In the past, if you were a patient who was just beginning to exhibit the early signs of jowling or drooping skin in the lower face, your only real treatment option was a facelift. Today, that is no longer the case. FaceTite® is a minimally-invasive procedure that occupies that sweet spot between non-surgical facial rejuvenation and a facelift. It’s a modality that truly delivers on its promises, using radio frequency to significantly tighten skin in the face and neck.
For Dr. John Q. Cook of Chicago, it’s been a true game changer in his practice. As a very early adopter, he has been extremely impressed with the results. He walks us through the procedure, who’s the best candidate and why it’s good for both men and women.
What is FaceTite?
“FaceTite is definitely one of the best things that’s happened in my practice,” says Dr. Cook. The reason for this is that it is a modality which actually does what it says it’s supposed to do: achieve significant skin tightening. The FaceTite probe looks like a pair of chopsticks that are attached at the end. One end of the probe passes beneath the surface of the skin while the other glides along the top of the skin through a couple of very small incisions. The radio frequency energy (RF) passes between the two tips of the probes to tighten skin.
It is this unique design that makes FaceTite so effective because it allows energy to get into deeper layers of skin with the sub dermal probe, unlike other non-surgical devices that are only topical. energy to be safely delivered to the treatment area. “You can get a tightening without having to actually cut out skin, and that’s very significant,” explains Dr. Cook.
FaceTite vs. Facelift
FaceTite is effective for treating the border between the jaw and neck. This is where the skin and tissues of the face start to fall with age, usually before the other areas. Jowling, the term used to describe the drapes of skin along the jawline, is one of the first things to really bug patients about facial aging.
Advantages of FaceTite over a facelift:
- no major incisions
- not a lot of downtime
- minimal bruising & swelling
- very little pain or discomfort
- immediate results
These results will also continue to improve over the next 6 months and will last for several years. However, FaceTite is not as powerful as a facelift. If you have a significant degree of excess skin, you are not going to be a good candidate for FaceTite. That said, it’s a great in between procedure for those patients who aren’t ready for or don’t want a facelift.
Who is a Good Candidate for FaceTite®?
Your best candidates “are what I would refer to as the pre-facelift patients,” explains Dr. Cook. These are men and women who are just beginning to notice a little early jowling or sagging at the jaw border as well as some diminished tone in the neck. While it is effective for both men and women, it is not the ideal option for patients with super heavy skin.
FaceTite Recovery
Besides being safe and effective, the other big benefit of FaceTite is the quick recovery. With a facelift, many patients don’t feel comfortable presenting themselves to the world for at least a couple of weeks or longer. However, with FaceTite, patients are typically presentable within a week. In fact, many return to work in just a few days. You can expect a little swelling and bruising, but patients are generally amazed at the ease of the FaceTite recovery.
While FaceTite is not inexpensive, “I think it offers a great value for what it’s able to accomplish,” says Dr Cook. It’s like anything – you have to decide whether it is worth it for you, but it is definitely less expensive than a facelift. FaceTite can also be combined with other facial procedures, such as an upper blepharoplasty or fat grafting to the face. The right combination is going to depend on your individual anatomy, lifestyle and desired outcome.
“I think it’s been a wonderful technology for us,” says Dr. Cook. In his experience, he is not aware of any other skin tightening modality that works as well as FaceTite.
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