ThermaCool is a newly approved nonsurgical skin-tightening procedure that involves cryogenicallly freezing surface tissues while baking the tissue beneath with jolts of electricity. The result is sub-surface burn-curdling, which causes the visible effect of skin-tightening on the surface.
"When you normally use radio-frequency technology, you get kind of a welding effect, where all the heat and energy are focused on one point," Byrnes said. "We are able to spread that heat over a large surface area — a couple centimeters square — which allows us to deliver large volumes of heat deep into the tissue."
A special filter diffuses the electromagnetic waves, so instead of welding the skin, the device can heat the dermis and subcutaneous tissue to about 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Farenheit), which causes collagen to contract.
