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How Sofwave Helped Me Feel More Confident About My Neck

Our editor tries out Sofwave to address concerns about laxity.
Julie Keller Callaghan

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Photo: Shutterstock

The older I get, the more obsessed I become with treatments that support a firmer neck and jawline. I suppose we all have areas that bother us, and this is mine. While I’ve been tackling laxity in the area with serums, tools, and moisturizers for the past few years, this past year, I started noticing looser jowls and more wrinkled skin on my neck and jawline. I’m not quite ready to contemplate a facelift—which has much more to do with my fear of medical procedures than any judgement about plastic surgery. When I heard about Sofwave (treatments start at $2,500), a needle-free facial rejuvenation treatment that addresses all these issues, it seemed like the perfect solution. Even better? My sister-in-law, Meredith Keller, is an incredible nurse practitioner at Aestheticare Medspa, and she performs this service regularly. Seemed like kismet, so I scheduled my treatment and was excited to see the results.

Here’s the scoop on Sofwave. It’s an FDA-cleared treatment that relies on ultrasound technology to naturally smooth and lift vulnerable areas around the brows, chin, and neck in a single in-office procedure. Even better, this technology is effective for patients as young as 22 (though 40 to 60 is the sweet spot for incredible results) and can be performed on all skin tones all year round. (The same can’t necessarily be said of similarly effective laser services.)

When we are born, we all have lovely, plump, soft skin that is chock-full of collagen and elastin—two essential scaffold proteins that work in tandem to smooth, plump, elasticize, and lift our skin. As we age, collagen and elastin production decline, and that soft, supple skin is no longer so common. The goal of Sofwave is to boost that production again. The tool heats the skin’s collagen and elastin reserves to a temperature between 140 to 150 degrees F, triggering a healing response that increases the production of both proteins. The result? Smoother, plumper, and all around younger-looking skin that looks better and better in the weeks after the treatment.

Because my neck and jowls are my problem area, I decided that is where I would like to focus. With my aforementioned fear of medical procedures and minimal tolerance for pain, Meredith had me come in about an hour before my procedure and get a thorough numbing. When it was time to begin the procedure, I could not feel my face or neck at all and was ready to roll.

The treatment involves a slow pass of the Sofwave wand over small areas of the skin to allow it to reach the high temps that encourage collagen and elastin production. I’d read some reviews that said it can sting a bit as it gets close to the high temps, but in addition to the numbing cream, Meredith used a cooling blast of air from a Zimmer Cryo Chiller, and I didn’t feel anything. In fact, it was pretty relaxing and felt a bit like a warm massage. I asked her to try a pass or two without the cooling air just to see what it felt like, and it did hurt a bit, so she stuck with the cooling wand throughout the procedure, and it didn’t hurt at all. When I was finished, my face was pink for a few hours, but I think that was a combo of the numbing cream and the procedure. By the next day, the redness was gone, and I felt like my skin looked immediately tighter and more lifted.

Meredith explained that it takes about three months to see the best results from this treatment, because the collagen and elastin continue to built for several weeks—and even months—post-procedure. Twelve weeks later, I’m happy to report that I’ve noticed a tightening of my jawline and a decreased appearance of my jowls. The results are not as dramatic as a lower face lift or some of the other more invasive procedures that create the “snatched jawline” that is so popular on Hollywood red carpets. But I’m thrilled with my results and am much less troubled by my neck.

In addition to the neck and jaw, Sofwave is approved for treatment of the brow area and is effective in reducing wrinkles and lifting. That’s another pesky area that bothers me since I have hooded eyes—albeit not enough to consider an eye lift quite yet. As such, and with my great experience in mind, I’m ready to head back to Aestheticare Medspa and bring Sofwave to my brows.

About The Author
julieKeller_author-1

Julie is the co-founder of Well Defined and a longtime influencer and advocate in the wellness world. Along with her work at Well Defined, she is an executive recruiter and marketing specialist for Hutchinson Consulting. She is also a consultant and content strategist for numerous wellness brands. She is the former editor-in-chief and publisher of American Spa and was named a 2019 Folio Top Woman in Media in the Industry Trailblazers category and a 2018 winner of ISPA’s Innovate Award. She is also a seasoned journalist, specializing in spa, travel, health, fitness, wellness, sustainability, and beauty. She has been published in Departures, ForbesTraveler.com, E! Online, Gayot.com, Insider’s Guide to Spas, Luxury Travel Advisor, Marin Magazine, Ocean Home, Smart Meetings, Spa Asia, and Travel Agent.