Dear Dr. Seckel, I am considering a skin tightening procedure. I have read your articles about Titan skin tightening. How painful is the procedure? How soon do you see a result? Is there any new skin tightening method on the horizon? Thank you, Phil, Boston, MA.
Dear Phil,
The non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedure called skin tightening with the Titan® machine does produce discomfort; the machine produces a stinging heat sensation. While the pain is certainly tolerable, I prefer to apply a topical anesthetic cream on my patients because the procedure can take an hour or more and after time and many pulses the discomfort becomes more bothersome. With a topical cream, Titan® is very tolerable.
Thermage® on the other hand is more painful and requires a nerve block or other anesthetic for full treatment in many people. Thermage is not a non-surgical face lift as often advertised, only a face lift is a true face lift.
A newer skin tightening treatment called Aluma® skin renewal with FACES® has been reported to be much less painful and much quicker. In a study by Dr.’s Gold and Goldman Treatment times were 15 to 30 minutes and patients reported that discomfort was very tolerable without an anesthetic. Other new skin tightening machines called LuxIR and Refirme are also available and results of skin tightening with these machines is good.
Generally a final result after skin tightening is not seen for 3-5 months and after at least 3-4 treatments. This is in contrast to a face lift where you see your result immediately after one procedure. However for patients who do not want plastic surgery, these new radiofrequency and infrared skin tightening methods are an alternative. These new procedures are not a non-surgical face lift. They do fall into the category of non-surgical facial rejuvenation. Be sure to consult a board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist.
For more detailed information on skin tightening and non-surgical facial rejuvenation visit my Boston Plastic Surgery Practice, read Save Your Face or contact me.
Boston, Massachusetts
Peabody, Massachusetts