Mapperley Park Clinic

Jo Martin - Clinical Director

Having run an aesthetic clinic for over 18 years I am quite up to date with all the latest anti-ageing, gravity-defying, skin-smoothing, miracle-working claims from the manufacturers of light boxes (or lasers to you and me). Over the years I have tried them all and, whilst lasers are brilliant for reducing lines and wrinkles, lifting drooping eyelids and treating acne scars, when it comes to significant skin tightening on the lower face I have always found them wanting. Being very much the wrong side of 50 it is in my own interests as well as my clients' to find an answer.

So we turned to Radio Waves (RF) on the grounds that they penetrate deeper into the skin and cause more heating of the dermal tissues. Since it is the heating of these tissues that holds the key - BINGO - job done, or so we thought. Sadly this was not the case with external appliances so we were back to the drawing board.

When I heard about the latest RF device I was understandably dubious, until I heard that a colleague of mine, who is even more sceptical than me - if that is possible - had had the treatment and was not only pleased but positively raving abouty it!

Jo Martin - Before ePrime

Jo Martin - Halfway through improvement time

I volunteered to be the model, as you do, for the launch day for practitioners. This was to involve having my face anaesthetised with injections before the treatment was carried out with a handpiece that pushes 5 sets of needles into the skin with each shot and passes the RF between the needles. This allows the RF to be delivered very specifically and heat each area of skin to exactly 70 degrees for exactly 4 seconds, something which has never been achieved before.

It couldn't be any worse than many other treatments I have tried in my search for the holy grail of non-surgical lower face-lifting. How hard can it be? What can possibly go wrong? Etc etc etc.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the anaesthetic injections were virtually painless and that I didn't actually feel the treatment at all, except for a couple of shots near the margins which were just very hot. When asked how it felt I declared that it was less painful that IPL treatment for thread veins, which never fails to make me squeak like a guinea pig.

Because of the anaesthetic fluid I was quite swollen and, when I asked Dr. Eccleston, who carried out my treatment, how I looked he simply smiled and said "Like fat Monica from Friends". Great! My afternoon of retail therapy in London followed by a charity dinner was possibly not the best plan after all. I applied Auriderm anti-bruising cream regularly all day as my skin looked as though it would be all colours of the rainbow by the next day. To be fair I am a bit of a peach and can bruise if you look at me too hard so I wasn't surprised. Happily, the cream meant that I had virtually no bruises.

Over the next few days I had lumps that I could feel in my face but the visible swelling was gone by about day 4. I applied make-up the following day and, although my jawline looked a bit wider than normal, Overall I looked ok.

By the end of week 4 I thought I could see some early improvement but wasn't sure if it was wishful thinking. At about week 6 one of the Plastic Surgeons at the Clinic thought I looked different and asked if I had had something done. I explained ePrime to him and he said he could see a definite difference.

Since then my skin has continued to get firmer and I can now see my jawline for the first time in more years than I care to remember. I notice the difference as I apply creams as well because the skin feels firmer and tighter.

Jo Martin - Before ePrime

Jo Martin - half way through improvement from ePrime

I am now about half way through my improvement time so I am expecting good results overall as I know that I get responses to these treatments more slowly than ladies who are younger than me. For example, when I had Sculptra, I saw most response at months 5-8.

Whilst this is not a replacement for Facelifts, it does offer an alternative for those of us who are delaying the scalpel, or who do not have enough skin laxity to warrant a surgical procedure. Mr. Karidis, of Nip and Tuck fame, is also offering it to clients who have had surgery in the past and are now noticing further laxity.

So what can I say? I was so impressed that I bought the machine and am now one of only three centres in the country to be offering the treatment.

Next I am going to try the ePrime on my neck. The current needles are recommended for lower face only at present but it won't be the first time I have "pushed the boundaries" on my own skin, and it won't be the last. How else will I find out just what this little machine can really do? As we speak, the inventor is working on new needles for different areas such as decollete and upper arms. Imagine that - a skin firming treatment for upper arms! Would all interested parties please form an orderly queue!