When a non-invasive skin treatment becomes widely available, like Thermage, it can be so tempting to give it a try. Who doesn’t want to look younger, without undergoing surgery?
But when it comes down to making a decision, it can be very tough to determine whether you should plunk down your hard-earned money. After all, treatment with lasers and related equipment isn’t cheap. With each session’s fee, you’re helping the physician amortize the cost of the equipment as well as paying for their time. Therefore, most of what you read online is overwhelmingly positive as practitioners try to get you in the door. It can be incredibly difficult to get an objective feel for whether a treatment has a good chance of success for you.
Let’s take a look at Thermage, a technology that has been around for several years now. Brought to market by a company called Solta Medical, Thermage equipment employs radio frequency energy to actually heat deep layers of skin and tighten collagen from within. Treatment takes about an hour and costs about $1500 to about $3000 for your full face, depending on where you live.
If you’re considering Thermage, I encourage you to check out www.realself.com, one of the only Web sites around where you can read reviews by real patients. The bottom line on the site is that only 38% of the reviewers gave Thermage a “thumbs up.” Some patients go so far as to call the treatment “snake oil” and “a total scam,” but the average “thumbs down” review concludes that Thermage is just not worth what it costs.
Why is that? On another Web site called www.medicalspamd.com -- which bills itself as a place for physicians involved in cosmetic medicine to share information -- I found a posting by an aesthetician with extensive experience with Thermage. This is one of the best reviews of a skin treatment I have ever read, as it explains why a minority of people rave about Thermage while the majority seem to be extremely disappointed.
To summarize, along with explaining a few of the operational details of treatment, this experienced reviewer noted that it absolutely IS possible to have a good result. For this to be the case for you, several factors need to line up in place:
1) You have to be the right candidate. This is the most important factor of all. The writer explains that good candidates most often don’t have crepe-y, loose skin. They do have some volume left in their face, although has migrated lower and lower with time. Unfortunately, the reviewer notes that Thermage is marketed to a much wider group of people. And, even more unfortunately, many practitioners will not necessarily let you know if you’re not the ideal candidate;
2) Your provider must be skilled in using the equipment. The writer said some practitioners have a great eye for the treatment, some don’t; and
3) Finally, according to this reviewer, your provider should not be one to economize with the Thermage tips. Using old “consumables,” as they’re called, can give you a less than ideal result.
The conclusion this reviewer reached was that there are just too many variables involved, leading the majority of patients to be unsatisfied with their results. And when the price tag is a few thousand dollars, the cost/benefit equation indeed seems out of whack.
About that cost. Thermage is kind of a middle-of-the-road treatment when you consider the price tag. There are other alternatives to looking younger. If you’re spending more than $1500 on treatment, you’re approaching 10% of the cost of a surgical facelift. Deep down, if it’s real, lasting improvement you’re seeking, you might choose to save your money and have surgery.
On the other end of the scale, if you’re ok with modest improvement focused particularly on the quality of your skin’s surface, one poster recommended regular microdermabrasion treatments. These will run you roughly 10% of the cost of Thermage and will leave your face feeling and looking smoother and softer.
With so many options available these days for improving the look of your skin, it seems like a bad idea to spend serious money on a treatment with so many unhappy patients.