Alternatives to Thermage for Loose Skin?

Morpheus8 provides both skin tightening and skin resurfacing improvements. The technology uses radiofrequency deep subdermal heating to effectively tighten skin and remodel the superficial texture, such as scarring and enlarged pores. Combining Morpheus8 with lasers can give both complexion and laxity improvements in one treatment, so it's an ideal add-on treatment for those who care about preventative sagging or scarring improvements. You can also add this on to liposuction or internal heating to get more improvement in the areas treated.  I suggest getting a formal evaluation with a cosmetic dermatologist to develop a treatment plan that works for you. Best, Dr. Emer

Excellent question. Thermage is an excellent choice for individuals that have experienced mild to moderate skin laxity and sagging in the jowl region. However, it is not the only choice. At our office, we also offer Ultherapy, which uses ultrasound energy to tighten the skin. Another option I love is CO2 laser resurfacing, which can dramatically tighten the upper and lower eyelids as well as the entire face when done properly. My favorite option for the upper neck is ThermiTight with micro-lipo. Please review my before and after photos and you will see what I mean. I encourage you to make an appointment with a board-certified dermatologist that specializes in skin rejuvenation procedures. Get an in-person evaluation and recommendations for the best treatment for you. 

Thermage has noticeable but very limited results. Other skin resurfacing procedures tend to tighten the skin to an extent to smooth some of the fine lines, improve pigment problems and diminish pore size. What they do NOT do well is to minimize jowls and other signs of facial soft tissue laxity. Only a mini facelift or facelift will take care of this problem in a significant fashion.

If you are a candidate for surgery and are considering a face lift, then you should consider that over Thermage. If you do not want surgery or if you have medical conditions that prevent you from having surgery, then Thermage is a good choice.  The newer technology allows sufficient tightening in some patients to see a dramatic improvement, although it is not as excellent a result as surgery.

The first thing to know is that none of the nonsurgical treatments such as Thermage produce the same results as surgery; in other words, there is no "nonsurgical facelift." We have learned a few things about optimizing results with Thermage however. One is that older patients, whose collagen in their skin is depleted, don't respond as well. The ideal patient is someone in their 40's to mid-fifties. The other thing is that Thermage applied immediately after liposuction enhances the skin tightening. A great option for some patients is to do a little bit of lipo under local anesthesia, followed by Thermage. (some pictures here: http://www.drbaxter.com/thermage.html and video here: http://www.theplasticsurgerychannel.com/plastic-surgery-procedures/body-aesthetics/liposuction/liposuction-combined-with-thermage-shows-promising-results.html)