FAST FACTS
The service: Thermage® FLX
What it is: A non-surgical treatment that uses radio frequency energy to heat the deep layers of skin and stimulate collagen production, which helps firm and tighten skin.
Treatment duration: About 40 minutes, though there’s an extra 30 minutes of prep time first.
Who it’s for: All skin types, best for treating fine lines and wrinkles and sagging skin. This treatment uses energy waves and cannot be used on patients with pacemakers.
Pain: Minimal, because you’ll be given pain medication and a numbing cream before the procedure. Some areas may be more sensitive, and pain thresholds vary, but overall it’s quite tolerable.
Downtime: Almost none, you’ll be able to go out in public immediately. There may be minor redness and swelling, but that didn’t happen with me.
My rating: five stars
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I need to start here by saying that I am not a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow. Jade eggs are for collecting dust in curio cabinets, not for … well, what she uses them for. But the woman has amazing skin and she’ll be celebrating her 52nd birthday this September (I only did some fact checking for the purposes of this blog, I don’t stalk her), so when I read that Thermage is the one treatment she says makes her skin look youthful and firm, I was excited to head to Bella Sante’s Queen Street clinic to try it out.
Thermage is a non-invasive treatment that uses radio frequency energy to penetrate and heat the deep layers of your skin, reducing the look of fine lines and wrinkles, kickstarting collagen production and causing your skin to lift and tighten over the course of two to four months with results that can last up to a year. Though most clients get this procedure on their face, you can also use Thermage to treat sagging skin on your abdomen, buttocks, eye area, upper arms and thighs.
My technician for this service was Michelle, whom I loved immediately because Michelles are always awesome, fun women, and she walked me through the treatment, explained potential side effects and had me sign a consent form. She then applied a layer of numbing cream to my face and handed me some pain medication and a lovely cup of herbal tea. Half an hour later, we were ready to get started.
This is a procedure that uses energy, so you’ll need to remove your jewelry and anything else that’s metallic. We were only treating my face and just under my jaw, so I didn’t have to worry about anything clothes that might have metal (underwired bras, etc). I should also mention that I had to take anti-viral medications the day before, the day of and the day after treatment because I’m prone to cold sores (this is standard protocol.)
Michelle placed a sticky grounding pad at the base of my neck to help the radio frequency to go deeper, then used a transfer paper to apply a grid to my face to ensure perfect placement of each pass of the treatment wand.
The wand has what looked to be a thick rubbery tip on it, but it packs a punch — with every pass, it delivers a pulse of energy that makes your skin feel instantly warm. The wand was fitted with a vibrating collar for most areas, making each pass quite comfortable. She worked in a grid pattern, and I think she repeated it for two passes in most areas. For the most part, I felt only a bit of warmth, but in the second pass there were a couple of spots that sent a twinge of momentary pain (this was when she passed the wand over a blood vessel, I think.)
When the treatment was done, my skin was slightly sensitive, like how it would feel with a minor sunburn, but an hour later it was back to normal and it wasn’t even red. If anything, my skin felt smooth and fresh.
The next day, I noticed a couple of blisters on the areas where I had felt those twinges of pain. Michelle had warned me that this can happen, and I don’t need to do anything special other than to keep my skin clean and skip active ingredients like retinols or vitamin C creams on those spots until they heal.
DID YOU KNOW? Thermage and Ultherapy are both recommended for non-invasive procedures to lift and tighten skin, but they’re very different treatments. While Thermage uses radiofrequency to heat broad areas of the skin, Ultherapy uses ultrasound and penetrates more deeply into the dermal layer. Thermage can be used on the abdomen, thighs, arms and buttocks but isn’t used on the neck and décolleté, while Ultherapy is only approved for use on the brow line, lower face, chin, neck and décolleté. Both treatments trigger collagen production and improvements to skin elasticity and firmness. Read my Ultherapy review here.
The verdict: We’ll have to wait for a couple of months to see the results from this procedure, so be sure to keep reading to see how it all turns out. I do know that as we go through the Beautiful You campaign, each treatment locks into the next one to super-power my skin and smooth out wrinkles I thought were here for good. It will only get better in the next few months, and I’m excited to share the results with you when we wrap up the program in November.
In the meantime, be sure to drop us a line either by email or on our social channels and let us know what you think of Thermage (if you’ve tried it) and what questions you have of this or any of the treatments available at Bella Sante. Got a question for me? Ask away, I’d love to have a conversation. And if you have a jade egg, well, I have questions I would love to ask YOU. :)
Until next time,
~Michelle
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