Fitness For Your Face
Another new year is upon us and the obvious thing to do is set the usual resolutions in place, but after the horrible year that was 2020, big resolutions like getting in shape just seem a little too grandiose. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to lower personal expectations with the hope they won’t be let down. How about the baby step of getting your facial tissue toned and tightened with a 5 to 20-minute “workout” that you can do while watching TV or scrolling? Seems a little more attainable than just resolving to get healthy. In the words of Mel Gibson in The Patriot, “Aim small, miss small.”
Enter your new favorite workout buddy, NuFace Trinity Pro. I can almost hear the groans… another device to sit on the bathroom counter and collect dust. This one won’t be overlooked because it actually works. Let’s break down the info.
The basis of the NuFace that makes it work is an electrical current. The use of electricity in a medical setting is far from a new thing. There’s actually evidence that the ancient Greeks used electrical currents generated by the “magical” torpedo fish to treat arthritis and localized pain and swelling. (1,3) Talk about being ahead of the curve. Today physical therapists, vets, orthopedists, among other specialists have been using it consistently for years to help with improving wound healing to reducing delayed onset muscle soreness and pain management (2).
The main difference between what you might experience at a PT office and the NuFace at-home version is the strength of the actual current. NuFace uses microampere electrical waves to help retrain the facial muscles to give more contour and definition to the face and stimulate energy production in the cells called ATP. ATP is the energy currency for the body. “Virtually every cytological, histological and physiological process is ATP-mediated, which makes ATP clinically important. While our bodies in theory can produce all the ATP we need, the fact is that it doesn’t. Microcurrent stimulation between 200-800 microamps is a way of supercharging the tissue with ATP, which will reside there until needed.”(4) All of this built up energy helps to heal broken down tissue. These waves don’t hurt but there might be a slight tingling sensation and you won’t feel any muscle contraction like a TENS unit. These waves energize the muscles just like when you go to the gym to work out the rest of your body. Like the gym, consistency does play a big part in the overall end result.
Within the NuFace product line, there’s a marked difference of power among the handpieces. The Trinity Pro is only sold at doctors’ offices and has a maximum current of 400 microamperes. The Trinity can be purchased from retail shops like Nordstrom or the NuFace website but has a max energy level of 335 microamperes. That’s a significant disparity. For the first 60 days using NuFace, you use the device five times per week for 5-20 minutes. This is super manageable to do. After that, the maintenance consists of 2 to 3 times per week. You’ll see a slight difference after one use but for long-term benefits you really do need to follow this protocol since the results are cumulative. Remember, you don’t do one sit up and suddenly have abs.
When you first begin a microcurrent treatment it’s essential to follow the natural curvature of the face in an upward gliding motion going with the muscles. A water-based conductive gel is needed to direct the energy down into the tissue. A word of warning that if you don’t have enough gel on you’ll feel tiny baby shocks. I know this from personal experience. NO, don’t use aloe gel. Once you’ve cleaned your face and put your gel on you’re only five minutes away from completing your face workout. If you do one side of your face you’ll notice a lift right away that the untreated side doesn’t have. It’s a nice personal experiment I recommend to all of my patients who are skeptical.
NuFace is perfect for those who’re starting to notice a little sagging forming around their jowls and brows. This isn’t to say that someone with severe laxity wouldn’t benefit from it but the results won’t be nearly as dramatic. Those people who are pregnant, have epilepsy or seizures, active cancer, pacemakers and/or electronic implanted devices should not use any electrical NuFace product. At our office, we recommend it to all facelift, neck lift, and FaceTite patients to maintain the results from these more invasive procedures.
Five minutes, five times a week is easy to squeeze in for visible results. It’s a lot easier than going to the gym for an hour a day. Try this out as your resolution and hope that 2021 will be a better year. If nothing else, your face will look amazing.
Sources
1. Basford JR. A historical perspective of the popular use of electric and magnetic therapy. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2001 Sep;82(9):1261-9. doi: 10.1053/apmr.2001.25905. PMID: 11552201.
2. Mercola, Joseph M., and Daniel L. Kirsch. "The basis for microcurrent electrical therapy in conventional medical practice." Journal of Advancement in medicine 8.2 (1995): 107-120.
3.Tsoucalas, Gregory, and Markos Sgantzos. "Electric current to cure arthritis and cephalaea in ancient Greek medicine." Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology 27.4 (2016): 198-203.
4. Bailey, Steven. "How Microcurrent Stimulation Produces ATP--One Mechanism." Dynamic Chiropractic 17.18 (1999): 6.