Good and Bad Results - Depending on Location on Face

After reading all these posts, I was fearful to get Thermage. However, like many people I was talked into it by my Doctor since "the tips have significantly improved".

Would I do it again? Yes, BUT, I would have listened to my gut and not done my entire face. I wanted it for an eyebrow lift and I got a nice eyebrow lift. I also got a bit of tightening on the jaw line. I would recommend it for these two areas.

However, do NOT get talked into doing it on the entire face. I got weird indentations the exact shape of the tip at three places - under eye, and two places on my cheek. Not pretty, and a bit scary. I am hopeful that the indentations will go away since I got the same indentations from Affirm, which is not RF. I got slightly burned in two places (one did scab) and it left indentations and dark marks. It took a long time to go away (almost one year) - one mark went away 99% (there is such a faint trace around the old indent that only I would know it was the remnants of the old mark), the other mark (the one that scabbed) went away 85% (there is a slight indentation. Since the indentations look similar to the ones from thermage, I am hoping that they will go away as well, but I am not happy that I will have to wait so long to know if they do go away.

My advice for anyone considering Thermage:

1. Get a good Doctor or technician!!!!!!! I can't stress this enough. A litmus test is to ask them if they "shape" your face as they do it. They need to use a vector and pull your face in the direction that you want it to lift.

2. Under no circumstances would I recommend anyone doing their entire face. The risks for indentations are too great, especially under the eye. Stick with the areas that give you a non-surgical brow lift and perhaps by the jaw line.

3. Don't go for the gusto! I tend to think I have a high threshold for pain or I think I can grit and bear it, "no pain, no gain". Go for some pain in the bony areas around your forehead - it will hurt. But, if you decide not to heed my advice and do your face, GO FOR A LOW SETTING! Or, live with the possibility of indentations. I don't even see improvements in my cheek and eye area for the negative consequences of the pock marks.

Was it worth it? Yes, for the brow lift - it made a difference and I like the results. BUT, I sure wish I would have read a post like this one before I went to the Doctor that day...that's why I took the time to write this post. Take the good without the bad. Good luck and happy aging.

P.S. I do not recommend Affirm. I did not see any noticeable benefits and had to live with dark indentations for a while (one was a large one on my chin). I did like the results I got from Fraxel. In general, I prefer to go the laser versus scalpel route.