“3 Weeks out with Thermage. So Far I'm Really Happy”

As I passed my 49th birthday, I wanted to treat myself to a fresher look. I've always looked young for my age due to the fact that I carry quite a bit of volume in my face, but the older I get, the further south it slides! I can see a future of jowles ahead, but I'm in no way ready for a real facelift.

I tried Perlane a few years ago to smoothe my marionette area, but it really didn't do what I wanted. Wrinkles and lost volume aren't my issues. Just before the Thermage, I got a botox brow lift which I liked, but of course, that heavy looking lower buccal fat area was still there and beginning to hang. Yuk.

I have been thinking of Thermage for a few years, but I've been pretty scared by all the problems I read about on the internet. I talked a lot about it with my "beauty provider" Kelly and she was very very honest about what she thought Thermage could do for me.

She made sure I understood that some people see no results, but that others are happy with it and it could be difficult predict which catagory a person would end up in. She did reassure me though, that she had not seen any of the issues I'd read about with fat loss with the improvements made to the machine and procedure.

For myself, I wanted to maintain the "great for my age" skin tone I was just beginning to lose. I didn't mind the idea of not seeing an actual lift if I could just stop the sag where it was, if that makes sense. So, a week before Christmas, I took the plunge.

It was not painless, but it was not unmanageable either. The process took about an hour or a little more and I got 900 pulses on my face and neck. I felt great when I left, perhaps just a touch swollen, but that was gone the next day. I also had a tender area under my chin on the right side which lasted about a week. I felt like I could see a little tightening right away, but told myself it was my imagination or the swelling.

But this morning, 3 weeks out, I took an "after" pic of myself to compare with a "before" pic I had taken...and I can really see a difference! It's subtle, but definite and it makes me feel very excited to see what the months ahead will bring.

The botox brow lift has really been enhanced. You can actually see a little slice of eyelid where it was hooded before. Also there is a slight lift to my cheeks and the buccal fat. My jawline is not smooth, but there's improvement that I hope will continue. The most surprising thing is that my lips seem plumped and evened out (my lips are fullish, but unevenly so).

I am not comfortable posting pics, but I will send my before and 3 weeks after pics to anyone who wants to see them and you can tell me what you think...is it wishful thinking?