What is Thermage?
Thermage is a safe, clinically proven way to tighten and contour skin, naturally through the stimulation of your own collagen. Thermage is completely non-invasive. That means no surgery or injections. Unlike lasers, it works on all skin types and tones. It’s similar to getting a face lift without the surgery.
The procedure itself is normally done as a single treatment. Because no recovery time is needed, you can quickly return to work or your normal routine.
How Thermage Works
It helps to know a little about how your skin works in order to understand how Thermage works as well. Facial skin is made up of three layers:
- Epidermis: a visible outer layer on the surface
- Dermis: a collagen-rich underlayer beneath the surface
- Subcutaneous layer: an inner layer beneath the dermis.
Collagen breaks down in these three layers due to exposure to the sun, family heredity and the normal aging process. As a result, fine lines and wrinkles appear.
Thermage's unique Capacitive Radiofrequency (CRF) technology safely heats your skin's underlayer and the web of collagen in the inner layer. This causes an immediate tightening as well as improved tone and texture. These improvements will continue and become even more noticeable for four to six months following treatment due to new collagen growth stimulated by this process.
Thermage works on all skin types and colors. With Thermage, you only need one treatment to get the full benefits.
What Happens During A Thermage Treatment?
Thermage treatments are only performed by Thermage certified personnel. Normally, the complete procedure can be performed in just one session lasting from 20 minutes to two hours. Most patients do not require general anesthesia, but to make sure you are comfortable, we may offer light pain medications prior to the procedure.
During the treatment, you'll feel a brief, heat sensation each time Thermage delivers radiofrequency energy to the underlayer of your skin. This indicates that your collagen is being stimulated and tightened. You should feel and see your skin becoming smoother, firmer, and tighter immediately after your Thermage treatment. After the procedure, you should continue to see improvements to your skin as a result of the production of new and increased collagen. You will also see some additional contouring effects due to continued tightening over time.
Side effects are generally mild and may include redness, swelling, blisters, bumps and rare instances of surface irregularities. Thermage is FDA cleared for the non-invasive treatment of wrinkles.