Aaah! The Aging Neck
Among our patients' greatest concerns is that of looking
older than we feel. We all want to
look our best because it gives us the confidence to express our personality and
thoughts without feeling self conscious of our appearance.
Several technologies have come along over the
years to help with the neck and face falling problem.
There is always a surgical neck or face lift, which may be absolutely
essential for patients who have waited a bit too long to take preventive
measures and where the skin laxity is too great to correct nonsurgically. However, for the vast majority of patients,
we can accomplish neck tightening without the worry of a long scar along the
hairline or ear and without extended recovery times and most importantly,
without the danger and fear of looking “overdone”. Even
if a prior facelift has been done, maintaining with these less invasive
approaches is important to save one’s investment.
Among the two best approaches
are Ultherapy and ThermiRF.
ThermiRF is
the latest kid on the block. It uses
monopolar radiofrequency energy that is delivered via a thin probe to the SMAS
(Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System).
This is the tissue under the skin which covers and binds all the facial
muscles. During a surgical facelift, the
SMAS is sutured in a manner to effectively shrink it and hence tighten the
muscles. With ThermiRF, the SMAS is
shrunk using RF heat (essentially think of it as controlled
electrocautery). The procedure is
extremely safe with temperature readings coming from the tissue, the probe and
through an external heat sensing camera, which helps achieve both therapeutic
and safe target temperatures for controlled shrinkage of tissue. Excess fat tissue can also be targeted and
destroyed, such as under the chin, at the same time. Finally, the heat radiates to the skin itself
and stimulates the production of new collagen and elastin fibers. ThermiRF is performed entirely under local
numbing. The patient is awake
and may drive home on their own post procedure. There is no discomfort during the
procedure. A compressive chin strap
garment is all that is required for 48 hours.
No sutures are placed as the three tiny puncture access points close up within
24-48 hours.
Ultherapy is also a highly effective procedure and can be
used to treat not only the neck and jowls as ThermiRF can, but also the cheeks,
chest and eye areas. As both a surgical facelift and ThermiRF
affect the SMAS, so does Ultherapy! We
can easily see that in order to be effective, the procedure must affect the
SMAS. The difference is that Ultherapy
is applied directly through the skin using HIFU (High Intensity Focused
Ultrasound). The tissue is directly visualized via ultrasound so we know exactly where the energy is being delivered. There is some discomfort as
the ultrasound waves travel through the skin to the underlying SMAS target tissue but is well
tolerated and well worth it in the end. There
is no real recovery time, outside of mild redness and swelling. One can resume social obligations and public appearances immediately. Ultherapy also targets the dermis to
stimulate collagen production with a second pass that is highly
recommended. The lips and delicate skin
under the eyes are also very responsive to this technology.
It takes about 4-6 months to see
results. The same is true with
ThermiRF. A procedure called SmartLift
uses the SmartLipo probe to deliver heat under the skin and could potentially
mimic ThermiRF. The difference is in the
control and constant feedback of the heat delivered to get effective yet safe
treatment. We are not using SmartLift/SmartLipo
as much in our practice now due to having the more advanced ThermiRF.
Please take a look at results from ThermiRF and Ultherapy
below. The patients who have had a
combination of both procedures, have seen especially dramatic results. Please
also check out our website www.cincinnatiskinandlaser.com
for more information.
