Anyone who has followed me for a while knows how I feel about needles, neuromodulators (Botox) and fillers. Short story: I was over-injected once causing my eyelids and brows to droop dramatically changing my face. Not good. I am also pretty dedicated to anti-aging as naturally as possible. At the same time, at 43, I am having some pretty significant skin concerns. Namely fine lines and wrinkles on my forehead and undereye (crow’s feet). Then there’s the under eye circles (I am notoriously a bad sleeper so that doesn’t help)! But something else started happening in the last year- I started to see skin laxity in my lower face or jowls area. It was like my face was drooping before my eyes!

I started researching treatments to improve skin laxity. There was the Venus Viva or Venus Freeze machine that used radiofrequency and magnetic fields but that required many treatments. There’s Ulthera (or Ultherapy) but that was between $3,000-5,000 and I had heard it was very painful (yikes!). I was very interested in Vivace, a radiofrequency microneedling device to tighten and tone. I had done PRP one time, but these was a much more advanced version of microneedling adding in radiofrequency for deeper penetration.

Microneedling works by using extremely small needles to pierce the very top layers of the skin. In turn, this spurs skin growth and collagen production. As your skin reacts to the penetration of the needles, the appearance of unwanted skin issues is reduced. Radiofrequency microneedling adds the element of radiofrequency energy to the traditional microneedling procedure. In addition to the benefits seen with the micro-injury provided by the microneedles, RF microneedling also delivers RF energy deep into the dermis further enhancing skin tightening and scar reduction. After talking to a few experts they suggested Morpheus8, similar to Vivace in many ways but a newer device and technology.

Skin Remodeling for Anti-Aging

Remodeling was a new term for me. It basically means that you can revive aging skin by stimulating the formation of new collagen to improve elasticity. Morpheus8 is a deep fractional remodeling device. Ideal areas of treatment are the lower face, that may have jowling.

I was excited to find that Gabrielle Pino, PA-C, who owns MedSpa of Fairfield performed the treatment. Gabby was so welcoming and put me at ease during my consult. And her practice director Jen is an absolute gem too (follow her for all things beauty)! She explained how the treatment would feel and even suggested a compliment treatment; something I had seen online and was very intrigued by- injecting my own platelet rich plasma into my lines and wrinkles as an alternative to the fillers I was so fearful of.

PRF – What is it and how is it different that PRP

Since I would already be numbed Gabby suggested injecting PRF in my problem areas immediately following my Morpheus treatment. I had seen this performed in Beverly Hills but hadn’t met anyone in CT performing this. I was so excited. This meant I could use my own platelet rich plasma to help accelerate collagen formation and induce healing. So cool! My own blood would be drawn and spun, isolating just the plasma or “liquid gold”, then a fibrin matrix is added. To be technical Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is a second-generation PRP where autologous platelets and leucocytes are present in a complex fibrin matrix to accelerate the healing and to be used as a tissue-engineering “scaffold”.

My treatment

The day of my treatment I numbed for 30 minutes with a topical numbing cream. While I numbed my blood was drawn and spun. The Morpheus treatment was then performed- it felt like deep needling all over my face. This treatment was very quick- 15 minutes or so. Once done, Gabby got to injecting. She injected all of my problem areas with the PRF. Leftover PRF was applied all over my face to penetrate into the “wounded” tissue and accelerate healing.

Results

The results were immediate- my skin had an absolute glow. About a week later my under eye circles had virtually vanished. The lines in my forehead and under eye area were smoothed – not completely gone but much, much better. The best part is that the results look and feel completely natural. The tightening and lifting affect on my jowls and lower face is still yet to be seen as it takes some time. For Morpheus8 the ideal treatment plan is 3 sessions spaced 4 weeks apart with final results showing at 8-12 weeks. I certainly feel like my skin is tighter and clearer already and I look forward to revisiting my results in another couple months.

Watch some additional videos of the treatment(s) here: