You all ask the best questions! Let’s tackle how to think of these. While we all like to try new things, and I do too, we also don’t like to waste money and time…. right? Marketers make a living by preying on or encouraging (depends on how you look at it :)) our hopes and fears. And one thing is for sure, we are all afraid of aging to some extent in our current culture.
How to sort out these claims
Does it make sense? Okay…for example the fibroblast treatment. The outer skin layer (epidermis) is very resistant to penetration. It’s hard to get skin care products, topical drugs, etc. through it. It doesn’t admit cells across it. Fibroblasts are cells so they won’t penetrate. And ask who’s fibroblasts are these? Are they taking a skin punch from you and then growing your own cells in the lab or are these animal fibroblasts? If so, how did they get them? Are they a live culture from a human foreskin? My vote would be to use the well researched growth factor media from live cultured human fibroblasts like AQ Serum or TNS Serum instead. These contain most of the active factors and can be absorbed more easily.
Can you realistically keep this up for months? Medical grade microneedling has some science behind it when used for short periods of time, at certain depths, for certain problems. There’s no data on whether using it at home on face or body parts is a good thing or a bad thing. There are reports of scars created by the wrong kind of microneedling, infections and more commonly, no results at all. How long do you need to do this to see results? Skin tightening on the body is harder to do than on the face. My vote would be be to skip the Thermage and microneedling above the knees and instead invest in one or two deep RF microneedling treatments with a good Board Certified Derm. If you have a fat pad there, Coolsculpting or liposuction is an option.
Combining treatments. We don’t know at this point whether combining fascial release or fascial massage with skin treatments in the same area is a good thing or a bad thing. Improving circulation in an area improves many things. My vote would be to exercise instead to increase circulation while you are doing any skin treatments. Some steps ups, lunges, or squats at the gym would be safer. Remember too that Thermage takes 3-6 months to see results. 🙂
Hope this helps,
Brandith Irwin, MD
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