Today I went through a Thermage treatment on my face and neck. I am posting a blog about it because before I booked the session I was eager to read about everyone’s experience with the procedure. I had gone to a consultation a few weeks ago and was given a perscription for percoset and valium. This was a red flag that it was going to be painful if I needed to be all doped up for it!
Once I arrived this morning I took the percoset and valium as my lady got everything set up. She took wax paper that was printed with a grid and a brush with alcohol and brushed the grid onto my entire face, neck and eyes. I looked like I was straight out of Tron! Then she stuck a big patch to my back and attached a wire to it. Ok so now I am thinking I am about to get electrocuted? She said it was to ground me. I’m not exactly sure what that means but it must have something to do with electricity? Now this is the freaky part of the procedure… since I was having my face, neck, and eyes done I needed my eyeballs shielded so she put in these bizarre black lenses onto my eyeballs, covering the entire eye & my eyelids closed over them. Thank goodness the valuim and percoset was coming on at this point because I am very uneasy about having anything done to my eyes. I have had Lasik 4 times on my eyes and since then am extremely squeamish. But alas, I was the one who signed up to have all this torture done so I better follow through with it. Thermage isn’t exactly cheap ($3200 for face, neck & eyes) therefore I want the best outcome possible. I tried my best to relax as she held open my eyelids and slid in the thick black lenses. Then she did a test go. I don’t know what to call it… is it a laser? It didn’t flash any light like the IPL Photo Facial does so I don’t think it is. Thermage rejuvenates collagen. Before I booked it I did a bunch of google searches with the question “Am I too young for Thermage”. The answers I found was that it was better to start younger where the skin has a lot more collagen. All my friends kept telling me I don’t need it but in my opinion it’s best to start the upkeep early… or maybe I like to spend money like a crazy mo’fo’…. who knows, haha. The test run didn’t hurt at all. In fact I couldnt feel a thing except pressure from the tip. My lady told me she wasn’t starting yet it was just to make sure everything was set up correctly and that I was attached to that big patch on my back. At this point I was feeling woozy from the drugs and a little more relaxed than just moments prior. Then she asked if I was ready as I lay there on the bed covered by a big cozy blanket with these bizarre black eyeballs. “Sure”. Then… “ZAP!” right on eyelid… this wasn’t too bad I thought… I can handle this but as it went on it got a little more painful each time. She needed to up the frequency gradually or else I might not see any results. The eyes didn’t bother me too much… what was worse than the sting of the tip was feeling those darn lenses moving around on my eyeball from the pressure being pushed. That was the worst part of having the eyes done. She went way down close onto my lash line on the top and bottom. When the tip was hitting my bottom lid it pushed the lenses up under my eyelids which grossed me out but I endured! She spent a lot of time on my lids pulling the skin up. The entire procedure is 3 hours for face, neck and eyes. After the eyes were finished she took a little suction tool and popped the lenses off. Holy moly, at one point I thought my eyes were going with it! Am I a worry wort? Perhaps! But darn, that felt weird! Now onto the NECK. Good god. This HURT!!!!!!!!! The level must have been pretty low on my eyes and she must have upped it for the neck because it was unbearable. At this point I took another percoset and valium to help ease the pain. In all honesty I think I needed to be out cold because even with the drugs I had to ask for the level to be taken down. The worst part was right over the esophagus and down toward the bottom of the neck where it meets with the collar bone. I can’t imagine doing this without being doped up! There is no way! It’s a very sharp sting over and over again. The tip is kind of small compared to the space it has to cover. Expect to get zapped a lot! She gave me 2 balls to squeeze but they didn’t help too terribly much. What I needed was to be strapped down like in a crazy bondage scene and forced to submit! It got to a point with the neck pulses that my legs would flail about as I needed to release the tension from the pain of the zap! I had to keep my head as still as possible. Once the neck was over we moved onto the face. She concentrated on the forehead, around the mouth and the sides of the cheeks. This wasn’t too bad but every now and again there would be a zap that would send me over the edge. Every 3rd or 4th zap would hurt really really bad! Because I have braces on my teeth with metal brackets in the back and a metal wire I had to cover my entire teeth with gauze. I looked ridiculous & couldn’t talk! At first I only covered my back molars with the gauze but once the tip started zapping around the front of my mouth I felt this weird heat jolt across the metal wire inside my mouth so I stuck gauze all in the front for protection. Once it was all finished after about 3 hours… it was a little more than 3 hours as she took a lot of time and attention… she wiped off the grid with alcohol and put arnica on my face and neck. I couldn’t drive so my boyfriend came to pick me up. It was s adorable when my lady met my boyfriend … she turned to me and said, wow he is cute!. I told her I know and what’s amazing is that he has put up with my crazy ass for going on FIVE years! I was feeling pretty out of it as she walked me up to the door. My face felt swollen and tight.
Right now my face is still slightly swollen and feels a little tight. Results aren’t really expected for some months and up to 6 months and the collagen needs time to rejuvenate. I’m curious to see some results in my skin. In a few months I’ll do a Thermage update and let you know if it was worth it. I really wish I could have just been put out cold so that I could endure a heavier level. I’m worried that since it was so hard for me to endure and the level had to be lowered that I won’t really see much results… but time can only tell!
So to sum it all up if you are thinking of doing Thermage understand that it HURTS! It is far worse than the IPL. The IPL is like taking a walk in the park in comparison.
