Ground-breaking ultrasound technology offers the ultimate non-invasive treatment to lift, rejuvenate, and improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. We put it to the test
“Oh, that was the treatment I had on my stomach last year; the one that was so painful it had me turning the air in the clinic blue,” my friend laughs, gesturing at a poster with some impressive before and after shots, promoting Sofwave in the window of The Clinic Holland Park. “Tell me that’s not what you’re booked in for…” she adds, tailing off sheepishly as she notices my panicked expression.
It is indeed what I’m booked in for, but on my lower face rather than my body – surely it will be infinitely worse on this delicate area? Despairing at my ever-deepening marionette lines and sagging chin, I have been lured by the prospect of a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that promises to lift, rejuvenate and improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, with minimal pain (or so I have been told) and no downtime. With just minutes to go before my appointment, it is too late to take a pre-emptive painkiller, let alone change my mind about going ahead.
Steeling myself, I bid my friend farewell and step into the clinic’s plush, light-filled reception, where I am greeted like a VIP, and shown through to a luxurious seating area. Here, I am tasked with filling in a short form (the perfect distraction). It is obvious that much care and attention has gone into the interior design at The Clinic – it is all soothing colour palettes and plush furnishings. There are four private consultation rooms and two purpose-built, state-of-the-art theatres here, but the space feels far from clinical. Beautiful and comfortable, it has clearly been designed to put clients at ease, and it is working.
Dr Jenny Doyle, a consultant oculoplastic surgeon and aesthetic practitioner specialising in eyelid surgery and advanced facial aesthetics will be administering my treatment today, and her friendly, professional manner further puts me at ease. She explains how Sofwave works, and tells me that she herself has experienced it, and survived to tell the tale! And if ever there was an advertisement for an aesthetic procedure it is her youthful complexion.
I’m told that though the pain should be manageable, a highly effective, medical grade numbing cream will be applied, and that if I am really worried, I can choose to have local anaesthetic injected in the area, though this may result in swelling and bruising. Having already made plans for that evening, I decide to brave the cream, and while it gets to work, I relax under a blanket on the bed, reading my book and sipping on a cup of tea served in a pretty china cup.
The treatment itself, for me, proves to be perfectly tolerable. A handheld device is moved around my lower jaw and chin area in a grid-like pattern. It is held in each spot for a moment or two while the heating process takes place. Some areas are virtually painless while others cause a sharp tingling sensation that sometimes takes my breath away. Throughout the 30-minute procedure, we chat to distract me from what is happening, and I’m given a stress ball to squeeze when things get uncomfortable. It is all over before I know it and a soothing cream is applied to the area that has been treated. I’m then free to go, and to look at me, you’d never know I’d had anything done. The aftercare is, as you would expect, second to none, with the team checking in on me a few days later, and available on email to answer any questions I might have. Two months on, I don’t need to look at my before pictures to see that it really has worked. The double chin is definitely shrinking, and the marionette lines have all but disappeared. To say that I am delighted is an understatement.
