Do gua sha and microcurrent devices work against skin ageing?

Gua sha does something, but not necessarily what you might expect. After eight weeks of daily massage (five times a week, ten minutes), facial contours improved measurably: distance measurements in the face decreased by roughly 2.2 to 2.4 millimetres. Muscle tension also dropped noticeably: stiffness in the facial muscles fell considerably. This suggests that gua sha acts primarily on the muscle layer beneath the skin.

What gua sha did not do: skin elasticity itself did not improve significantly. The facial roller did. With the roller, gross elasticity increased by 8.6% and biological elasticity by 7.5% after those same eight weeks. The two techniques therefore work differently and complement each other. If you want more supple skin, the roller appears more effective; if you want to relax tense facial muscles and see a difference in contours, gua sha offers more.

Electrical devices show positive results, but it is almost never microcurrent alone. A home device that combines microcurrent with radiofrequency, light therapy and ultrasound improved multiple skin values simultaneously after eight weeks: hydration, elasticity, roughness, pore size and the volume of wrinkles around the eyes. Tissue analysis also showed an increase in collagen type 1, alongside a decrease in an enzyme that breaks down collagen. No side effects were reported in this study.

A separate double-blind randomised study tested a radiofrequency device with microcurrent pulses specifically on skin laxity in the brow area. Compared with a placebo device, the distance from the eyebrow to the hairline decreased significantly by just over one centimetre. Again, no side effects were reported. One caveat: with combination devices it is impossible to say exactly how much the microcurrent component contributes, because multiple techniques are applied at the same time.