When we interviewed Ildi Pekar a few months ago, she told us that treatments using radio frequencies would be the next big thing. And being the self-confessed machine junkie that she is, she recently came back from Europe with one of the latest models to add to her collection of microcurrent machines for face and body. Being something of a sucker for all this stuff, I was excited to try it out.
“You are not a very good candidate for this”, Ildi said half way through treating my jawline and neck. She was obviously disappointed. What she meant was the I already have a jawline and I don’t have a double chin and that the effect would be subtle. Apparently, people with sagging jaws and wrinkled necks see really dramatic results. Actually, I was fairly impressed with my results after all.
I was even more impressed the following morning. My jawline was definitely even more pronounced and pinching at the skin on my neck I found it to be really taut. There was no kind of redness afterward (although that can be a common side effect).
Radio frequency treatments work by generating heat. The treatment produces localized heat injury of the dermis and subdermal layer as well as the collagen contraction leading to skin tightening. There are at home devices such as Stop that are effective – but don’t expect salon results.
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Im confused, did u try the microcurrent machine or the radio frequency machine?
Are the results with home devices not as good because they don’t heat up the skin as much? If you used a home model for a longer period of time, would you get similar results? Ans would that be true of any home version of a salon machine?
If you had to pick one home machine, would you pick the Stop, Baby Quasar or Nuface (or something else)? I’m looking at those and they all sound wonderful…
please…..tell us more. i used to be able to count my chins on one hand….
Joon, sorry not to be clear. The primary treatment I was describing was radio frequency. However, the results are even better if followed by microcurrent.
Hi Marta, great post! I’m still a bit unclear on exactly what type of “radio frequency” Ilda is using… I’m an esthetician in Louisiana and we have always had access to “high frequency” ozone-generating pimple-zappers (which do use radio technology to kill bacteria in the pores)… however it sounds like what Ilda used on you is more like the new crop of RF tightening devices, such as Thermage. I haven’t read enough of TIA to know whether Ilda works in a doctor’s office or medi-spa, but as far as I know, the RF devices must be medically supervised in most or all US states. However if there is a milder form of RF (but still stronger than the home version) that is available to estheticians outside of a medical office, I’d love to know about it! Thanks again, Christine
Hi Christine,
Ildi asked me not to reveal the name of her machine just yet. All I can tell you is that isn’t Thermage. It is one of the latest machines from Europe and she may be the first with it in the US. As soon as she gives me the go ahead, I’ll post more info.
Hi again,
i’m waiting anxiously (as are my chins) for further information about this treatment.
a salon recently opened in my area that offers “Beautiful Image” microcurrent technology, however, i am unclear as to the effectiveness of this alone.
please give us an update on the whosits and whatsits of this newest anti-aging procedure and if “Beautiful Image” is a reputable machine with noticeable results.
thanks in advance,
deb
Deb,
I’ll be seeing Ildi next week, I’ll see if can torture some information out of her.
newbie here…just happened on your site. I have been investigating Beautiful Image for a few weeks.
I purchased the NuFace tool (microcurrent) and sorry I cannot commit to that machine every night and the creams, etc that go along with the procedure. I’m sure if I saw fast results, I wouldn’t mind the 10-15 minutes.
Beautiful image has an impressive website with amazing results. When I contacted the company, there were no spas in my area that offered Beautiful Image treatments.
Love to hear more about microcurrents and radio frequency treatments. It seems to be the upcoming “latest and greatest”.
hi Carol,
in my small little town (all 3200 of us!) we do have a gal who has just started a small business built around “Beautiful Image”. I’m very curious about “the rest of the story” from Marta.
Saw my esthetician today and she’s not telling. Sorry.
It sounds like we will have to wait to hear about radio frequencies…in the meantime, this is what I found out about microcurrents: studies performed at the University of Washington indicate a 14% increase in the production of natural collagen, a 48% increase in natural elastin production, and a 38% increase in blood circulation over the course of 20 days.
Sounds really tempting…I may have to travel to another state for a treatment.
certainly Ildi’s perogative not to share info. seems somewhat trite imo tho. seriously, what does she think is going to happen…….lol.
Hi Marta,
I have come to really trust TIA and your well-informed reports. So I’m turning to you to ask about something in Dr. Bone’s interview (“Matrix” with Elos technology) and now “ReFirm” which I just learned about and seems to sport the same tech (http://www.syneron.com/).
Question: how is this different than Thermage? Should we be afraid that we’re “cooking” our lower dermis and that’s what’s resulting in the tightening?
Would really love to know. I have a reunion coming up
Thanks!
Beth
Hi Beth, I’m trying to piece all this together, but this is what I have so far. Syneron uses elos technology in Velashape. We wrote about Velashape getting a bad rap from doctors. And I checked again on a website called Medicalspa and although some professionals liked it, most said it was useless and one admits that it took a year to learn how to use it and not burn patients. Here’s a sample: “ELOS technology has put more med spas to rest than all other manufacturers combined. The number of ELOS systems on the used market is a strong indicator of these facts.” Another says: “Matrix IF, non fractional skin rejunevator ( wrinkle reduction) hurts like @#$% but it works really well on my clients.”
Talking of painful. Thermage really hurts. We wrote about Thermage and the results don’t seem to be worth it.
If I were you, I’d get some LED treatments. Safe, not painful, work. And top up at home with a Baby Quasar.
Good luck with the reunion. I’ll bet you’ll turn out to be slimmer and looking at least five years younger than the rest of them.
You are wonderful! Thanks, Marta!
Marta, Did the RF treatment you had with Ildi hurt? I’ve had Thermage and it hurt like the dickens. Beyond which, it did NOTHING for me.
So great, I paid all this money to be tortured and got no results.
Tell us more about Ildi’s machine when she is able to reveal its name.
Thanks!
Kathy, it doesn’t hurt at all. I can reveal that it is the Trio. See my post on cellulite and the treatment I had the other day (come to NYC, Ildi’s offering 50% off for a short time!).http://www.truthinaging.com/treatments/cellulite-gets-the-treatment-with-radio-frequency/
Dear Marta
I am in the process of ‘finding’ the funds to buy the Baby Quasar. Do you think I should wait because something better is coming on to the market or should I go ahead and buy it?
Thanks,
Elsa.
Hello Elsa,
Firstly, LED and RF (radio frequency) are different. I think they are both effective at a salon. But I haven’t yet found a good RF device for at home use. Whist the Baby Quasar is LED and it is very good. If you are a subscriber to our newsletter, you can get a 10% discount on it at our shop: http://truthinaging.theopenskyproject.com/baby-quasar.html
Radio Frequency, referred to as RF, has been around for some time. Most dermatologists and plastic surgeons are familiar with RF technology. RF, radio frequency, is using high heat energy in short, intense bursts to stimulate the deeper layers of the dermis. As mentioned, Thermage, is one of the first RF equipment out there for physicians to use. RF energy is what is in your microwave. When you place your food into the microwave, the RF energy heats up the water molecules in the food, which in turn the molecules move very quickly creating heat energy. This heat energy is what cooks the food. In the skin, this heat energy is stimulating to the skin cells and tissues. Skin is mostly made up of water. Once the heat is gone and the skin tissue cools, there is a contractions of the tissues.
When RF came out, physicians did have complications, because they used settings that may have been too powerful which caused too much heat within the skin causing loss of facial fat, which became noticeable around the eye and cheek areas. In the face,one does not want to remove too much fat in these areas because as we age naturally, we lose facial volume. So, what happened was many individuals had RF treatments around their eyes for “tightening” and in several months, they had sunken-in eye appearance from the excess shrinkage of fat which surrounds the eye. They looked worse.
Home RF devices will not have the same power as medical. That would be dangerous and that would be a non-medical person practicing medicine without a license.
LED Light therapy is based of light energy and not RF energy. They are different.
Keep in mind, RF, radio frequency treatments do not address the visible surface of the skin. If someone is concerned about pigmentation, redness, comedones, acne, dryness, then one must consider peels, products, etc. to address the surface conditions.
I tried a series of IPL and RF and saw no results at all, no tightening of lax skin especially neck and jaw line. ( I am 47 with pretty good skin) Very expensive and dissapointing. I tried the micro laser peel and loved it although the down time was 5 days. My skin looked much more firm and wrinkles were reduced significantly.
Marta, I started CACI facials once a month, after reading about micro current facials at TIA. I live in the UK and Hong Kong, and there doesn’t seem to be any other brand of machine used by facialists here, so I was wondering whether you know anything about it? Also, I would love to have radio frequency facials too, and wondered if you had heard of Therma Skin or Future-Tec, for us non-US readers who can’t get the exact equivalent of the facials you get from Ildi! Btw, I also have a Baby Quasar, which I love! Thanks very much- Anna
Hi Anna
Sorry about the tardy response. I was waiting for a reply from Ildi and then on vacation. Unfortunately, she is very protective of her machines and won’t divulge the make. I do know that it is one of the latest (about two years old). Caci seems to have cornered the UK market (I had them when I lived in London). As far as I know they are good machines. However, there are two things to bear in mind: try to find a salon with the very newest machines with multiple settings; secondly, remember that microcurrent’s success very much depends on the skill of the esthetician as it can really be manipulated to “sculpt” the face and work more intensely on problem areas.
I don’t know anything about Therma Skin and haven’t been able to find much in the way of reviews. Future-tec sounds gimmicky to me – claims to combine microcurrent, ultrasound, laser etc… It is made by Caci as well. Personally, I’d go for the best microcurrent machine you can find in the hands of someone really good.