The Psychology of Aesthetic Medicine: Beyond Skin Deep

In this episode of Anti-Aging Insights, Dr. Teri Fisher delves into the intriguing world of noninvasive skin tightening. As we age, our skin naturally loses its firmness and elasticity due to the decreased production of collagen and elastin, essential proteins that keep our skin looking youthful. Environmental factors like sun exposure, pollution, and lifestyle choices can further compound these effects, prompting many to seek effective solutions.

Dr. Fisher discusses the limitations and recovery concerns associated with traditional surgical options like facelifts, highlighting the rise of noninvasive technologies as a safer, cost-effective alternative with less downtime. These advanced treatments primarily work by delivering energy beneath the skin’s surface, stimulating collagen and elastin production.

The episode explores several popular technologies available today:

1. **Radiofrequency (RF):** This method utilizes radiofrequency energy to heat the dermis safely, promoting collagen production. Ideal for mild to moderate skin laxity, RF treatments offer gradual results requiring multiple sessions and maintenance.

2. **Ultrasound (Ultherapy):** Targeting deeper skin layers, ultrasound energy is perfect for those needing more intense lifting. While often more uncomfortable, this option presents longer-lasting results with significant tightening effects, especially on the jawline and neck.

3. **Laser Skin Tightening:** Known for its versatility, laser treatments penetrate both dermis and epidermis layers, addressing surface issues like fine lines. One must be cautious with varying skin tones to avoid hyperpigmentation risk.

4. **RF Microneedling:** Combining microneedling’s effectiveness with RF energy offers deeper collagen stimulation. This approach is beneficial for improving scars, wrinkles, and mild laxity, though it requires some healing time.

Dr. Fisher emphasizes that the best treatment depends on individual skin type, objectives, and desired laxity degree. Consultations at Anti-Aging Medical and Laser are recommended to design personalized treatment plans. Stay confident and well, and explore skincare options through informed and tailored choices. For further inquiries or to connect with Dr. Fisher, visit his website or Instagram.

Key Insights

• As we age, our skin loses collagen and elastin, key proteins that maintain skin firmness and elasticity, with environmental factors and lifestyle choices accelerating this process.
• Noninvasive skin tightening technologies provide safer, cost-effective options compared to surgeries like facelifts, though they require multiple sessions and ongoing maintenance for optimal results.
• Radiofrequency treatments heat the dermis to stimulate collagen production, leading to firmer skin; these are safe, minimally discomforting, and require repeated sessions to maintain effects.
• Ultrasound treatments, such as Ultherapy, target deeper skin layers for more substantial lifting and tightening, offering long-lasting results from a single treatment, albeit with potential discomfort and aftereffects like swelling.
• Laser skin tightening and RF microneedling offer versatile approaches by stimulating collagen at different skin levels, with the former improving surface texture and the latter combining micro-injuries with RF for enhanced tightening, though each has considerations for specific skin types.

Episode Transcript

Dr. Teri Fisher: Hey there and welcome back to Anti-Aging Insights. I’m Dr. Fisher, and today I’d love to help you to navigate a really hot topic, and that is none other than skin tightening. If you’re curious about noninvasive skin tightening, then this episode is for you. We are going to explore the different technologies out there, and break down exactly how they work. So today let’s start with a little bit of background on first of all, why our skin loosens with age? And then we’ll take a closer look at the science and the tech behind today’s top non-invasive skin tightening options.

So let’s get into it. First let’s understand a little bit about what’s actually happening with our skin as we age. Over time our skin produces less collagen and elastin, and these are two essential proteins that help to keep our skin firm and elastic. Think of collagen as the scaffolding in our skin providing the strength, and the elastin as the rubber bands, letting our skin stretch and then snap back. As production slows, as we age, that scaffolding weakens and those rubber bands start to lose their elasticity, or that snap. So age is a critical factor in this. Unfortunately, that happens to all of us. Also environmental factors also play a role. Things like sun exposure, smoking pollution, all of these things accelerate the breakdown of collagen and elastin. And of course, lifestyle choices, things like stress and genetics, these all have an influence on how early these changes begin and how much they impact us.

So here’s where noninvasive skin tightening really comes in. Surgery, like facelifts and eyelid lifts were once the only real way to tackle loose skin. And while they’re very effective, they obviously come with downtime, with risks, and also quite a hefty price tag. Noninvasive options can’t quite replicate the surgical results, but they’ve come a long way and they certainly offer a safer, more affordable approach to help tighten and firm the skin with less downtime.

I mean, think about a surgical procedure versus a non-surgical procedure, as I’ll get into and you’ll be able to see the difference there. In today’s market, we have multiple noninvasive technologies, and they work by stimulating the production of collagen and elastin in the skin in one way or another. Usually it’s by delivering some targeted energy beneath the skin surface. And you can think of this almost like a wake up call for your skin cells, pushing them to produce more of what’s been lost over time.

So let’s get into a couple of different types of technology that we can use for this. The first one is radiofrequency, sometimes just simply known as RF for short. This technology uses radiofrequency, type of energy to heat the dermis, which is the middle layer of the skin, without damaging the outer layer. This heating effectively stimulates the collagen production, which then firms and tightens the skin over time. So the way this works is the device sends these radio-frequency ways into the skin, creating a controlled area of heating, and in some ways it’s likened to a controlled thermal injury. This triggers a natural healing response where certain skin cells, namely the fibroblasts, they’re basically the collagen building cells, they get activated to produce new collagen. These treatments are generally very safe, minimal discomfort, and they’re often completed just in under an hour. The results can be seen in a few weeks, with ongoing improvements as the collagen continues to rebuild. The benefits of this is that you can get really great results for mild to moderate skin laxity. But you do typically need multiple sessions to get optimal results. And then you need some maintenance treatments to sustain them. So that would be a little bit of the downside if that is one of the things that is a consideration for you as well.

The second type of technology that we’ll talk about is ultrasound. So, this is also used in treatments for for skin tightening, particularly those that are known as Ultherapy. Ultrasound energy can target deeper layers than radio-frequency, making it a really good option for patients that are looking for more intense lifting and tightening effects. So this works by targeting these ultrasound waves to precise depths in the skin, generating heat, and again, stimulating collagen production at a deeper level. This deeper penetration makes it effective for areas like the jawline, the neck. So one of the great benefits about ultrasound tightening is that it offers longer lasting results than radio-frequency for many of the patients. And a single treatment can have significant results. Because it works at a little bit deeper level though, it might be a little bit more uncomfortable and there can be some minor swelling or tenderness post-treatment, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind for that.

Now a third technology that we use is laser skin tightening. Lasers have been around around an aesthetic medicine for decades and they have a lot of versatility, making them a really strong choice as well for skin tightening. The way this works is there is focused light, laser, and it is focused specifically to penetrate and heat the deeper layers of the skin. This controlled heating also, again, stimulates collagen production and helps to improve the skin texture and the firmness. Lasers can treat both the dermis and the epidermis, so the middle layer and the top layer, providing an added boost for surface issues for things like fine lines and uneven skin tones, that sort of thing. So the benefit of this is that you get the improved skin texture, alongside the tightening. However, there are certain skin tones that lasers can pose a risk for hyperpigmentation, particularly in darker skin types, so that is something that needs to be assessed before going ahead with laser skin tightening.

And then finally one other technology that I’ll mention is a combination of microneedling and radio-frequency, so that’s RF microneedling. This is a combination of radio-frequency energy with the precision of microneedling. So the way this works is you use ultra-fine needles to create micro little injuries in the skin. And then you combine that with the radiofrequency energy for an ever deeper stimulation. The process of creating these controlled injuries alone triggers collagen production, and then the RF adds another another layer of essentially tightening power. So this can be great for treating both the surface of the skin and the deeper layers. It’s also really effective for scars, wrinkles, mild skin laxity. However, it does have a little bit of downtime, a few days, because the skin does have to heal from those micro injuries.

So which one of these is right for you? Well, each one of these treatments has its unique strengths. And the best choice really depends on your skin type, what you’re targeting, the degree of laxity, as well as whether or not you want to have some improvement in the texture of the skin. So as you can see, there are a lot of different variables that go into this. These noninvasive skin tightening options have gotten really sophisticated, offering really good results with minimal downtime, but still it’s important to remember that one size does not fit all. And they generally work best when one has realistic expectations. Unfortunately, they’re not going to give you skin that you had when you were 10 years old.

So, how do we figure out what is best for you? Well, consultation is the ideal way to tailor a treatment plan to your needs. And I encourage you to come on in, chat with any one of us at Anti-Aging Medical and Laser. We’re happy to talk with you about what would be the best option for your skin tightening.

Of course, if you found this episode helpful, feel free to share it with anyone who might benefit and might be looking at options for non-surgical skin tightening. And as always, if you have any questions or you do want to explore your options for your own goals then don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m happy to chat with you at any point. Feel free to connect with me as well on my Instagram or on my website at Dr. Teri Fisher, D R T E R I F I S H E R. Until next time, stay confident. Be well. And I’ll talk to you soon.