Fred Weksberg, MD FRCP

Shhhhhhhhhh, I have a secret! It’s a beauty secret. Actually, I have many beauty secrets, but one of them is Dr Weksberg. On the quest for the never ending fountain of youth, this is one of my regular stops. Botox, filler, photofacials for my rosacea, and as of today, Thermage.
Thermage is a treatment I’ve known about for a really long time, and have thought about having before, but the truth is, I was terrified to have it done. Everything I’ve heard and read about Thermage is that it really, really hurts. The results are apparently amazing, and I know there’s the whole pain for beauty thing, but I wasn’t really sure if it was worth it (from what I had heard). With the offer of pain medication and a mild sedative to help with relaxation, I thought maybe it was worth considering. (Then again, the thought of it being SO painful that I needed drugs to do it kind of scared me as well.)
In the end, I decided to have the procedure done, and (GASP!) I did it with no drugs at all because, alas, I wanted to do it over lunch, and I had to drive afterwards. As I laid down on the bed, my stomach started to feel off and I kept telling Marianne (the lovely tech who does the procedure) that I was scared. She reassured me countless times («you’ll be fine!) and said the machine could be put on a lower setting to make it more comfortable if need be. I felt a bit better, and just wanted to get it over with.
So, Marianne began. I was shocked! To my surprise, the tip of the machine vibrated as it touched my skin, which tickled and I couldn’t help but giggle. And as she continued, between the combination of the tickling and me being so surprised that it didn’t feel at all like what I expected, I burst out laughing. My laughter was contagious, and then we were both laughing. Now, don’t get me wrong, as the treatment went on, it did start to hurt (it seriously heats of the lower layers of the skin, which is what causes the collagen building and the skin tightening effect). But, it didn’t once become so uncomfortable that I had to ask her to stop or take a break (except once when I had an itchy forehead, and she immediately obliged).
Another thing I noticed several times was a really nice cold feeling from the machine. Apparently it has a cold tip which helps to cool the surface of the skin and make everything more comfortable.
Expected pain level — ¹⁵⁄₁₀
My anxiety level before the treatment — ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Actual pain level at the beginning of the treatment — ¹⁄₁₀
Actual pain level towards the end of the treatment — ⁵⁄₁₀
After the treatment my skin was very red, but it settled down after about 15 – 20 minutes. I was able to go right back to work, and I even have a date tonight and no one (except you) will ever know that I had this done.
I have to say, I hope I don’t need this treatment again because I never age another day in my life, but, the reality is that I will keep getting older, and when I do, I will definitely come back for Thermage again. I’m really impressed!
(I will post my results in a few months.)