Dear Dr. Seckel: I am 41 years old and currently get Botox injections around my eyes for crow’s feet and Juvaderm around my mouth for nasal labial folds, about 2 times per year. I am very much interested in doing something a little longer lasting. My doctor recommended Active FX. What do you think would be best for me Active FX or Thermage? My main concern is the lower area of my face to just under my chin, which is just starting to sag. I believe you call this jowls and early platysmal bands or turkey wattle. This area really bugs me and I would love something that lasts longer than a few months but without a face-lift or plastic surgery. Any suggestions? Thank you, Lynda, Scottsdale,AZ
Dear Lynda,
A well-done face lift by an experienced board certified plastic surgeon is still the most effective long-term solution for facial jowls and neck laxity or the “turkey wattle”. The new skin tightening treatments are not a non-surgical face lift.
The new skin tightening machines often referred to as the ‘non-surgical face-lift” are effective in the jowl and neck area but the tightening is about 20-30% of what you can get with a well done face lift. Most of the best results I have seen with skin tightening still require a pre and post treatment photograph to appreciate the results at 6 months.
There are several skin tightening machines available. I use the LuxIR made by Palomar and the Aluma made by Lumenis and am happy with the results. Others are Thermage and Titan by Cutera. They all get similar results. The Thermage is the most painful and there have been complications with Thermage. Skin tightening provides slight wrinkle removal, but for effective wrinkle removal you need an ablative laser skin peel.
The Active FX laser skin peel is a very exciting new laser skin rejuvenation procedure that produces a deep peel and works very nicely for wrinkle removal and to superficially tighten the skin of the cheek and around the mouth. Recovery time is very short-4-6 days compared to the older lasers, which required 3-4 weeks.
For tightening around the jaw and neck I would recommend the skin tightening machines mentioned above, the Lux IR and the Aluma with FACES rather than the Active Fx.
If you would like to see photos of facial rejuvenation results visit my clinical website drseckel.com.
For more information on skin tightening, wrinkle removal, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation read Save Your Face or contact me.
Dr Seckel
Boston, Massachusetts