Skin Tightening; What’s All the Hype?

Skin tightening is one of those ambiguous phrases that we hear from time to time when reporters are telling us the latest trends in celebrity beauty. You know the words I’m talking about. They include phrases like laser skin resurfacing, cellulite treatment, oxygen facial, and photofacial. But what does it really mean? Let’s break down the types of skin tightening and what they actually do for your skin.

Laser Skin Tightening

Laser skin tightening is a minimally invasive, non-surgical process that uses an infrared light source (a laser) to tighten skin by heating the collagen under the skin’s surface, causing the skin to contract (tighten). Facial skin tightening is noticeable immediately after the treatment, and there is no downtime, making this an increasingly popular procedure. Additional skin tightening occurs over the next few months, but optimal results usually require two or three treatments about a month apart.

Types of Laser Skin Tightening:

Accent

This Dual-layer RF Thermotherapy stimulates the production of new collagen and improves skin surface texture. Treatments with the Accent system are quick and do not require anesthesia or a prolonged recovery time. Patients can resume their normal activities immediately. Best of all, Dual-layer RF Thermotherapy provides steady improvement with excellent, long-term skin tightening results.

Harmony^®XL

This Treatment is ideal for targeting those telltale signs of aging, including jowl and neck laxity, sagginess under the eyes, droopy brow lines, and nasolabial folds. Using the Harmony induces neocollagenesis (an increase in collagen production) resulting in an increase in skin firmness. A series of three to six treatments produces a tighter, fresher appearance without pain or invasive procedures.

Thermage®
This is a procedure that uses radio frequencies that are quite intense. It is intended to get increased growth of collagen plus make the skin tighter. It also will redefine the contours of your face so it looks more youthful. It is considered a safe procedure for use on the neck, chin and your eye wrinkles. This is an outpatient one time treatment that takes about one hour.

Ttian™
This is a procedure that tightens the skin using an advanced form of infrared light that can penetrate your skin layers. It increases collagen growth way down deep in the tissue supporting the epidermis. This is a laser treatment that supports a more evenly distribution of energy than if using one of the radio frequencies. This procedure works best at tightening the jaw and neck skin areas and may need several treatments to see success.

Exilis

The biggest advantage of the Exilis equipment is its safety. Previous fat reduction technologies worked similarly but were unable to penetrate deep enough without harming the patient’s skin. Exilis comes equipped with DTC (Dermal Temperature Control) and EFC (Energy Flow Control). The DTC system ensures the patient’s skin is left unharmed. It even keeps track of the skin’s temperature and allows us to adjust the machine’s temperature accordingly. The EFC system allows for more efficient and consistent results: eliminating unpredictable strengths of pulsed light emitted by similar machines. The machine also pauses every thirty seconds so your medical technician can take an accurate skin temperature, minimizing the risk of any patient discomfort.