Thermage: Stories

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Face Looks Worse and Now I Have Undereye Bags - Gulfport, MS

Damaged

Not Worth It
Cost: $2,800
Gulfport, MS

It is 6 weeks post treatment and I still have to...

2 Jan 2013

It is 6 weeks post treatment and I still have to pack my eyes with ice every morning to reduce the bags under and over my eyes which were not there before. (Note: I didn't even have the treatment on my eyes.) I also have dark circles under my eyes now - I never had dark circles before. Even with the ice packs, the swelling is still noticeable throughout the day and does not diminish entirely. I always wore hats and sunglasses and had no issues with the skin around my eyes until now - now I have lizard eyes and my face looks damaged and 10 years older. I am doing everything I can "internally" to help my face heal. I would be happy just to go back to what I looked like before the treatment - I thought I was doing some maintenance work. It has been painful to look in the mirror. I am doing the following to give my body what it needs to heal - Vitamin C (Emergen -C) & mega doses of collagen I, II, III every morning and night (GNC brands - Resvitale & NeoCell); protein shakes in the morning, Vita E, Omega & Vitalizer multivitamins & Vivix (Shaklee brand); Dr. Perricone hypoallergenic skin care products & another dose of his skin care vitamins, Skinceuticals vita C products, Trivita's Nopalea and Adaptuit for inflammation and stress. And lots and lots of PRAYER and trying to get adequate sleep. I am spending hundreds of dollars to help just get me back to where I was. I have seen some improvement since the first four horrid weeks. By improvement, I don't mean through Thermage - but through my internal regiment. Face is still damaged - far from what it looked like before the treatment, but I can look in the mirror now (still with regret) but not with such despair. I just wish I had done this internal regiment with my healthy face instead of after I microwaved it with Thermage. Doctor is blowing it off and commenting on how good the picture looked (he was looking at my "before" pictures) and then walked out of the room before I could compare the before and after and discuss the damage. I hope this helps others who are desperate and feel helpless on what they can be doing to help their healing process. I also believe my lymph nodes were damaged. The treatment was extremely painful on my neck. I asked for it to be turned down, and they would not saying I wouldn't get any benefits from a lower setting. I have had a few lymph massages which have temporarily helped drainage for the day, but the next morning the puffiness and bags are back. If anyone is interested, I can keep posting progress to let you know how I am healing and if I still regret it months down the road.

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Comments (8)

MsGulfport 13 Apr 2013

I was looking in to having it done. Maybe not. Would you tell me what doctor you used? I don't want to get ripped off. Thanks!

Damaged 19 Apr 2013

Don't be worried about who the doctor is - DON'T do the procedure. I am 5 months past now, and my face has improved some with time. I have had to become used to morning ice packs on my eyes for 20 mins as an every day ritual now. The face breakouts and cystic acne far exceed what I experienced pre-acutane treatment (4 years ago) and are now leaving scars. My face was much better before the Thermage treatment. Do yourself a favor financially and emotionally, don't get your face microwaved "cooked/aged". I took the RealAge test for my skin, and while last year before treatment my skin tested out 9 years younger (tested as age 40 although I was 49). Now with the skin changes after the Thermage, I just retested recently for my 50th birthday, and my skin age is now 51. I aged my skin 11 years and am now a year beyond.

MsGulfport 20 Apr 2013

Thank you for the warning. I have sensitive skin and had a facial years ago and it took about a week for my skin to get back to "normal". I'm looking for a place in the area to try again just because my skin is getting saggy around the neck and cheecks. I'm have not used anyone in Gulfport and was trying to find a good place to go. It does not swem like many people from our area post on this site.

Damaged 16 May 2013

Update 6 months: I have very fair and sensitive skin too. Nothing was wrong with my skin before the procedure, just a little droop starting around checks and jowls. (Now my whole face is drooping.) I already looked in my 30's although I was nearing 50. No problem with the eyes whatsoever; they used to be my best feature - no visible aging there as I always wear sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen. As gift for myself for coming upon 50, I thought I would do some preventative maintenance work and freeze time - no downtime (yeah right). I can say this is the #1 regret of my whole entire life. Now 6 months post procedure, I need a facelift just to get back to where I was before the procedure. I only thought I had a little sagging before. Saw my doctor for my 6 months checkup today, and he is still puzzled about my now severe acne condition. He wouldn't link my bad results to the Thermage treatment. I told him I had things happening to my face that weren't there before but now are immediately after, and I know it is not a coincidence. While he at first did not acknowledge my complaints, when I said ok what it is going to take to fix my face, he started pointing out all of the areas of my face that I was just complaining about telling me it was fat loss and that what I thought were swollen areas are actually now visible fat pads that have come into sight since the fat loss around it. It would take filler injections to fill in the hollows around my eyes. He finally did validate me when he acknowledged that he couldn't see the pads in the before pictures, but they are immediately visible in the post pictures and have remained until this day 6 months later. The texture of the face has gotten worse. I can't even stand to look in the mirror or have pictures taken of me. My skin has aged 15 years. People always asked me before when I was going to age because I took such good care of my skin. I can't believe I actually paid to look this haggard. I don't smoke, drink, or subject my face to the UV, but now my face looks as damaged as those who do. I don't even know what kind of money or pain it is going to take to get me to feel ok about myself again. For work, I have to present in front of groups of people, and this has caused me to lose confidence in myself.

Damaged 18 Jan 2013

Update: Week 8 - Still packing eyes with ice in the morning and have added Prep H to help shrink the swelling. Add 30 more minutes to your morning to get ready. The days of moisturizing and going are gone. When swelling goes down now I have loose baggy skin. Acne breakouts worse. Skin looks creepy and like a prune where it used to be tight. Smooth cheek surface now looks like someone layed a textured paper towel against it. Eyes still dark underneath. If I could just get back to where I was before I had the procedure I'd be happy. This has taught me a big lesson - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Megan P (Community Manager) 18 Jan 2013

I'm so sorry to hear. :-/ Would you post some pictures so we can see what you are describing? It would be really helpful.

Damaged 16 May 2013

I don't post pictures of myself on the internet; however, I would be happy to meet with anyone in my area that would like to see my before pictures and now my actual face if they are contemplating this procedure.

Megan P (Community Manager) 3 Jan 2013

It is always a disappointment when you don't get the results you were hoping for from a treatment, but even more upsetting if you feel things actually got worse because of it. :( I'm glad you are doing everything you can to help heal. Please do continue to let us know how you are doing. We will definitely want to know.