While we are ageing, our collagen levels naturally begin to reduce, and we start experiencing sagging skin, turkey neck, wrinkles and fine lines. In 1995 a plastic surgeon in California, US, Dr Edward W. Knowlton, invented a radiofrequency device to tighten the skin and reduce the ageing signs without incisions. ThermageCool first got FDA approval in 2002 and launched in 2004. Since then, the machine went through many updates, like ThermageNXT in 2007 and ThermageCPT in 2009. The company has kept developing the device until now, and after a lot of research, they are on the fourth-generation machine, the ThermageFLX.
Since Thermage was first introduced, many devices have been launched with similar technology, such as ProfoundRF, Morpheus8 and many more, but Thermage remains top in the radiofrequency category with millions of treatments and massive research behind it than any other machine.
The newest version Thermage FLX has all the benefits of the previous generation devices plus offers bigger surface treatments, quicker and more comfortable due to a new energy algorithm. This new algorithm automatically tunes the energy delivered before every pulse than only to the first pulse as it used to be.
Thermage provides exceptional results on the face, neck and basically the whole body. However, Thermage is the device that has been approved to treat the eyelids. Using radiofrequency to heat the area helps stimulate collagen and the production of new collagen. Right after the treatment, many evidenced results, but for longer-term effects and due to collagen remodelling and neocollagenesis, it would suggest from 2 to 6 months. It’s accepted as the cornerstone of non-invasive skin tightening treatment in the aesthetic industry. Although not everyone is a good candidate for a non-surgical skin tightening, Thermage it’s ideal for moderate to mild skin laxity. Within a few months, the skin will look naturally younger.
The treatment could take from 45 to 90 minutes, but this depends on the size of the area, the condition and the skin goals we are after. The procedure is straightforward, the practitioner will mark out the sections on the treating area and press the handpiece on the skin surface to deliver the energy to the deeper layers.
The treatment is not painful, and it has a cooling sensation when the skin receives the radiofrequency energy. Of course, it has been designed like this to protect the skin from burns when the handpiece delivers the radiofrequency energy. Following the treatment, it’s normal for the skin to react with redness, but it’s temporary, and it doesn’t prohibit the patient from returning to their day to day activities.
