There are a lot of products and treatments on the market that promise to deliver the results of a facelift without the need for surgery. This always sounds too good to be true, and in most cases, it is. So given that many providers offering Profound® skin tightening tout it as a facelift alternative, you might have questions about how it works and how effective it is.
What Is Profound?
Profound is a type of laser skin tightening treatment that combines radiofrequency waves with microneedling. The addition of microneedling takes Profound beyond what other radiofrequency treatments can offer, by creating microscopic channels within the skin. This process helps the radiofrequency waves penetrate deeper into the treated area, as well as stimulates collagen and elastin within the skin.
How Does Profound Work?
When the radiofrequency waves penetrate your skin, they trigger your skin’s natural process of generating new collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. These are the core components required to keep your skin looking and feeling smooth and youthful.
Gradually following your Profound treatment, new collagen and elastin fibers continue to build up, creating better underlying support for your skin. This then helps to eliminate sagging, wrinkles and other problems that can make the skin look older.
So, Is Profound a Facelift?
Profound isn’t a facelift, but it is an effective alternative that many people prefer for one reason or another.
Calling Profound a facelift isn’t exactly accurate. At the end of the day, a surgical treatment is going to deliver more dramatic results than a nonsurgical treatment. However, Profound skin tightening does come with a number of benefits that make it an ideal choice for many men and women. For one, Profound can be done at most any age, offering a preventative approach to help stave off signs of aging rather than reverse them.
With a facelift, the skin is pulled tighter against the support structures in the face. While this can eliminate lines and wrinkles, part of what makes a face look younger is the underlying support structures created by collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. Pulling the skin tighter without this support can make someone look younger, but not necessarily youthful. Profound causes the body to regenerate these lost support structures, creating a look that is both youthful and natural.
Another difference between Profound and facelifts is how long it takes to recover and see results. Unlike surgery, Profound is not known to cause significant soreness nor to have significant recovery time. Some people might experience some irritation caused by the microneedling for 5 to 7 days, but aside from protecting the skin and keeping irritants off of it, there is little one needs to do to recover. With a facelift, recovery takes weeks and requires much more effort on your part.
Profound also shows its final results faster. However, they will steadily develop over the course of about two months. This means that the change in your appearance seems natural to those around you rather than clearly being a surgical intervention. While there is no shame in getting cosmetic surgery, we know that some people prefer procedures that they can easily keep quiet about.
When it all is said and done, Profound is not a facelift. But depending on your circumstances, it might be the best choice for your needs and goals.