Patients naturally want to put their best face forward, and demand for fillers and neurotoxin continues to grow as patients seek to achieve a younger visage. But as technology has evolved—along with patient expectations—the focus has shifted to body tightening and non-facial rejuvenation. In 2016 there was a $1.5B increase in expenditures on aesthetic procedures overall, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports, and 44 percent of that spend was on non-surgical treatments. Among non-surgical, device-based procedures, skin tightening saw the second greatest increase in demand—up more than 11 percent.
One of the devices driving that demand: Thermage. With its new FLX platform, the well-known radiofrequency (RF) system may inspire even more demand.
Taking stock of the new FLX platform, a few things stand out for Michele Green, MD a dermatologist in New York City. “The first thing is that just from a practical standpoint, it's a much faster device.” Whereas treatments with older platforms could take at least an hour and a half, Thermage FLX cuts the treatment time by at least a third. “Patients like it better because I don't have to tell them, ‘Oh, you need to be here for an hour and a half.' I tell them, ‘You need to be here for an hour or less.' They love that.” The increased speed is due, in part, to a 25 percent larger treatment tip.
Both cases courtesy of Michele S. Green, MD
Secondly, updates to the cryogen cooling device enhance patient comfort. “Not that the previous version hurt, because it really didn't,” Dr. Green notes. “But the FLX platform is even more comfortable than the older platforms.”
Finally, the new AccuREP delivery allows for deeper heating with an optimized energy delivery algorithm. “It automatically measures and tunes the amount of energy delivered to the patient in the treatment, so you know that you're getting the right amount each time,” Dr. Green explains.
Taken together, these features allow for an effective, patient-friendly treatment for the face as well as off the face. In fact, Dr. Green uses Thermage for all body areas: necks, arms, legs, abdomens, buttocks. When it comes to treatments on the body, the FLX offers advantages, including a larger body treatment tip, as well as the addition of vibration to the body tip.
In that borderline between the “face” and “body,” Thermage is an ideal treatment for jowls, according to Dr. Green. “I find that if you do a Thermage/Fraxel combination where you're addressing pigmentation, sun damage, fine lines with the Fraxel, the results are outstanding,” she says. “The patient has the Thermage for tightening and the Fraxel to work on the epidermal changes. I pair that often with a neuromodulator and some kind of filler.”
Armed for Success
In her practice, Dr. Green is seeing demand for non-facial treatment. “The number one thing that patients ask me about off-body are the arms,” Dr. Green says. “I've done a whole series of patients now with fabulous results.” Dr. Green often starts with Thermage to tighten the arms and follows with cryolipolysis. “They look fantastic, and there's been nothing else non-surgically that's been able to achieve that,” Dr. Green says. She uses a similar approach for legs.
Dr. Green believes that Thermage offers distinct advantages over other RF devices on the market. Primarily, Thermage is more comfortable. Other systems are “incredibly painful,” Dr. Green says. “People have to get numbed.” Dr. Green has also had patient present to her office after receiving treatment with other RF systems that produced excess fat loss. In her 10 years using Thermage, she says results have been predictable and consistent.
Vic Narurkar, MD emphasizes that the updated body tip on FLX enhances the ability to comfortably treat the body. “Thermage FLX incorporates the vibration, so now you have vibration not only on the face but also on the body,” he says. “It increases the comfort even for the body not just the face.”
“I've been using Thermage for close to 19 years,” says Michael Kaminer, MD. “I've never seen a long-term side effect. Patients of ours are extremely happy because virtually everybody will see some sort of a preventive benefit, and the statistics prove that well over 90 percent of patients—in our practice it's well over 95 percent of patients—will actually see a visible result after they have the Thermage treatment done.”
Body Check
Thermage FLX offers updates to a proven system that benefit patients no matter what area is being treated. Speed, comfort, and consistent results are recognized as a win-win-win by patients and physicians alike. For tightening the arms, abdomen, knees, and necks, Thermage FLX is a go-to for many leading cosmetic experts. As Dr. Narurkar says, “Thermage FLX makes the gold standard even better with faster treatments and also with more accurate real time patient feedback.”
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