Need a lift? You can't cheat the clock, but there's help for saggy skin

I’ve spent a fortune on products designed to lift the skin, but they don’t seem to do enough. I don’t want surgery, but I don’t want saggy skin either. What’s your suggestion?

At a certain age it takes more than just a healthy lifestyle and effective skincare to keep the skin firm. Of course it pays to eat good food, drink plenty of water, sleep well and moisturise the skin regularly, but those healthy habits can’t actually stop the clock from ticking – they only buy more time before age-related damage becomes visible.
The skin sags because the collagen underneath it is no longer strong enough to offer support. The skin is no longer firmly anchored by collagen and elastin and the weight of fat pulls the skin down.
The logical solution is to boost the collagen in your skin. But replacing lost collagen isn’t simple as putting on collagen cream. We see a lot of collagen skincare products today, but you must remember that collagen is a large molecule that’s unable to penetrate the skin.
Certain ingredients, such as animo acids like L-arginine and L-glutamine, can help boost collagen production. The extent of the effect, however, might not be enough to turn back the clock and give you youthful skin instantly.
As our skin ages it needs more help to stay healthy. Skin-tightening technology today is so advanced that some programmes offer instant results, such as Thermage. Thermage is a safe, non-invasive, radio-frequency (RF) cosmetic procedure clinically proven to help smooth and improve skin to give you a younger-looking appearance with no downtime. The device uses monopolar radio-frequency energy to treat wrinkles and saggy skin.
Thermage has been successfully used for over a decade, but there were concerns about the discomfort. So the newer Thermage devices offer more comfort than before, and the effectiveness is also improved.
Thermage New Total Tip, for example, is a variation popular among celebrities and beauty bloggers. With Total Tip the results are more visible, since the device safely delivers as much as two times more bulk heating volume, which means that more tissue is achieving the maximum temperature. It has been proven safe and effective when treating the face and neck.
Radio-frequency selectively heats the dermis, contracting and tightening collagen and stimulating collagen production, not only during the treatment but continuously for months after. Results are immediately seen after the treatment, but best results are seen after three to six months.
For many, one treatment is enough to yield satisfactory results, but repeat treatments might be recommended if your skin laxity is significant. However, time and gravity will continue to take their toll if you don’t take good care of your skin afterward. A healthy lifestyle and regular skin treatments are required to prolong that youthful look.