Beauty

[shannara]

Evening, All... Well, the half way point for those of us doing the 8 week protocol. My experience so far has been pretty mundane. No very noticeable results, but also, no major problems. I have seen the fading of my single age spot to nearly nothing and perhaps a slight lifting of my puppet folds.

The worst of my problems was sandpapery skin around my mouth and the burning of my upper lip and nasal labial folds for quite a while longer than the rest of my face. In the last couple treatments I have incorporated the right side upper lip and chin with the zone for my right cheek and eliminated the temple area which I now do with my forehead zone. Obviously same for the left side. I just felt that there was not nearly as much surface area to cover around my mouth and was therefore taking so many more passes over that area. Perhaps Jay Leno would need the full time on zone 4. This tweek has improved the roughness and burning time around my mouth, so I think it was a good decision. Because of those small changes, I can use the last zone time for my neck. I hope this will save me some of those finite number of charges. I stopped using it on my hands as I realized I will be spending a lot of time cutting grass and doing yard work in the sun and really my hands look pretty good, so I'm saving up the life expectancy for my face.

I have started to wonder what I will do if I don't see much of a result in the rest period. Will I keep it and hope to see something on the second round of treatment? I sure hope I see some sort of improvement, even if small, to let me know that it's worth it to continue. That might be the discussion for all of us during weeks 8 - 12. It is great to have the input from everyone. If others have results that I haven't gotten that might convince me to hang on for a second round. Thanks to all for continuing to participate, it's great to have the benefit of everyone's experience and support if needed.

[MarenSeattle]

Boy, time has flown! Remember when we were eagerly awaiting delivery?

I LOVE the idea of how you've re-distributed the zones -- I'm going to try that tonight. Although I may add a little of my "new" zone 4 time for some extra forehead work (I'm giving Leno a run for his money) and a few extra swipes around my mouth -- my WORST area.

I've have noticed that my skin just looks better thus far. In fact, today I went without foundation and just used blush (on top of my sunblock, natch). LuvMyBoxer said her skin really looked good Week 8 -- not sure if she meant while she was doing the Week 8 treatment or after she'd finished. I asked if she noticed continuing improvement during the rest period and she said 'sorry, no'. I need to hie on back over to EDS and see if there have been any updates, and read again WHY some were doing additional treatments -- in hopes of a real change, or because the results were so pleasing they wanted to continue?

What results were you hoping for when you began, shannara? I think I just wanted to see something that made me go "wow -- this really DOES work!". I never thought my deep wrinkles would be GONE, I know it won't look like I've had a face lift, I really just want to be able to look in the mirror and feel I'm looking better. Pretty nebulous, but I'll know it when I see it! :-) My skin was pretty much at this point when I began, but it's just somehow better now. Someone mentioned "tightened" -- and maybe that's it.

It WILL be a conundrum if we get to the end of 12 weeks and still don't have some solid indication that this has been worth it. The technology and process of regeneration work -- they've been proven. It MAY be that even with the continued assault -- kind of "adding up" to a professional treatment -- just won't have the same (or close) impact, no matter how many rounds we do. At least for some of us.

But one step at a time. I'll go searching for reviews and stories of "after" and hopefully some "afters" following a second series. Then we'll see how it goes week to week. And keep our fingers crossed while maintaing hope! :-)

[MidNight]

shannara that's where i get the sandpaper skin to.Great idea!Gonna switch my routine around to.

So a Tria CS rep a young guy told me the laser window was the 2 small slots on the laser and i could put those to my orbital bone.So that's what i have been doing the last few days...Well i found out the LONG slot is the laser window and the 2 small ones are skin sensors!....The laser doing it this way was to far under my eye!!Luckily i did not use it that way very long.

[shannara]

Maren, really happy to hear that your skin is looking better, even if you can't explain exactly what it is.

I'll give it a go here to try and explain what I'm hoping for. If you don't have this problem it's a little hard to picture. When I look in the magnifying mirror (which I have to do because I'm blind as a bat) my skin looks like a dot to dot game (dots being the pores) with a very fine little line connecting the dots and the inside looks like a little pillow. If those little connecting lines happen to line up it becomes a wrinkle. The lines are not deep and I think that it's happening because of the sagging...compressing downward.

I'm never sure when Dimitri or other skin care reps say "texture" if they are talking about roughness (as in dry patches)or topography, which is what I'm talking about. I'd be interested to hear what you take texture to mean. The overall appearance of this makes my cheeks look bumpy. What I'm hoping for is for the collagen to plump up those little lines to make it look smoother. When I pull up my skin just slightly it flattens out those little pillows and looks so much better. Ugh...don't know if that's a good explanation but that's the best I can do. I have a few horizontal lines on my forehead. Elevens aren't bad and no crow's feet to speak of. I do have my chipmunk pouches (only containing one small nut right now, but I'm sure to gather more as time goes by) and the nasal labial folds drive me crazy.

I never expected the Tria to address the folds of skin or even get rid of the deeper lines. I'm pretty sure that a face lift is the only help for that. I'm hoping to get through the rest of my life without any surgery, so I would not opt for voluntary surgery, even if I do look like Tommy Lee Jones. I certainly have nothing against it, just know I won't do it. So I guess I'm hoping for smoothness and some plumping. If I see any signs of that happening I will keep it for sure. Can't wait to see if SOMETHING actually happens for any of us.

[shannara]

Hi Midnight - The new method has really helped reduce the roughness around my mouth, hope it works for you, too.

Just wanted to mention that I read a post from you followed immediately by one from snowball and had a fond memory fly into my head. When I was six, my parents got me two bunnies for Easter, one black and one white. I named them Snowball and Midnight. Made me smile to remember those darling bunnies. Mom wasn't too happy when they chewed the legs on the piano, though. Thanks for jogging that memory.

[snowball]

shannara, that is too cute about snowball and midnight!! I had a dog named MidNight and a cat named Snowball.

Anyway, I have also switched up the zone area. I have spent way too much time around the mouth area and forehead so I use that extra time around my jawline and neck area. I was thinking too if I see no changes, should I keep the Tria? I don't know what I am going to do, but we will still have a few weeks to decide.

SurvivedOne has kept hers and she seems to really like it, so that gives me some hope.

[ItsME]

Shannara, I agree! I don't think I have enough surface area on my face for 4 zones. I've been using it that way, and each time have to remind myself that there must be studies to support that each area needs so much time. But then I think that my face is smaller than many other people's faces. I've been tempted to do what you are doing, but will probably give it some more time doing it their way. I just started week 2, so I'm a quite a bit behind the rest of you.

[MarenSeattle]

On 4/29/2014 shannara said:

Maren, really happy to hear that your skin is looking better, even if you can't explain exactly what it is.

I'll give it a go here to try and explain what I'm hoping for. If you don't have this problem it's a little hard to picture. When I look in the magnifying mirror (which I have to do because I'm blind as a bat) my skin looks like a dot to dot game (dots being the pores) with a very fine little line connecting the dots and the inside looks like a little pillow. If those little connecting lines happen to line up it becomes a wrinkle. The lines are not deep and I think that it's happening because of the sagging...compressing downward.

I'm never sure when Dimitri or other skin care reps say "texture" if they are talking about roughness (as in dry patches)or topography, which is what I'm talking about. I'd be interested to hear what you take texture to mean. The overall appearance of this makes my cheeks look bumpy. What I'm hoping for is for the collagen to plump up those little lines to make it look smoother. When I pull up my skin just slightly it flattens out those little pillows and looks so much better. Ugh...don't know if that's a good explanation but that's the best I can do. I have a few horizontal lines on my forehead. Elevens aren't bad and no crow's feet to speak of. I do have my chipmunk pouches (only containing one small nut right now, but I'm sure to gather more as time goes by) and the nasal labial folds drive me crazy.

I never expected the Tria to address the folds of skin or even get rid of the deeper lines. I'm pretty sure that a face lift is the only help for that. I'm hoping to get through the rest of my life without any surgery, so I would not opt for voluntary surgery, even if I do look like Tommy Lee Jones. I certainly have nothing against it, just know I won't do it. So I guess I'm hoping for smoothness and some plumping. If I see any signs of that happening I will keep it for sure. Can't wait to see if SOMETHING actually happens for any of us.

Yes - I think you perfectly described the condition of my skin, too. Except for the deep expression wrinkles, it appears just to be an overall sagging -- some areas more pronounced which gives the look of wrinkles. And yes, when I elevate an area just slightly, those wrinkles disappear - there are no real lines there. Are we on the same page?

In addition to our collagen production diminishing as we age, we also lose fat, right? I wouldn't think increased collagen could help with the fat, but I'm not sure.

I've read what several plastic surgeons have responded to questions about laser and a frequent reminder is that to get rid of double chins, sagging necks and serious jowls, only a facelift (or neck lift?) will do.

BUT, they also frequently say the laser will "tighten" somewhat (also "resurfacing" is an often-used word).

I'm willing to get a neck/jowl lift but do NOT want an entire face lift. Even those who have scads of money and go to the "best" surgeons, end just looking "done", IMO. I'm also open to fillers but lordy, this sag is face-wide -- one can't get an ENTIRE face of fillers!

So, it's my feeling that the resulting increased collagen production may help "tighten" and seems to have already, somewhat -- but I'm not sure it will be enough to noticeably improve the TLJ woes. :-). But that may not really be necessary. I've notice on the "afters" of NuFace, for example, that the results are SO subtle they would be hard to notice much comparing pre to post area by area. But if you kind of blink and just look at the whole picture, you just get a feeling of "younger" somehow. Instead of looking at the person and having some of the problem areas grabbing your notice, you look and you can tell the person isn't perfect, but aren't thinking "she just needs to hoist this up here". As always, have no idea if I'm making any sense that others can identify with.

The nasal labials are the worst, aren't they? Lulu had fillers (if you're so inclined) and posted a link here to a YouTube vid she made -- very nice! But even if I do go that route, I'd like just less of a downward sensation while looking at my face, and more of a neutral or even somewhat upward sense. Again, "huh????". Sorry. :-)

Again, we'll just have to wait and see if our individual results encourage us enough to keep on going. I know that even professional laser treatments don't last forever and additional ones are required for upkeep, but again, don't know if there are ADDITIONAL benefits from subsequent treatments.

And THANK YOU for the re-zoning suggestion! PERFECT!

[shannara]

Maren - Glad you understood what I was trying to explain, we are definitely on the same page. You are just too funny...the face-wide remark had me laughing. And yes, resurfacing is what I'm after, good word for it. I never had problem skin and just took it for granted, I guess.

Perhaps this will ring a bell, too. I noticed that around the same time I developed the facial jowls, I also developed back jowls! It starts on either side of your spine, where the bottom of the bra strap hits and forms jowls down to your waist. When I raise my arms over my head, all that skin goes back up to where it used to be. The festoon description applies to that area perfectly.

Glad to be able to share something that might help others with the mouth zone. I'm usually a rule follower, but in this case, I just felt I was getting too much treatment there, even though I need it.

Maybe I'll go back to the Nuface during the 4 weeks of rest from the Tria and try to make myself stick to it. All this high maintenance stuff is really time consuming. Maybe an inversion table is the answer. I think I needed to start 20 years ago.

[MarenSeattle]

On 4/29/2014 shannara said:

Maren - Glad you understood what I was trying to explain, we are definitely on the same page. You are just too funny...the face-wide remark had me laughing. And yes, resurfacing is what I'm after, good word for it. I never had problem skin and just took it for granted, I guess.

Perhaps this will ring a bell, too. I noticed that around the same time I developed the facial jowls, I also developed back jowls! It starts on either side of your spine, where the bottom of the bra strap hits and forms jowls down to your waist. When I raise my arms over my head, all that skin goes back up to where it used to be. The festoon description applies to that area perfectly.

Glad to be able to share something that might help others with the mouth zone. I'm usually a rule follower, but in this case, I just felt I was getting too much treatment there, even though I need it.

Maybe I'll go back to the Nuface during the 4 weeks of rest from the Tria and try to make myself stick to it. All this high maintenance stuff is really time consuming. Maybe an inversion table is the answer. I think I needed to start 20 years ago.

*Groan* Back Festoons! It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it? And yes, I know EXACTLY what you are talking about!

I was going come back and mention that I just remembered that Ultrasound therapy is supposed to help lift. I know there's a professional procedure (trademarked and copyrighted, I imagine) called Ultherapy, so of course there are at-home versions as well.

I think Nanci was going to come out with a device that incorporated ultrasound and infrared, but not sure what the deal is with that now.

If that really DOES work, I'd be more than willing to do that in lieu of the NuFace. I DREADED doing the NuFace. I think the utlrasound gizmos just glide over your face a la Tria, but I'm going to go check it out. So.... if we could lift and retexturize at home, that would pretty much address our major concerns -- on our front, anyway. :-)

One of my friends swears by an inversion table for her back. If nothing else, it would FEEL good and bring the circulation up to our head/face. Not too sure about our back festoons, though. :-)