BOSTON -- As Americans live longer and more active lives, interest in looking younger is soaring.
Thanks to new technology, there's another way to turn back the clock without going under the knife.
Ora Dunbar is looking for some pretty specific changes.
"I want it to eventually become a little tighter -- the loose skin around the base of the chin and the neck," Dunbar said.
She is getting thermaged. Newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration, thermage delivers electrical energy to the skin in the form of heat, which tightens skin by shrinking collagen.
"What it does is it allows us to get some face-lift quality results without any surgery, and that is a tremendous advantage," Dr. Michael Kaminer said.
Kaminer has thermaged about 50 patients and said that the treatments pose no significant risks.
"People can get back to their normal lives the same day -- minimal swelling, no burning, no bruising, no redness -- it's fairly invisible," Kaminer said.
A topical anesthetic and about an hour in the doctor's chair are all you need. The results are supposed to be permanent, but it takes three to four months to see them.
"The collagen molecules sort of come together over time," Kaminer said. "So once you've gotten the collagen to shrink, that's done, it's locked in."
For Dunbar, who had her face thermaged in June, the downside of the wait is a small price to pay for the pickup in her mood.
"Well, I think you do feel better about yourself when you look in the mirror and you don't see as many lines," she said.
Massachusetts General Hospital's Dr. Rox Anderson said that thermage is a useful tool. Anderson said that there's a minor risk of burning the skin and more than one treatment may be necessary.
As for the cost, one thermage treatment is currently about $1,500.
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What Is Thermage?
