Thumb through any trashy magazine and you’ll find a feature naming and shaming ‘overdone’ celebs. You know the ones. In their quest for perfection under intense media scrutiny they’ve overdone it with the Botox, filler or had dodgy plastic surgery. Kim Kardashian is “paralysed by fillers” and has “lost all feeling in her face” according to New Weekly! magazine this week.
Unfortunately it’s a mistake everyday Australians can make too. I’ve learnt the hard way that “less is more” when it comes to anti-aging injections. My heavy brow made me look like a Neanderthal cavewoman for three long months while I waited for my (exceptionally wrinkle-free forehead) to move again.
I’ve since found a way to look natural while fighting the signs of aging by using the body’s resources to stimulate new collagen.
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is credited with sculpting Friends stars Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston’s taut jawlines, plumped cheeks and youthful eyes.
A HIFU treatment can reverse up to a decade of aging over six months post procedure. It’s got an affordable price tag too, at about an eighth of the cost of a surgical facelift. And because the treatment works in the sub-dermally, there’s no downtime.
So how does it work?
Ultrasound waves pass through the epidermis and the dermis to deliver heat energy at specific depths beneath the skin. HIFU energy targeting superficial layers achieves skin tightening, while deeper waves reach the SMAS (Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System), which is a layer of muscle and connective tissue rich with collagen. Collagen is a natural protein that makes skin look youthful by keeping it plumped and firmed. When heat energy is delivered to the SMAS, collagen is produced and the SMAS muscles are tightened. This lifts and rejuvenates sagging skin gradually over six months.
So if you’ve got a blurred jawline, wrinkly “turkey neck”, crepey skin, drooping jowls and also fine lines and wrinkles, this could be the solution to firm and lift your skin.
It’s certainly not a painless procedure. There can be fleeting discomfort, like a prickling sensation, but this means the collagen-boosting has begun. It takes between an hour and an-hour-and-a-half, so it’s something you can get done in a lunchbreak.
Post-treatment you can experience slight redness which normally resolves within the hour, some people have slight swelling, tingling and/or tenderness to the touch, but are these effects are mild and temporary.
Women in their thirties are turning to HIFU to maintain the firmness of their skin and those in their forties and beyond use it to lift and contour areas that have lost tautness and volume due to aging.
Anti-ageing skincare can only do so much. HIFU really is the alternative to going under the knife.
For more information visit the sculptress.com.au
Ta ta for now,
Victoria x
