How soon will I see tightening after Active FX to the face? Is Thermage or Ultherapy better?

co2 laser does very little for "tightening and lifting."  its great for complexion and lines and some lifting around the jowls and under eyes, but we combine this treatment with ultherapy or thermage to get the best results.  Please see someone who is an expert in combination treatment.  Best, Dr. Emer.

If skin laxity is your primary concern, I would not likely recommend Active FX for you. This treatment is excellent for skin rejuvenation but not so effective in skin tightening. Ultherapy and ThermiTight are both better treatments for this purpose, as they are specifically designed to tighten skin. In addition to constricting underlying tissue, the procedures stimulate the body to produce more collagen for natural, long-lasting results. Make sure you work with an experienced, board-certified dermatologist who knows how to customize your treatment to your precise needs and goals to ensure an optimal outcome. 

Very good question. Active FX is an excellent choice for skin rejuvenation and minimizing the early signs of aging. It can also reverse mild laxity, but it doesn’t work particularly well on significant sagging. In a situation where Active FX did not provide sufficient tightening, I would likely recommend adding a nonsurgical skin tightening treatment like Ultherapy or ThermiTight to put the finishing touch on your anti-aging efforts. Make sure you work with an experienced, board-certified cosmetic dermatologist with a variety of treatment options so your plan can be tailored to your precise needs and aesthetic results.

Thank you for the great question.  Active FX is a good treatment for tightening and rejuvenating the face.  It removes wrinkles and dark spots and provides the "glow" that you mention.  For more severe droopiness, other treatments can be combined with Active FX for optimal results.  These include surgical options such as liposuction / liposculpture and facelift / neck lift.  Other non-surgical options include Threadlifts, Ulthera and Kybella.
If you would like to learn more about the procedure I recommend an in person consultation with a board certified facial plastic surgeon or dermatologist with cosmetic training.

Active FX is good for tightening especially around the eyes and eyelids. If you have a concern about saggy looking at lower face, Ultheapy and or lipo or kybella works better. But still, Active FX works well for facial skin tightening. I combine Active FX , Ultherapy, and lipo sometimes for the best result.

Hello and thank you for your question. Active Fx is primarily a "Surface" tool. By that I mean that the laser in this configuration will deliver the "Glow" you mentioned as the primary result. Tightening would be a secondary and unpredictable result for Active Fx. In combination with other skin tightening procedures such as Ultherapy you can obtain the result you desire.
Best of luck to you.

Active FX can tighten the skin if it goes deep enough but this is not it's best benefit. The laser will smooth the outer skin and create a smoother surface and nice glow, essentially giving back the FEEL of baby skin. But tightening is not the main effect and there are other methods out there that are better for tightening. Radiofrequency treatments such as Thermage or High frequency ultrasound treatments such as Ultherapy each work well but in my office I use Exilis Ultra 360 which is the only machine that utilizes both radiofrequency and high frequency ultrasound to give the chance of the most tightening. Of course, this must also compared to a face lift which gives the most tightening. But not all women need or want this (especially younger women at age 35)...it is just a comparison so that you know what to expect from a less invasive procedure.

Many people confuse what a laser will do to "resurface" their skin with a procedure used to tighten their skin.  Although you may get some shrinkage of the skin layer, and in areas where the skin is very thin like the eyelids get noticeably tighter, lasers don't lift the skin.  I describe a laser like a lawnmower in that it moves along the surface but anywhere there is a bump or an depression it follows the surface. The top layer is affected without changing the topography just as the grass is cut but the ground isn't affected.  "Resurfacing" is just that, and the amount of change is limited.  Controlled removal and heating of the tissue allows for a healing response which helps to lessen fine wrinkles and surface pigmentation but excessive treatment will cause scarring that can lead to permanent damage, like when the lawnmower blades cut into the ground and damages the roots and you're left with bare ground. If you're looking for non surgical "tightening" then look into Ultherapy. 

Any CO2 resurfacing, dermabrasion, or chemical peel will tighten the skin, improve on it's laxity, improve on wrinkles (up to 30-50% per treatment). No resurfacing technique is good for lifting as sagginess of the tissues is a problem of the underlying structures and not the skin, with resurfacing you are only targeting the skin. Gravity will always win over skin tightening (jowls, neck). You can't confuse tightening of the skin with lifting of the tissues; those are 2 very different terms.In my opinion, ActivFX does shrink skin up to some limit. That is the main reason when someone has transconjusctival eyelid surgery to remove fat; a chemical peel or ActiveFX (CO2 resurfacing) can be used to remove and tighten the skin (shrink it) without surgical excision. This is great for young patients because it prevents an incision under their eyelids. Most (if not all) surgeons do a chemical peel or laser after transconjunctaval fat excision to shrink the skin. On older patients then a skin pinch excision might be better, but it leaves a scar.Also patients that are young that have wrinkles under their eyelids can benefit from fractional resurfacing to reduce the amount of wrinkles. They will still have wrinkles in the lower eyelids especially when they smile because more skin is driven upward by the smiling movement. There is no way to get wrinkle free, but it can be diminished. You also have to be careful with the amount of resurfacing and aggressiveness of the treatment. The more aggressive you are in this area to remove wrinkles and tighten, it can backfire with an ectropion or eversion of the lower eyelid as you removed too much skin.Wrinkles is a normal part of aging, what we want is to be realistic and diminish them, not try to remove them or erase them.Usually any type of resurfacing (laser, dermabrasion, chemical) needs 6 mo to a year to allow the dermis to have the fibroblast lay down the collagen that they are going to be produced in order to decrease the amount of wrinkles in the area. This is the unpredictable part of the procedure (neither the surgeon nor the patient have control) and where the variance occurs. Different patients heal in different ways and not everybody lays down the same amount of collagen fibers.You also mentioned that your friend did the procedure due to a slight amount of laxity. Some difference could be seen if proper before and after pictures are taken under the same conditions. This means to have pictures with the same camera, same light, same background. I have a Vectra system that also helps take that same picture and position of the patient every time and it is amazing how much you can tell about a procedure with that system.Thermage and Ultherapy work in a different way. One uses radiofrequency and the other focused ultrasound. They try to do changes to the tissues under the skin. This means that the skin will remain with the problems that it has as it will be untouched. Many of this therapies are still rudimental and have the problem of not delivering constant results in the great majority of patients. Combination therapy can be done, but then cost of multiple procedures could be an issue for just a "slight amount of laxity"."This answer has been solicited without seeing this patient and cannot be held as true medical advice, used against any physician or as medical witness expert advise or court, but only opinion. This answer is for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. Seek in-person treatment with a trained medical professional for appropriate care."Hope this helps,Dr. Gus Diaz

Lasers such as ACTIVE FX are great to improve skin texture - lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation as well as sun damage. Tightening can be seen in some patients, however treatments such as Thermage and Ultherapy are better options as they can help improve skin tone. A tailored solution based upon YOUR skin will give you the best results. Dr Davin Lim. Brisbane. Australia.