BodyTite & FaceTite – New Non-Surgical Heroes

“Skin tightening is the last hoorah in plastic surgery,” shares Dr. Mark D. Epstein of Stony Brook, NY. Historically, the only truly effective way for plastic surgeons to tighten loose skin was to remove it, leaving sometimes large scars. Today, the newest generation of non-surgical devices are providing a real solution.

The BodyTite and FaceTite devices utilize radio frequency energy to tighten up loose skin with only a pinprick sized incision. Either performed alone or in combination with another procedure, such as liposuction, BodyTite and FaceTite are revolutionizing the way that plastic surgeons approach, and confidently employ, non-surgical skin tightening.

BodyTite and FaceTite: Non-Surgical Skin Tightening

Tightening loose skin is the holy grail of face and body rejuvenation; very few options exist for surgeons to tackle the problem, and almost none that are ideal. Saggy, droopy skin can make you look and feel older than your years. For loose and drooping skin, only surgical techniques have been able to find somewhat of a good option, until now.

Radio frequency is proving itself to be the most effective non-surgical modality for improving loose, saggy skin. There have been quite a few different technologies that use radio frequency already, including the ThermiRF device. In the past, Dr. Epstein used one of the ThermiRF derivatives, ThermiTight, but he found the results were inconsistent. Sometimes, it worked wonders. Other times, not so much. BodyTite and FaceTite are ready to fill the gap.

What is BodyTite and FaceTite?

BodyTite and FaceTite uses radio frequency assisted lipolysis (RFAL) to deliver three dimensional remodeling. During the procedure, your plastic surgeon inserts a very thin probe through a pinprick sized incision on the skin in your treatment area. This probe emits radio frequency energy that heats the underside of the skin. In addition, there is a surface piece that precisely measures the temperature in the treatment area, keeping the amount of energy dispersed from entering into the kind of unsafe level that would cause a burn. BodyTite and FaceTite can be performed under local anesthesia or general anesthesia depending on how many areas you are treating, and whether or not you are having another procedure performed at the same time such as liposuction.

Advantages of Non-Surgical Skin Tightening

With BodyTite and FaceTite, a plastic surgeon can “achieve good tightening of the skin and minimal downtime and very little risk of complication,” says Dr. Epstein. Furthermore, it is non-surgical. The advantages of a non-surgical approach to skin tightening are:

• no downtime
• no incisions (only a pinprick)
• no scars

“To avoid having large scars is a major coup in terms of rejuvenating your appearance and your contour,” explains Dr. Epstein. This is especially true for areas like the face, arms, thighs, and back. In the past, a patient with loose, baggy skin on the arms really only had one option: a surgical arm lift. And depending on the severity of the ptosis or sag in the skin, this could result in a vertical incision from your arm pit to your elbow. So yes, you would be left with tighter skin, but you still wouldn’t be able to wear a sleeveless top. BodyTite now gives patients with mild to moderate sagging another viable option that won’t leave a huge scar. This is huge.

FaceTite, BodyTite and Liposuction

Liposuction is the ideal treatment for removing excess fat. One potential issue however is a number of patients with excess fat also have excess skin. Furthermore, once the fat is removed, if your skin doesn’t have enough elasticity or “bounce back,” it may be looser than it was before your procedure. This is why Dr. Epstein will often combine liposuction and BodyTite. It can deliver surgical like results for those patient who don’t want surgery, or who are treating an area where surgery can leave an unsightly scar such as the arms or inner thighs. In the face, sometimes patients have a little extra fat in the neck and that responds really well to liposuction followed immediately by FaceTite.

BodyTite and FaceTite Burn No Bridges

BodyTite and FaceTite are also a one time procedure. You do not have to go in for multiple treatments in order to get great results. Dr. Epstein tells patients that the results will continue to improve for up to a year, and he would not entertain doing a second treatment for at least that amount of time.

The really nice thing about BodyTite and FaceTite is “that it burns no bridges.” If you have it done and later on decide that you want another treatment, you can get another treatment without any downside. Or if you decide that you want an incisional procedure, such as a facelift, there are no negative repercussions. In fact, having FaceTite may even make your facelift easier because you’ve already got some preemptive skin tightening. You can do a BodyTite or FaceTite procedure after any kind of surgery in order to get some additional tightening. For Dr. Epstein and others, “it’s really a win win procedure.”