Non-Surgical Skin Tightening

What is skin aging?

Skin aging is a dynamic mechanism that arises from two basic factors:

Intrinsic or Innate factors are insidious deteriorating elements that are influenced by internal metabolic processes, genetic programming, cellular metabolism & hormones
Extrinsic or Exogenous factors are caused by Ultraviolet rays in the sunlight, cigarette smoking, environmental pollution, etc.

The consolidated effect of both is seen as fine wrinkling, parched, thin, and transparent skin and depleted elastic nature of the skin. As the skin elasticity reduces, gravity starts working on the facial skin and sags it down. Facial wrinkling, jowls, droopy eyelids, etc. clearly demonstrate the aging process.

What are the various modalities of Non-surgical skin tightening?

In recent times, treatment modalities like the HIFU and RF have come into limelight due to their non-invasiveness and low or no downtime for the treatment of loose and sagging skin.

HIFU stands for high intensity focussed ultrasound. It consists of a piezoelectric transducer which produces focussed ultrasound beams. This transducer releases ultrasound waves over a length of around 2.5cm which are focussed at 1.5mm (superficial dermis), 3mm (deep dermis), or 4.5mm (SMAS layer) depth. Like a magnifying glass, the transducer focusses the ultrasound to the desired depth and at the focal spot, there is a swift rise in temperature to 60-80°C within a very short period (typically 1-20sec). This causes an immediate contraction of native collagen which is subsequently followed by cell injury and tissue shattering due to both coagulation necrosis and protein denaturation. These events occur at the deeper focused zones, while the superficial tissues are left safe and unaffected.

The indications of HIFU include :

Brow lifting
Facial rejuvenation.
Fine & deep wrinkles of the face.
Infraorbital area laxity.
Crows feet.
Nasolabial folds
Mentolabial grooves.
Submental skin.
Double chin

RF or radiofrequency utilizes high frequency (0.3 to 10 MHz) alternating current. Intrinsic tissue resistance (impedance) to the passage of electrons converts the electric current to thermal energy causing heat generation. The level of energy of the alternating current and tissue resistance determines the amount of rising in temperature and the depth of heating.

The thermal damage thus caused stimulates the alterations in collagen configuration and produces neocollagenesis in deep layers of skin and subcutaneous tissue. The Indications of RF treatment include:

Complete facial rejuvenation.
Wrinkles around eye
Fine lines on the forehead.
Jowls
Nasolabial folds
Perioral fine lines
Undefined jawline

What to expect and how to go ahead with the treatment with Dr. Arun once you have decided?

Dr. Arun Panda is a fellowship-trained Facial Cosmetic Surgeon. He is well experienced in various Facial plastic surgeries, Non-surgical Facial aesthetic procedures, and Hair Transplant surgery. His practice is totally dedicated to what he mentions as “creating beautiful faces”! Nonsurgical facial aesthetic procedures require an aesthetic approach and a multitude of equipment to deliver satisfactory results. His practice is equipped with every possible device and lasers to deliver the best possible aesthetics. His international training helps him to have a global and realistic approach to all facial aesthetic concerns.

Both HIFU and RF are effective and noninvasive modality for tightening and rejuvenating wrinkled, photoaged facial skin and contour facial skin laxity. It works on the principle of stimulation of the repair process by producing new collagen and elastin and by reversing the clinical and the histopathological signs of aging. The procedure has an added advantage of being relatively risk-free with little or no downtime. Patient selection is very important for delivering the best results. Hence, Dr. Arun spends time in clinical evaluation and assessing the patient’s expectations before giving treatment plans. If patients are chosen carefully, like patients with mild to moderate skin laxity, facial wrinkles, lower eyelid laxity, etc, patients can expect excellent skin tightening results.

Statistics (scale of 1 to 10):

Invasiveness: 2
Pain factor: 2-3
Patient satisfaction: 10