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Health and Fitness
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Thermage- Radio-frequency technology is now being used to tighten skin and generate new collagen
Thermage- Radio-frequency technology is now being used to tighten skin and generate new collagen
Ever since supermodel Linda Evangelista, aged 41, appeared on the cover of US Vogue in August and openly admitted that she uses not only Muscle relaxing injection but also undergoes Thermage "to stimulate collagen",.
London,
UK,
United Kingdom
(prbd.net)
01/12/2011
Ever since supermodel Linda Evangelista, aged 41, appeared on the cover of US Vogue in August and openly admitted that she uses not only Muscle relaxing injection but also undergoes Thermage "to stimulate collagen", the beauty world has been abuzz with talk of this latest form of facial tightening. (In the same issue, 52-year-old actress Ellen Barkin also admitted to having "thrice-yearly Thermage facials".)
It's not surprising that many women are now placing this new procedure at the top of their wish lists. Effective methods of reversing facial sagging are hard to come by for anyone who doesn't want to go under the knife. While the onset of sagging can be slowed down a little with proper skin care, once significant droop has set in, the only consistently reliable way to reverse it is a facelift or necklift. And that involves significant expense, discomfort and recovery time, plus all the usual health risks of a general anaesthetic.
Thermage, which launched in the US in 2002 and in the UK in 2004, uses radio-frequency technology, something that has been employed in other areas of medicine for some years. (Endoscopic radio-frequency devices are, for example, used to tighten sphincter valves in the gastrointestinal tract.) A hand-held device directs radio waves deep within the skin where they cause tissue to heat as well as some structural alterations (the surface of the skin is cooled by a spray to make the procedure more comfortable). The skin tightens as the collagen contracts. Subsequent healing also causes skin tightening and, because the procedure encourages the production of new collagen, further improvements may be noticeable for up to six months - hence repeat treatments within six months are discouraged.
(While multiple applications of Thermage are not part of the treatment plan, it is not unusual to have two treatments spaced six months apart.) Since the skin surface itself is not treated, downtime after Thermage is negligible and clients can look presentable in a few hours. It also makes it safe to use on patients of all skin colours. But if you have a pacemaker, you're out of luck: radio frequency devices use a current that could cause sparks to fly.
Not everyone gets the same effect and Thermage doesn't work on everyone. If a client doesn't see enough of a result after one session, they will often go for a second and it is unusual to see nothing after two treatments. But it does, of course, depend on the patient's expectations. The lifting effect is modest compared to a facelift; brows, for example, can be lifted by about two or three millimetres. This translates into a fresher, brighter look rather than a dramatically younger appearance. Only you can decide whether that is good enough to warrant a cost of £3,000 to £4,000 for a full face and neck treatment, and double that for two. (For those more concerned about their eyes than facial sagging, Thermage has introduced a procedure which targets under-eye bags, crow's feet and hooding and which costs about half.)
Because of the more subtle results, the procedure is best for people in their late 30s and 40s who are only beginning to show signs of facial sag - although older clients have also benefited.
Concern that Thermage can be painful is a recurring theme. "My doctor described the pain as something that should feel like a deep heat and not pure agony," says Deanna Stevens, a beauty therapist based in Miami Beach. "But for me the discomfort was so intense I was nauseated. I didn't think I could make it through to the end and I don't know how many times I needed a break." Deanna admits to being highly strung with a low pain threshold but she is not alone in finding the procedure painful. Most people consider it worse than laser hair removal, on a level with having a generous round of filler injections or a deep chemical peeling. The amount of pain also has a lot to do with who is doing the treatment. If the practitioner goes slowly and takes breaks between zaps, it takes longer but hurts less.
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