Dr. Humphrey Speaks on Skin Tightening
Skin tightening treatments like Thermage and Ultherapy are an important part of a positive aging plan, including my own. Over the last decade, I’ve committed to skin tightening treatments—targeting the area surrounding my eyes and my lower face—at regular intervals. As aging accelerates and I start to notice more volume loss, I’ve increased the frequency of my treatments to twice per year. I’ve been so impressed with the results that I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
Thermage and Ultherapy are very nuanced treatments. They use different types of energy—radiofrequency and ultrasound respectively—and one may be better suited to a patient’s specific needs than another, or they may be used together in different anatomic areas. Both treatments are well-studied, with well-understood mechanisms of action and side effect profiles.
To me, skin tightening is an important foundational treatment within a more comprehensive positive aging plan. Because the changes we see in our skin as we age happen at many tissue layers (not only are we experiencing volume loss and subsequent descent, we’re experiencing a loss in the amount and integrity of connective tissues deep within our skin), the best treatment results will always be achieved when we address many of these factors simultaneously.
The real magic with skin tightening happens when patients commit to this treatment at regular intervals over time, with an understanding that these treatments are working from a cumulative and preventative perspective. Don’t get me wrong, skin tightening provides a lovely instant-gratification benefit with firmness and increased definition seen in the intermediate term (typically the first one to three months), but patients reap the greatest rewards when treatments are incorporated into a plan. Over time, skin tightening provides a deep collagen stimulation at regular intervals to slow down the rate at which skin loses its natural elasticity, increase firmness, and offset laxity. Essentially, these treatments are working behind-the-scenes over time to alter the trajectory of aging.
Put simply: skin tightening is akin to shrink-wrapping the skin, and shy of surgery, there’s nothing else that tightens the skin non-invasively quite like Thermage and Ultherapy.
If you’re interested in learning more about how these treatments fit in to your 360° plan, or you have questions about my personal treatment experience, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
