Does Thermage CPT Really Work?

One of the big issues that is often disregarded is Patient Selection. Because many treatments are "over hyped", it can be easy to assume any procedure will work for everybody. That's simply not so.Age causes multiple challenges, one of them being the loss of the nice, springy collagen that keeps skin firm and tight. Thermage, and other heat-creating procedures, are designed to tighten up "old" collagen and produce new collagen that is smoother, tighter and more closely fitting to tissue layers underneath.Here's the problem: Not everyone's skin will respond. Why not? Because your body must still possess the ability to actually create an abundance of new collagen that will outpace the natural collagen breakdown that occurs more and more rapidly as you get older.You can think of it as a race of sorts. The older you are, the faster your collagen breaks down, resulting in wrinkles and sags. At the same time, new collagen, which is what keeps you looking younger, develops at a slower pace. In time, the collagen breakdown is happening faster than the collagen development. (This happens everywhere, not just your face!)This is where heat-based tightening comes into play. For a person who has consistent new collagen developing all along, results from treatments such Thermage can be relatively quick and sometimes profound. The new collagen then outpaces the older collagen loss. BUT, on the flip side, for someone who is deep into age-related collagen loss cycles, the result can be disappointing. Which takes us back to Patient Selection.As to new and old Thermage, the companies behind these technologies are always investing in improvements. The Thermage FLX is faster and more comfortable, and yes, better. For the right person, it's a great way to firm up skin and improve crepey skin, especially on the body.Go with proper expectations; realize this is not a facelift; know if you are a good candidate.

Thank you for the great question.
Thermage CPT is a great option if you are looking for non-invasive skin tightening and lifting.  It can be used to treat sagging skin, loose jowls and is particularly used when patients do not want a surgical facelift or a surgical neck lift.  It is easy to perform and has no downtime.  Patients find it comfortable and results continue to improve over the subsequent 6 monthly following a treatment. 
For people who have more severe sagging of the skin and who want more dramatic results, a surgical facelift or a surgical neck lift is usually recommended.

Thermage CPT offers more uniform heating and better cooling as well as added comfort due to the different levels of vibration that distract from the heat of the tip of the handpiece. The vibration option is turned off for eye treatments. While the amount of time required to treat an area remains the same, it is much more tolerable with more noticeable results, possibly due to patients being able to tolerate a higher setting with the CPT. Results can take up to 6 months, but I noticed with the CPT there is a more noticeable immediate tightening post treatment. Results can vary from person to person and may require more than one treatment.

As with every treatment, make sure you are a good candidate and that you know what to expect. This is a noninvasive procedure with no downtime, so you won't have a dramatic result.