Damaged

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

Just had treatment 6 months ago with a supposedly improved system. I am experiencing the same damage. What is the latest on a class action suit?

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.

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.

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.

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.