Is your skin hardly ever shiny even without powder and does your skin feel tight and dry after washing? You most likely will have fine lines around the eyes and forehead creases as you hit your late 20s, but your skin will remain relatively tight. These are called crumplers or wrinklers.

Most anti-aging creams and clinic treatments are geared towards “curing” you as they plump up the dry areas with vitamins and moisture to smooth everything over.

If in your 30s, you wake up with a puffy face most mornings with pillow marks on the cheeks, but do not have a single line on your skin except for very fine ones around your eyes and only when you smile, then you belong to the melter/sagging category. People under this classification have cheeks sliding down, their jaw line disappearing and turning into bull doggish jowls. They also have the dreaded turkey gobble neck.

Like most Asians, I am a melter. While my mestiza friends complain about their crow’s feet, my concern is the slackening of my jaw, my double-chin and lines that run from the base of my nose down the sides of my lip.

I consulted with Dr. Jean Marquez about fillers or even a mini facelift to tuck everything back. She said I was lucky to have this concern as facelifts are now becoming obsolete like skin-firming machines.

Ulthera

The latest breakthrough machine which only three cosmetic surgeons in the Philippines have is Ulthera. It uses ultrasound energy that reaches deep below the skin’s surface to initiate the body’s natural repair process. Only one session is needed and the effect could last a year to three years.

I had mine done on the neck and jaw area. Though I was told it would take three months for the full effect of this one session as it would keep tightening and improving as the days passed, I was shocked that my face was so much smaller afterwards. The next few days people were telling me I looked as if I had lost 10-15 pounds due to the disappearance of my double chin, deflation of my puffy cheeks, and reappearance of my cheekbones and jawline.

Ulthera is best for drooping eyelids, cheeks, jaw and neck.

The bad thing about Ulthera is the pain factor. The patient would need topical anesthesia or pain reliever at the very least.

The topical anesthesia Dr. Marquez uses is three times stronger than EMLA. I could not feel my face for hours. But during the treatment, I could feel the heated match-like sting of the machine.

I asked to try it on a part of my cheek without the anesthetic and it felt like a branding iron was under my skin trying to break out to the surface.

Those with medium to low pain tolerance should opt to be sedated for an extra P5,000.

My jaw was also slightly red and swollen for 20 hours. I had to lay off the exfoliant serums for a week and was obligated to wear and reapply SPF 50 generously every two hours in or outdoors for a week except at bedtime.

It’s been about 28 days and my face is even tighter, still lifted and smaller.

The Skin Specialist is at ESNA Bldg., 30, Timog Ave., Quezon City. Call 3748087 or 4077210.