ThermiTight RF. How long does swelling last after this procedure?

There is a great variability between cases in the amount of swelling and numbness that occurs after ThermiTight radiofrequency facial and neck tightening and lifting.  Some patients will not see much swelling but others may have up to 10 days to two weeks of facial swelling. The latter tends to occur more when there is so much sundamage and poor elasticity of the skin that the doctor heats up the dermal and subcutaneous tissues longer trying to get more contraction and collagen production.  The younger the patient and the less sundamaged, often means that the treatment might not need as much time or duration of heat as the older more sundamaged patient. So that patient with better skin probably will swell less and have less chance of prolonged swelling. Numbness and even muscle weakness from nerve irritation from the heat can last for days, and rarely even months, not dissimilar from a facelift. It is very rare for this to be permanent.Overall we are finding there to be a high patient satisfaction rating of this procedure in my practice. It is the in between procedure giving more results typically than the non invasive procedure but certainly not as signficant as that which can be obtained after a facelift (but no cutting or stitching is involved with ThermiTight).

Swelling after thermitight usually is present for about 24 hours after the procedure.  Some patients will complain of numbness to the overlying skin but this is temporary with sensation returning during the healing process. Results can take up to 6 months to fully see the maximal result.

Swelling after any facial proceedure can increase for the first 4-5 days.  The level of swelling is multifactorial to include add on procedures. Reguardless of the amount of swelling both the surgeon and patient always desire a faster end result.  The facial rejuvenation patient should also realize the process will continue to improve over the weeks and months ahead.  We tell the patients expect 2 weeks of decrease swelling.