StyleNest were invited along to try out the revolutionary new wrinkle treatment, Frotox. Finally, a chance to say goodbye to those frown lines.
30 plus years of facial expressions (we now realise that these are bad) have finally taken their toll, and we found it hard to refuse an invitation to visit the luxury W Hotel in London to see the Frotox expert, Dr Wong taking the cosmetic beauty world by storm. No longer will we have to hide under our fringes!
We’re all familiar with Botox these days; and no doubt have many friends who have used it with varying degrees of success. But we’d always been wary about the results, and in particular, the frozen look it often achieves.
It was with interest then that we heard of a new treatment being offered, which can reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Lovera, or Frotox as it’s commonly known, uses cryoneuromodulation (that’s an intense cold shock using liquid hydrogen to you and me) to freeze selected nerve tissue into hibernation, thus reducing muscle movement in the forehead.
Frotox, approved by the FSA earlier this year, is being marketed as an option, rather than a substitute, for those people for whom Botox is not an option, either due to resistance, sensitivity or just because the idea of injecting toxins into the body is off-putting. A massive advantage is that the results are instant, unlike Botox, which can take up to two weeks to see.
Although the Lovera publicity material states that the treatment will only take about 20 minutes, the whole process actually took about two hours, and the procedure itself was a little more painful than we expected. After 30-40 minutes numbing the temples with cream, the nerves to be treated were identified using a TENS machine. A local anaesthetic was then injected several times into each temple before we got down to freezing those pesky nerves.
Using an electric toothbrush-like contraption mounted on one end with three short but thick closed-ended needles which are inserted into the temple, the selected nerves were then ‘zapped’ for 60 seconds, with a temperature of about minus 60 degrees. We have to be honest, the sensation was uncomfortable: it’s like an intense ice-cream headache together with a massive amount of pressure to the temples.
After 6 cycles on the right temple there was very little improvement and the sensation was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, so Dr Wong started on the left. Luckily this side only took 4 cycles. As the right side had been more sensitive we called it a day.
Two weeks later after the tenderness and bruising had gone, we plucked up the courage to go back to get the treatment finished. Dr Wong had improved the procedure by upping the strength of the numbing cream and we were able to finish the job perfectly with just 2 cycles to the right temple, and without any local anaesthetic injections. Going forward, he hopes to treat each side of the forehead with just five cycles to guarantee an immediate result.
And so, the verdict: we were delighted with the results. We still had movement in the forehead, but the area is much more relaxed and noticeably wrinkle-free. So much so that friends were commenting on our fresh faced and radiant appearance.
So, in three months, once the effects have worn off once the nerve tissue has healed itself, will we be going back for another treatment? Let’s put it this way, we won’t be growing our fringes out just yet…
Prices start from £450. Appointments with Dr. Wong take place at the Away Spa at the W Hotel London, 10 Wardour Street, Leicester Square, London W1D 6QF
For more information visit www.lesthetique.co.uk