What we nailed down in the previous post: Fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin—they’re coming for all of us, sooner or later. It’s just nature’s way. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be held off a while longer, or even reversed. There are lots of ways, both minimally-invasive and surgical, to go about that. These are a few of the most popular.
You’re just beginning to notice your laxity
Thermage and Ultherapy are considered the go-to treatments for mild skin laxity—you’re starting to notice the appearance of fine lines and your skin doesn’t quite bounce back the way it did in your twenties. Thermage employs radiofrequency energy to tighten the skin, while Ultherapy does it using ultrasound to create heat under the surface of the skin.
The downtime for both is relatively minimal, but it’s still more than it is for another, newer method called threading. Here, specially-designed, resorbable sutures are strategically inserted into the skin, lifting the tissue and tightening the skin in the process. The results are immediate. And while they’re temporary (six months to a year, depending on the sutures), the process has been shown to help boost collagen production, which bodes well for the long term.
You’re done blowing your budget on anti-aging creams
If your skin laxity is a little more advanced—your fine lines have evolved to wrinkles and you’re beginning to develop jowls—a facelift will deliver the most dramatic and longest-lasting results. Keep in mind, this is not your mother’s facelift. Today’s version is highly customizable.
But if you’d prefer to avoid surgery, a minimally-invasive, heat-based treatment called FaceTite is your next-best option. A probe administers electrical energy that heats the skin internally, tightening it in the process. ThermiRF and Renuvion act in similar ways, though through slightly different technologies. In each case, the downtime is minimal, and the results will last between two to three years.
Your sagging skin is weighing you down
In the most significant instances of skin laxity—you’ve had a baby recently or lost a lot of weight—surgery is your best course of action. There are minimally-invasive treatments available, but they’ll have a fraction of the effect that a tummy tuck would or a lift (be if of the arms, breasts, or thighs). The same goes for the face. A facelift will lift and tighten sagging skin, get rid of jowls and wrinkles, and restore the youthful face that feels more like you.