Provided are systems (100) for control of or determining the effectiveness of a neck suction device using one or more secondary metrics. A sensor device (101) may be used to measure or determine one or more secondary metrics relating to the neck of a patient in response to the application of suction to the neck of the patient proximal to the hyoid bone of the patient by a neck suction device. A processing device (107) may then determine whether to adjust the suction intensity in response to the measured/determined metrics. The metrics may also be use do determine whether neck suction is likely to be effective for a specific patient.