After cleansing my face and applying a lactic acid solution as an exfoliant, my facialist, Lola, uses what looks like a metal “spatula” with a low electronic current to scrape off dead skin cells. I feel a little buzz that is the ceramic/quartz tip vibrating 27,000 times a second as it pushes skin impurities to the surface, where they are wiped off.
Then Lola grips my chin and jawline between a cotton-tipped probe and what looks like a smooth metal mallet, both transmitting electrical impulses that tone and reeducate muscles. She begins pushing and my skin upwards as it is being “shocked.” The impulses are quite mild in the first 6 sessions (two a week), during which I catch myself snoring. It is not so relaxing when the current is turned up in session 7. My body has acclimated to the prickle of the current -- which creates a metallic taste in the mouth when it’s near the teeth, and more saliva, but now I feel my skin jump a little and see lightning flashes under my closed eyes. However, the 10-15 minutes of more intense microcurrent during the remaining 3 to 6 hour-long sessions produces the most visible results.
This is one more effort to deal with my jiggly hereditary turkey neck, the natural loss of muscle tone that creates jowls, as well as the loss of fat from cheeks, which are all part of growing older. I’m not a plastic surgery kind of gal because I don’t like anything that would be irreversible if it didn’t turn out. I tried nonpermanent injectables – botox, restylane, radiesse, sculptra – a few years ago with good results. But they had worn off and I am not in a position to invest that much money again. Also, the shots, although the skin is numbed, feel like bee stings. I’d rather have my 32 facial muscles stimulated and exercised.
As with any anti-aging procedure, the ultrasonic exfoliation and microcurrent stimulation is only as good as the person wielding the technology. Lola, a technician at Bella Reina Spa in Delray Beach, Florida, is an expert on the CACI Ultra machine.
Originally developed for treating facial palsy, micro-current therapy is also widely used in physiotherapy for pain control and for wound therapy. Cosmetic benefits include increasing blood and lymph circulation, enhancing the penetration of active skin care ingredients, increasing the production of collagen and elastin, increasing protein synthesis and cell membrane transport, and increasing mitochondria activity – but I’m here because it “exercises” and re-educates muscles.
After 8 treatments, I can definitely see and feel improvement in my facial muscles. I hold my eyebrows higher, just like with botox, minimizing my puffy lid overlap. My cheeks are a little rounder, without fillers. Most dramatic is that my chin is more defined.
Did it get rid of my wrinkles? No, but they’re not as deep. My neck wiggle? Not yet. But the neck skin is definitely firmer and I’m holding my head higher, although I don’t know if that is a result of the treatment or of feeling a tad more confident. I have a few more treatments, and then monthly (4-6 weeks) maintenance.
You can get a similar treatment on your butt, by the way. But that is another story.
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