Victoria Manning, MD

I felt I looked really old and tired so I made an appointment for a consultation with Dr Victoria Manning in her lovely clinic in Lymington. Victoria is a true professional with the most caring manner, she puts you at ease and explains everything. I made an appointment for botox and fillers to be done in her Bournemouth clinic a few weeks later. I knew I wanted it done, I knew I would be in safe hands but between making the appointment and going I almost cancelled a couple of times through nerves! I am just sooooooooo glad I didn't. The Bournemouth clinic is beautiful and the staff are wonderful, all friendly and happy. That says so much about the owners Dr's Victoria and Charlotte. As soon as I went into the treatment room I felt safe and relaxed. Victoria again explained exactly what she was going to do. I am absolutely thrilled with the results. I look fresh and have lost that tired old look but I look completely natural. I can really see the difference when I look in the mirror (which I keep doing) and in photos. Friends have commented on how well I look. My best friend said 'Wow you are looking fabulous, you look like you've been on some amazing relaxing holiday which I know you haven't' I can tell my husband can see a difference although he hasn't said anything. I saw Victoria this morning for my follow up appointment and have booked another appointment for October. I couldn't believe the Before and After photos she showed me! Victoria is amazing and she's made me feel amazing. I feel completely safe in her hands.

After 18 months of researching about thread lifts and suitable practitioners, I decided to go with Victoria based on the fact that I felt confident and at ease having a doctor perform a procedure on me, Knowing that her knowledge and technique was on point having trained many Doctors in that procedure before. I wasn’t disappointed! Victoria lived up to all my expectations and more! From entering the beautiful clinic and meeting the reception staff to the end result, Victoria was extremely friend like yet professional.

The actual procedure was painless for me, just some tugging - I actually drifted off!! The worst part was having to sleep upright for the following 5 nights.

On my return home my family were amazed at the instant transformation, as was I! 

Well worth the 500 mile round trip, I’ve already got my next appointment booked for the Fox Eye. So excited.

I'm totally blown away by the whole experience, from the initial consultation to the procedures themselves, the customer service and Dr Manning's is so warm and funny, it was just perfect honestly. I felt completely looked after and it was clear she knew exactly what she was doing. I wasn't nervous at all. I debated about having something done for YEARS. But I saved and knew it was what I needed to give myself a confidence boost and mini makeover without being too crazy invasive.

The procedures were painless, the Elixis skin-tightening procedures were 4 individual sessions lasting about 15 minutes each, once a week, really relaxing actually, and after the second one, I could already see really noticeable results, that just got better and better. My skin was like a deflated balloon before I started this, and jowls were starting. I could literally feel my bones through my skin, but the plumping started almost immediately from the Elixis alone.

Ellanse was a little sore after the local anaesthetic wore off, but nothing major, NO BRUISING at all, some swelling but it went down within a few days. I had 4mls of Ellanse in my lower face, from cheekbones, a little under the tear troughs, and in my lower cheeks and sides of my chin. I'm GOBSMACKED at how much of a difference something so subtle can make. After the swelling went down I thought it was all gone, but after another couple of weeks, the results started to emerge...and WOW. I look at least 5 years younger. I lost quite a bit of weight recently and so my face had gotten quite gaunt, this sorted it all out perfectly. My skin texture is also massively improved, and brighter, pinker, just ALIVE basically. It looked dull and lifeless before, now I have plump soft skin full of life and colour. 

What else can I say? If you're on the fence, I highly recommend it, River Aesthetics and Dr Manning are the real deal.I dont look like Ive had anything done, I just look good. And I used to hate how I looked. THANK YOU!!

I came to Victoria for BI hormone treatment...as she was listening my story, she really gave attention to everything I said. Even it is uncomfortable to talk with stranger about your problems, Victoria made me feel that I can open up. I also had very heavy eyebrows, I struggle to see at work but have no idea about thread lift. I am also the worst person when it comes to pain... Victoria assured me, didn't hurt me and I can't express how greatful I feel now as I can see with ease

I have dissolved many years of filler over use recently in search of a natural lift. The reason for all the filler was due to doctors in the past telling me that they would lift my skin but with early signs of sagging, fillers just made me look puffy.
I spent a lot of time researching Silhouette Soft and the best doctors and came across River Aesthetics. The Doctors here are very experienced and national thread lift trainers so I knew I would be in good hands.
I had my brow and cheek areas done and I am blown away by the results. I'm not blown away because my face looks different, I'm blown away because I look like me only a few years ago and although I look glowing, no one would be able to tell that I had anything done at all. It is also true that the results do continue to improve and my skin feels tighter as the days go by.
I had my Silhouette Soft with Dr Manning. Although this is a quick treatment, she spent a lot of time with me so I didn't feel rushed and she explained everything really well. I didn't have any of the complications (bruising, dimpling etc.) that you read about online which shows how skilled Dr Manning really is and although I was a bit sore following the treatment, the procedure itself was painless. Dr Manning continues to answer any queries I have and has been absolutely brilliant. I'd 100% recommend her and River Aesthetics and only wish I'd found them sooner! They are honest, highly skilled and they aim to enhance natural beauty instead of making you look like an Instagram filter.

Dr Manning is absolutely outstanding!
Today I had a ‘Fox Eye (Brow Lift)’
The reason I chose this procedure is because
I’m 27 years old and from the age of 25 I have noticed my brow tissue has folded creating a heavy brow which has lowered the corner of my eyes. The treatment couldn’t be more comfortable and I didn’t feel a thing! I am overwhelmed with the results, it’s taken years of me and I went straight back to work with no downtime at all.
Would recommend this treatment to anyone who is thinking of having it!

This review has taken me some time to write because, in the interest of total transparency, in the first days and weeks after my procedure I wasn't convinced that the procedure was worth it. Although I have always looked young for my age (good genetics and healthy lifestyle), like a lot of people, there are parts of my face and body that I am not happy with and no amount of diet or exercise can fix these issues.
I've never had a strong jawline and whilst that hasn't particularly bothered me, I had noticed that my neckline was beginning to noticeably sag once I hit my 50th birthday (in January 2018). My weight has yo-yoed most of my life and I have always exercised a LOT. I believe that this combination contributed to a loss of elasticity in the skin underneath my chin. A passing comment in early 2019 by my boyfriend about my 'turkey neck' caused a massive nosedive to my already fragile self-image.
I'm on a limited income so plastic surgery isn't an option and, as someone who has always felt pride around my natural beauty (apologies if this sounds like I have a massive ego - I can assure you that this is NOT the case - it's just that the very few things that I have going for me I focus on and don't really want to mess with), I didn't want to have any sort of surgical intervention where there was any possibility that I might not end up looking like myself at the end of it. I didn't want that 'done' look.
I scoured the internet educating myself on relatively affordable, non-invasive options for tightening my jaw and neckline. I seriously considered having Ultraformer treatment (3D SkinLift) at a London medical spa where I was already undergoing a course of IPL sessions for hyper pigmentation but the testimonials for thread lifting were too compelling to ignore. I booked an initial consultation on Harley Street with another doctor who had numerous celebrity endorsements on his website and *literally* whilst walking to this first appointment, I accidentally came upon a scathing negative review about a botched plastic surgery job he had done on a patient. I was already feeling nervous about the whole thing anyway so I immediately rang his office and cancelled my appointment citing a last minute work meeting.
Still convinced that thread lifting was right for me, I went back to the drawing board to try and find another practitioner. After doing quite a bit of digging around I came upon River Aesthetics. I loved that the practice consisted of two female doctors both former GP's who now specialized in non-invasive aesthetic procedures and I decided to book in a consultation with Dr Manning. 
During this consultation, Dr Manning took plenty of time to get to know me and to understand my concerns. She patiently listened whilst I explained *all* of my hang-ups about my appearance and how much my self-confidence was suffering having entered my 50's. After examining my skin and its elasticity, it was decided that I was a good candidate for Silhouette Soft threads. She explained exactly how they worked, described the treatment in full as well as what I could reasonably expect as an outcome. She sent me away with literature to read and told me to think about it.
I felt so good after leaving her office and I knew that if I were going to go ahead, she was the only person I would trust to perform this procedure on me. Let's not forget that whilst this is non-invasive, it still involves YOUR FACE. Sure, the threads dissolve eventually but it's not worth thinking about how long you might have to live with the consequences of a badly done thread lift.
Six weeks after that initial consultation, I had my Silhouette Soft thread treatment. The lag was partly due to the time I spent considering the procedure but also because Dr Manning is only in London on Monday's which meant that I had to wait.
Dr Manning had warned me that the most uncomfortable part of the procedure would be the multiple injections in my face in order to numb me. In fact, I found this part to be the *least* uncomfortable. I had read multiple reviews about thread lifting and every review I came upon said that the procedure was not painful and that they were happily chatting away throughout. I have to say that I was *not* happily chatting away throughout. I found the sensation of the threads being inserted underneath my skin unsettling and the feeling of the cones being flattened by her fingertips was uncomfortable. Dr Manning described it as like popping bubble wrap underneath the skin - just to give you an indication. Once all the threads are in place, you are still not done! Dr Manning then has to physically lift the threads which feels like an odd tugging sensation. I have an overactive imagination so this probably doesn't help and I made sure to keep my eyes closed throughout the entire procedure. 
Once Dr Manning snips the ends of the threads, you are done. Everything I had read said that it's a 30 minute procedure but in total, my visit took nearly an hour. It is also said that you can return to work immediately afterwards but I had noticeable swelling in my face (I looked very puffy) and I would not have felt comfortable going back to the office. For me, this is not a lunchtime facelift.
I hadn't brought anyone with me to the appointment so one of the lovely women who work in the office was my official hand holder. Warm and cheerful, she was happy to let me crush her hands with my anxious, gorilla grip. She tried to keep me distracted by telling me about her recent holiday and also told me throughout how well the procedure was going. I would like to clarify again at this point that although it wasn't painful as such, it was uncomfortable and I sweat through the back of my shirt by the time it was all done. I would strongly recommend bringing a non-squeamish friend with you but if you can't get anyone to accompany you, Dr Manning will make sure that you have a member of staff there for moral support.
I was given a bag to take away that had paracetamol, chocolate, some beauty supplements and a neck pillow. You have to sleep on your back for the first 3 nights at a minimum and you can't do any high impact exercise for two weeks. 
I was in the minority of patients that experience bruising though it was very minimal and as I am olive skinned, you couldn't really see it. My face was tender to the touch for a few days 
afterwards which meant that on the first few days, ‘washing’ my face was a very simple splash of warm water over my skin. Over the coming weeks, I was experiencing a sort of tugging sensation underneath my skin and occasionally I’d feel a sharp pang/stab in my face? I rang the office a few times when I felt nervous and wanted to check that this was all within the realm of normal. Every person that I spoke to at River Aesthetics was extremely kind, patient and reassuring. I knew that I could see Dr Manning again if I felt it necessary but I decided to wait it out.
My procedure was 30th September 2019 and I have since had two routine follow-ups (28 Oct 2019 and 6th Jan 2020) with Dr Manning so that she could check progress. By my January consultation I was absolutely over the moon with my results. I do still have a slight sag underneath my chin but I personally feel that this is within my tolerance of what I expected as a reasonable outcome. This is not an invasive plastic surgery procedure but rather a non-invasive procedure done under local anesthetic in a doctor’s office within an hour.
You need to be realistic about what can be achieved given that fact. I couldn’t be happier with the improvement not just to my jawline but to the quality and appearance of the skin over my entire face. My skin is radiant, plump and more youthful looking and I feel that I look better this year than I did last year. I get so many compliments on how good I look and it’s just one of those things that people can’t put their finger on. This is exactly what I wanted!
Although, as I have mentioned several times, I didn’t find this the most comfortable of procedures, I would without hesitation have it done again. If I am still a good candidate in a year to 18 months time, I will do it again and I wouldn’t go to anyone but Dr Manning. I have taken lots of photos throughout this process and will try to trawl through them and upload here. I realise that this is a very long review but I know that I would have wanted to read someone like this when I was researching so I hope it helps. I'm happy to answer any questions!

I wanted to write this review because I couldn’t find any really in-depth reports on what to expect. The actual process isn’t too bad. A sharp pain from the anaesthetic and just slightly uncomfortable. This is my personal experience. I realise everyone is different. After the process I was left in shock, the hot chocolate definitely helped. I looked like a distorted chipmunk. I spent the night waking in pain and taking paracetamol.I was very uncomfortable for a week with considerable swelling and pain. This wasn’t a lunchtime process then back to work! 8 days later still swollen and the pain was worrying. After about 10 days it began to get better. After a month I still get the feeling of bee stings to the left of my face. I personally can’t see any difference. Still have detachment and jowls. Disappointing. Here’s hoping over the next month I will be more impressed.

Approaching 60 I decided my face needed some assistance to look brighter and hopefully a little younger. I researched avaliable treatments and decided on a 'thread lift'. Dr Mannings name came up numerous times as a highly regarded expert in this area. I visited the Bournemouth clinic with a little trepidation as I was a bit nervous but was soon put at ease with the warm welcome I received by the staff. I was immediately impressed by Dr Mannings open and honest approach as she recommended Ellanse over a 'tread lift' due to my skin being too thin...also it was cheaper! She explained the treatment and was happy to answer all my questions. She came over as a very warm and caring lady, allaying any fears and nervousness I had. The treatment was painless and Dr Manning explained throughout what she was doing and why. I've just had my 3 month follow up appointment and can definitely see the improvement in my face, it's fuller and brighter. Friends and family say that I look well which is the result I was looking for. I can't recommend Dr Manning more highly and wouldn't hesitate to return for further treatment.

Dr Victoria Manning is amazing
Thrilled with results.
Victoria is so gentle and kind and the very the best in her field an totally expert.
Have also been to Victoria for other treatments .
Wouldn't go any where else.
So knowledgeable and trustworthy.