would have to be delivered.

With facial exercises, I safely counsel my patients that no harm will be done (short of seeing no improvement). Without reliable information and data that stood the test of careful review, I cannot recommend such a treatment as safe and effective. (Frank P. Fechner, MD, Worcester Facial Plastic Surgeon)

There is no shortage of non-surgical treatments for facial rejuvenation, however, their effectiveness is often questionable (especially considering cost, as they typically require multiple treatments). I would recommend seeing a plastic surgeon familiar with both surgical and non-surgical techniques that can individualize a treatment plan to achieve your goals. (Bryan Correa, MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon)

Electric Stimulation Does Not Work

Electric stimulation devices cannot give you a facelift. Devices as these that are seen on the television on internet are totally worthless and have no scientific basis for actually shaping or re-shaping your face or neck.

It is indeed a marketing scam with no scientific basis. (Rod J. Rohrich, MD, Dallas Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical Stimulation DOES NOT improve wrinkles

Please don’t waste your money or time… These things not only do not work, but may cause you harm. Find a reputable surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery and visit for a discussion about the concerns you have developed as you have aged.

Remember- addressing your appearance is only a positive thing to do if it is done safely, responsibly, and ethically. (Armando Soto, MD, FACS, Orlando Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation causes wrinkles,

It is the contraction of facial muscles that causes wrinkles and does not prevent them. That is the purpose of Botox. Relaxation prevents the wrinkles. (Toby Mayer, MD, Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Relax mucles for improvement in facial appearance

Think about it for a minute: facial wrinkles are caused by hyperactive muscles repeatedly folding the skin, which is why Botox works so well. There may be some elevation short-term in the lower face with muscle toning, but not upper face or neck where wrinkles will get worse. (Richard Baxter, MD, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)

Electrical stimulation and facial muscles

You will probably be disappointed with the results. Be careful, certain movements will make things worse, for instance all those movements that we are all trying to minimize with Botox injections. (Peter T. Truong, MD, Fresno Oculoplastic Surgeon)