April 01, 2020 | Blog, Medical Spa Info & Tips
9 minute read
As we age, our skin is one of the first parts of our bodies to show the side effects of growing older. This often includes loose, sagging skin, fine lines, and wrinkles. When the skin loses its laxity, it can be challenging to restore a smooth, youthful appearance. At Capitis Medical & Aesthetics in Roseville and San Diego, CA, we are proud to offer non-surgical, effective skin tightening treatments designed to restore your skin, fade lines and wrinkles, and help you achieve your ideal image.
What Is Skin Tightening?
Skin tightening is a broad term that can be applied to several of our top-quality treatments. In order to fit into this category, a treatment must result in decreased skin laxity, improved lines and wrinkles, and an overall tighter appearance. This is most often achieved by stimulating collagen production in the skin, which helps improve the structure and tightness.
Treatments can be combined with other regenerative facials, serums, and treatment options to enhance final results and nourish the skin. Patients of all ages have used these methods with great success, and we find that beginning treatments early can even help improve the rate at which line, wrinkle, and sagging skin associated with growth older develop, resulting in a more graceful aging process.
We have treatment options that are effective on the face as well as on other areas of the body, allowing us to improve your skin’s tightness in multiple locations.
Why Is Collagen Important for Tightening the Skin?
Collagen, which is often referred to as the framework of the skin, is a naturally occurring protein that helps create the natural structure of our skin. It assists in wound repair by rebuilding damaged skin and keeps lines and wrinkles at bay by maintaining a smooth top layer of skin, also known as the epidermis.
As we grow older, our body’s collagen production levels steadily decrease and the existing collagen in the skin begins to break down. This results in wrinkles and folds in the skin, which typically becomes looser with age.
However, signs of collagen breakdown and the resulting skin laxity can begin to appear as early as your mid-20s and can be accelerated by conditions like pregnancy, which often create stretch marks. If you want to restore skin tightness but don’t want to pursue surgery, stimulating collagen production and repairing the framework of the skin in your target areas is the best way to achieve smoother, younger-looking skin.
How Does It Compare to a Facelift?
Facelift surgery is often the go-to procedure when it comes to turning back the hands of time. This surgery, which has been offered for decades, can be effective, especially in cases of severe skin laxity. However, it involves far more risk and downtime than one of our non-invasive treatments, which are designed to create a natural, noticeable lift in your skin by working with your body’s natural healing functions, including collagen.
Results from these treatments last several months, and follow-up treatments are a simple way to build on your success and maintain your ideal results. Due to the nature of aging, there is no truly permanent solution to skin conditions like skin laxity. Even a facelift, which lasts several years, is not able to deliver permanent results.
Our treatments are a less invasive, more sustainable way to address lines and wrinkles in addition to a variety of other skin concerns. In just one treatment, you could see the powerful effects of natural collagen production and the restorative powers of your own body.
Which Conditions Can Be Treated?
While tightening the skin works wonders for line and wrinkles, it is able to effectively treat several other common skin concerns as well. Increased collagen production can improve current acne or acne scarring as well as other scars. Most patients report a definite improvement in skin texture, which typically becomes smoother after just one appointment.
Sun damage, such as dark spots, can be minimized with repeated treatments, as can enlarged pores. Finally, mild to moderate sagging around the jawline and stretch marks, which typically appear on the abdomen and thighs, can be significantly improved.
Treatments Available
We’re proud to offer several similar treatment options designed to tighten the skin on your face and in other areas of the body with zero downtime required. One of our skilled doctors would be happy to discuss these options more and help you decide which treatment may be right for you.
Morpheus 8
This revolutionary combination of technology uses microneedling and radiofrequency to remodel and rejuvenate the skin. It is able to improve skin tightness while also targeting stubborn adipose fat, which sits in areas like the jawline and underarms.
Microneedling, which creates tiny wounds in the skin and stimulates collagen production, helps tighten the skin, improve texture and scars, and encourage new cell growth. Radiofrequency energy reaches deep into the tissue helps reshape the skin’s structure, resulting in a smooth and attractive result.
Benefits
This powerful combination is FDA-approved as a Subdermal Adipose Remodeling Device (SARD). While it does involve microneedling, it is set apart by its ability to not only tighten the skin but also remodel its structure below the surface. Thanks to the radiofrequency energy, your adipose fat cells and skin cells are rearranged, common concerns like jowls and bra rolls are minimized, and the skin becomes smoother on the surface.
The adjustable microneedling device used is able to penetrate up to 4 millimeters, which is deeper than the standard device. This depth offers a new level of collagen stimulation and allows the treatment to target several layers of skin. In one appointment, this treatment can tighten skin, treat areas of adipose fat, and fade wrinkles, lines, scarring, and stretch marks on most parts of the body.
Treatment Process
We use a topical anesthetic to numb the target area and ensure your comfort during treatment. Next, we use a specialized, handheld device equipped with microneedles and radiofrequency energy to treat your skin. Depending on the areas treated, your appointment could take between 30-90 minutes. Once your treatment is finished, you are able to return to your normal activities with zero downtime.
You may notice some mild redness and swelling in the treated area for the first few days. This is normal and typically subsides in less than a week. Depending on your unique situation, our doctor may recommend just one treatment or a personalized series of treatments to best address your concerns.
If you are recommended for a series of treatments, we like to conduct these appointments over several weeks. You should begin to notice results in the first one to two weeks after treatment. Final results can take two to three months to appear as collagen production restores a more youthful structure and fades away wrinkles, stretch marks, and other imperfections.
Microneedling
We offer classic microneedling with the innovate SkinPen as one of our most popular treatments to tighten skin. This treatment involves a handheld device equipped with fine, sharp needles that are passed along the surface of the skin, creating micro-traumas in the skin as it goes.
The needles, which range between 0.5-2 millimeters in length, penetrate the skin and instantly stimulate the body’s natural healing process, which involves the production of additional collagen to help repair the wounds.
Since microneedling creates mini channels into the deeper layers of skin, we recommend combining this treatment with a skin-nourishing serum or another treatment option that can enhance your results, such as hyaluronic acid or platelet-rich plasma (PRP).
Benefits
This treatment can improve skin tightness and texture while smoothing wrinkles and fading scars. It is an excellent option for adults with acne as the extra collagen production can help clear breakouts and combination serums can penetrate the skin and deliver healing from within.
Like our other skin tightening treatments, microneedling requires zero downtime. Results, which are noticeable over the first few days, will continue to improve as collagen production lifts and smooths the skin. Most patients benefit from a series of appointments designed to create optimal tightness and address specific concerns.
Treatment Process
We apply a topical anesthetic to numb your skin before using the handheld SkinPen to gently pass across the surface, creating small wounds with the needles as we go. A typical appointment takes less than an hour, and you are able to return to your normal activities with no downtime required.
Any redness will fade over 24-48 hours, and collagen production will continue to improve the appearance of your skin for two to three months. Most of our patients return for follow-up treatments to further tighten and refine their skin.
Combination Treatments
We offer a variety of serums and treatment options that can be easily combined with microneedling to enhance your skin tightening. Two of our most popular combinations–hyaluronic acid and PRP–are naturally occurring in the human body and are therefore considered to be safe and effective for most of our patients.
Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid is a complex sugar that is naturally produced by the body. It is designed to hydrate and plump the skin. When combined with microneedling, the acid can give your skin an extra boost as it permeates your pores and delivers a smoother, softer result. We apply hyaluronic acid after the microneedling is complete so that it can reach the deeper layers of your skin through the mini channels created by the needles.
PRP
PRP (platelet-rich plasma) is one of the most powerful growth factors existing in your body. It offers incredible healing powers when combined with microneedling and can improve the look of your skin thanks to new blood vessel formation, a smoother finish, and quicker collagen production.
In order to combine PRP with your microneedling treatment, we draw a small amount of your blood and spin it at a high speed in a centrifuge to separate the PRP from the rest of the blood cells. We then apply your PRP to your skin directly after microneedling, where it enters the small wounds and begins to restore your skin immediately.
Am I an Ideal Candidate?
If you are an adult who experiences mild to moderate lines, wrinkles, folds, and sagging skin, you may be a candidate for skin tightening! Our treatment options are able to offer just about everyone a non-surgical way to achieve tighter, younger-looking skin in a matter of weeks.
If you’re interested in learning more about our treatments, one of our doctors will help you determine your candidacy during an initial consultation at one of our offices.
Contact Us to Learn More!
Don’t wait to see how our skin tightening treatments can transform your skin. To learn more, contact us at Capitis Medical & Aesthetics in Roseville and San Diego, CA. We look forward to serving you!