Thermage

The “Non-Surgical Face Lift”

Thermage is an exciting new non-surgical procedure that offers an innovative way to rejuvenate your face…without surgery. It involves the application of radio frequency energy to your face. This energy strategically heats collagen, which composes your skin. In response to heat, your loose, weakened, and disorganized collagen will strengthen, tighten, and become organized. This translates into tighter, younger-appearing skin…all without surgery! (Caution: Continue reading before you decide that Thermage is the best thing since sliced bread).

The Benefits of Thermage

Thermage will provide the following benefits in many people:

Tighter skin

Improved jowling

Tightened Jawline

Tighter skin under your chin

Higher eyebrows

Softer forehead lines

Softer scowl lines

Softer crow’s feet

Softer nasolabial creases (around nose and mouth)

Reduced active acne

Softening of acne scars

Unlike laser treatments, Thermage works just as well on people with darker skin types as those with light skin types.

The Bad News

Although thermage is called a “non-surgical face lift,” it is not a substitute for a face lift. It will give a portion of the improvement that a facelift will give in many people. There are, however, some people who will see no improvement following Thermage (especially those who have very loose skin and are really ready for a facelift, or those with very heavy faces). For these people, a second treatment may be performed six months after the first. This second treatment may or may not yield improvement. Thermage seems to work best in people with thin faces who are just on the verge of needing a facelift and want to put it off for a few years. In other words, if you have looses skin, sagging jowls, and a turkey gobbler, you can try thermage, but you may not see much improvement.

Thermage is Best Suited for Those Who…

Thermage is best suited for those who are starting to see signs of aging: early jowling, loose skin, creases around the nose and mouth, and wrinkles around the nose and mouth. It is not designed a substitute for a face lift. So, if you are someone who has heavy jowling, a turkey-gobbler neck, and loose lax skin of the face and neck, you are likely to see some improvement after thermage, but not a dramatic improvement. If, on the other hand, you have medical problems that prevent you from having a face lift (or if you simply do not want to have surgery), then Thermage will at least offer you something – you just need to adjust your expectations.

Thermage will also help people with active acne and acne scars. Just one treatment will give visible improvement in most people.

The Day of the Thermage Procedure

You should plan to remove all make-up upon arrival. Next, you will be given an oral pain medication to reduce any discomfort that you might feel. Your doctor will then place local anesthesia (numbing medicine) in strategic places around your face to numb your face. A grid will be applied to guide treatment. Finally, your treatment will begin. It involves your doctor or technician holding the treatment tip over your skin, while the thermage machine delivers a combination of cooling and radio frequency. Cooling is necessary to allow the maximal amount of radio frequency treatment (heat) to be applied without burning your skin. The treatment tips are 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch (square) in size. Numerous pulses of energy are required to treat your entire face (about 450 pulses of energy, each of which takes 2-7 seconds).

Depending on how much local anesthesia your doctor uses, you may feel nothing, mild warmth, intense warmth, or possibly pain with each application of energy. Discuss with your doctor ahead of the treatment how he/she plans to control your pain and make the procedure tolerable. In general, the higher the treatment setting used, the more significant will be your results, but also the greater chance for pain or discomfort. For this reason, Dr. Loftus believes that it is imperative to obtain and maintain a high level of local anesthesia throughout the procedure. This enables her to treat patients at the highest appropriate level while also avoiding discomfort.

Preparation for treating your full face takes about 30-45 minutes. The actual treatment (delivering the pulses of energy) takes 60-75 minutes. You should plan on being at the office for about 2 hours and will need a ride home if you received any pain medication.

Thermage Recovery

You will likely experience some redness and swelling after the procedure. Redness may last 1-2 hours, but occasionally lasts for a few days. Swelling is usually mild-moderate, but lasts longer – usually about 3-7 days. Very mild swelling may persist longer. In general, the more swelling and redness you have, the greater results you are likely to see.

Thermage Results

Results are seen at different times for different people. Some start to see improvement as soon as one month after Thermage. Others begin to see improvement after 2-3 months. All continue to improve for a total of six months after the treatment. As noted above, a few people fail to see substantial improvement after the first treatment and are encouraged to have a second treatment six months later.

Thermage has been in existence since 2000. Those who were treated at that time have shown consistent results with no deterioration since then. So, we know that Thermage lasts at least this long. It is projected that the benefits from Thermage may last as long as 5-10 years, but there is no way of knowing this yet. Time will tell.

Ask your plastic surgeon about these complications from Thermage

Burn: There is a small risk of burn, blistering and scarring associated with this procedure.

Discoloration: It is possible that the skin may turn lighter or darker after any skin procedure. This has not been a problem after Thermage.

Pain and tingling: Pain is uncommon after the procedure is over. No pain medication is necessary. However, some people experience tingling, burning or soreness for a few days or weeks, especially along the jaw line.

Cost of Thermage

The costs are variable. Charges may be based on the number of areas treated, the level of training of the person who treats you, and market conditions. In general, a full face treatment varies from $2000 – $5000. A partial face treatment (forehead, cheeks, or neck) varies from $1000 – $3000. (Fees at The Loftus Plastic
Surgery Center may be found Here .)

Tips and Traps of Thermage

• Do not expect thermage to be a replacement for a facelift. It is, however, a great way to postpone a facelift for years if you are on the borderline.
• If you have a fat deposit under your chin, you should consider liposuction of that area apart from your Thermage procedure, as Thermage does not alter fat in this area.
• Thermage will offer improvements in the same areas as a facelift and browlift. It will not offer any of the improvement that eyelid surger (blepharoplasty) will offer.