New Thermal Therapy Promises To Erase Wrinkles & Tighten Skin

PITTSBURGH (CBS) - A magic wand that tightens loose skin and erases wrinkles from almost anywhere may sound too good to be true.

However, a new thermal therapy procedure promises to do just that.

"I have four children. No matter how much exercise or dieting, I still had those crinkles," Linda Kiesel said.

The "crinkles" Kiesel is referring to were the wrinkled skin on her stomach. She didn't like how it looked, but wasn't sold on having a tummy tuck.

"That's super-invasive and I didn't feel I was ready for it," Kiesel said.

So she chose a minimally invasive procedure called ThermiTight.

"It's a tightening this way and a tightening that way," plastic surgeon Dr. Barry DiBernardo said.

While that's a simple explanation, it's the actual result from the procedure.

"The Thermi allows us to go under with a small probe. That probe is emitting the radio frequency energy and measuring the temperature at the same time," Dr. DiBernardo said.

A tiny incision is made for the targeted area for tightening and the probe is inserted to heat the skin from below.

An infrared heat scan shows its exact location.

"We're making cells in the skin called fiberblast, make more collagen and elastin makes the skin more plump and tight," Dr. DiBernardo said.

After giving birth and nursing her daughter, Samantha Pena wanted a breast lift, but didn't want any scarring.

So, Pena had a similar procedure called ThermiBra, which also uses radio frequency.

"This technique can get us a 2 to 5 centimeter lift in one hour with local anesthesia with no visible scars, Dr. DiBernardo said.

ThermiTight works on other parts of the body as well.

John DiBartolo had it to tighten his neck.

"After a week or two weeks, you start seeing a difference," he said.

Lisa Zatta saw a big difference after she had the procedure on her arms.

"What we needed to do with any device is get good skin tightening without surgery, so this today is our best skin tightening device," Dr. DiBernardo said.

Depending on what part of the body you have the procedure on, some patients need to wear compression garments for a couple of weeks afterward.

However, they all said there was minimal or no pain during or after the procedure, and also no down time.

ThermiTight is offered locally at Feel Nu Medical Spa and Wellness Center in Robinson.

The cost depends on the area of the body you're having done, but can be anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000.

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