Ultherapy

Anything But Mid is hosted by Amy Edwards and Whitney Stropp. Neither host is a doctor and nothing here is medical advice. Lightly cleaned for readability.

Whitney: I'm Whitney.

Amy: And I'm Amy and this is midlife.

Whitney: But you're anything but mid, girl. Or boy.

Amy: Or or nonbinary. Right. Whatever you are.

Hello.

Whitney: Hello.

Amy: Tell me what's going on in your world.

Whitney: Oh, shit. I don't know. What is going on in my world?

Amy: Well, you've been traveling.

Whitney: My my Yes.

Amy: You went to Spain.

Whitney: I went to Spain.

Amy: You went to L.A. I think.

Whitney: And that was a great choice for me. It was a last minute choice, last minute decision and I'm so glad I went.

Amy: I'm so glad you went.

Whitney: And then I brought my boy home. And then I immediately turned around and went to L.A. and I saw Duran Duran at the BeachLife music festival.

Amy: Oh! What?

Whitney: But listen to this! So, my friend, I've talked about her many times, and then I just posted a video where she's putting threads in my face, Dr. Angelique Campen, she she would give John Taylor his COVID tests during the pandemic. So, she was going over to his house frequently, because they traveled a lot.

Amy: Doesn't he have a really cool wife, too?

Whitney: Yeah, she's the Juicy Couture girl.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah.

Whitney: But did you know that she's like, almost 10 years older than him?

Amy: Yes, I did know that.

Whitney: Yeah. I didn't know that until I started

Amy: Makes her even cooler.

Whitney: Googling. Anyway. And so, she reached out to him and was like, "Oh, I'm going to be at the BeachLife festival. Would love to see you." And he was like, "Do you need tickets?" And she goes, "No, I already have tickets." And he was like, "Oh." She goes, "I would like to see you." And he goes, "Oh, okay. Well, I'm going to be I'm not going to have a lot of time, but I'll let my I'll I'll get you in touch with my assistant." So, the other two of us that are with Angelique are super excited. John Taylor is my guy.

Amy: Oh, yeah.

Whitney: Like, Duran Duran is my band.

Amy: 6th grade, 6th grade, Helen.

Whitney: John Taylor is my guy. Big crush. Since yeah, 12 years old, or whatever. 13. And so, I have met Simon Le Bon, but I've never met John Taylor, so I was really excited. And we were all aflutter. And and we get our passes, and it says VIP, Duran Duran, and we're like, "Woot, woot."

Amy: What?

Whitney: And we think we're going to meet him after the show. So, we are up at The Chainsmokers were at this festival and we were right up at the very front. We'd been standing there, you know, saving our spots, and all of a sudden, Angelique gets this phone call, and she's They're like, "You've got to go now! You got to go now!" So, we left our front row at The Chainsmokers and we raced over to where we're going to meet John Taylor. And we meet his assistant, and there's like five other people, and then the three of us. We walk in, and we're sitting in like this area, and there's trailers everywhere. And we're And she's like, "Just wait here." We're waiting there, and then we see John Taylor walk out. He looks super cool. He's got like a a leather jacket on, but then a blazer over the leather jacket, so it's like super cool. Like, no one else could pull it off.

Amy: That doesn't sound cool, but

Whitney: That's what I'm saying. No one else would look like they'd be able to pull it off, but he was totally pulling it off. He has bleached his hair blonde, which, I don't really like, John, but I'm, you know.

Amy: He was probably going gray and just, you know.

Whitney: I don't know, but it it makes to me it makes him look older. Anyway, doesn't matter. So, we're all waiting. We're like, "Oh." And he walks out, and he goes over to the group of the five, and he's talking, he's obviously buddies with them, and they all start to walk back to his trailer.

Amy: No.

Whitney: Totally ignoring us. And Angelique goes, "John, it's your doctor." And he turns around and he goes, "Oh, Angelique, hi." And my friend, Sharon, had her phone ready, so they're talking, and so she gets a picture, and then he goes, "Okay. Well, I've got to go." And we were like, "Well, wait, can we get a picture?" And he goes, "Sorry, hi ladies, but I don't have any time." And we were like, "Really dude?"

Amy: No!

You had time to say, "I don't have time." You had time to say, "I don't have time" a few times.

Whitney: We're already standing there. It would be two minutes. And so,

Amy: Not even, it would be 30 seconds.

Whitney: It would be 30 seconds. And I started thinking about it, and I was like, "Why bother even giving us the passes? Why bother?"

Amy: No joke.

Whitney: We left the front of Chainsmokers rushing over here, all twitter, and then, you You're a flutter, you're a twitter. I'm a twitter, I'm a flutter, I'm a flabbergasting lady. Anyway, but I was It really made me mad, because I was like, "What harm would it have been to give one get one more picture?" You're literally standing right there, and you made the effort to bring get us the passes.

Amy: Yeah, I don't get it.

Whitney: And it just And then I got mad at myself. So, in a way, this might have been my mid moment. I got mad at myself for not standing up, like, why did I Why didn't I go, "John, come on, it's two seconds. Give us a picture."

Amy: Yeah. "I've been dreaming of this since I was 12."

Whitney: Yeah, "I've been wanting to touch you for over 30 years."

Amy: "Put my hand on your chest."

Whitney: Yeah, ooh, well, he's got a little feminine, he's got a little feminine body. But I like it. He's always He's very thin, you know. He's always been thin.

Amy: Yes. I thought he was tall and skinny.

Whitney: He is.

Amy: Okay, I can live with that. He's tall and skinny and he can slap a bass.

Whitney: He can slap a bass.

Amy: He's I think he's one of the best bass players.

Whitney: Oh, hands down. Hands down. So, I was really I have not stopped thinking about it. You know how you'll replay, wishing that you had done it differently?

Amy: It's so good.

Yeah. You've created a different scenario and you're like imagining you did.

Whitney: Right, why What's what What kept me What kept me from doing anything is that I was in awe, and thought, "Oh, well, he's better than me." in a way. You know, you're like, "Oh, I I can't He can't be bothered." Fucking bullshit! We're literally right there. And by the way, who paid for that leather jacket? Me, since I was 12.

Amy: He can't be bothered.

Who paid for the blazer on top of it, but that's weird.

Whitney: Who paid for that blazer?

Amy: That's super fucking weird, but okay. I did. I did. With my Duran Duran and I supported you.

Whitney: I might be I might be calling. Yeah! And I'm just so mad at myself for not And by the way, if Angelique hadn't have yelled out,

Amy: Said something, no, he would have just walked off.

Whitney: He would have just wandered off! What was the point? And and then I'm going to stop talking about it, but also, remember that so, the his assistant is Remember back in the day, Ask Katy?

Amy: No.

Whitney: K-A-T-Y, Katy. So, she has been with the band forever, cuz I remember she had a little show where she would ask them things, or the the the the Duranies would ask her something and then she'd ask the band, Duranies.

Amy: I know the Duranies.

Whitney: And it was her! But I was so nervous, which makes me so mad, cuz who cares? You're not fucking curing cancer. I'm standing next to someone who's held a human heart in her hands, you know. It's like, why am I

Amy: And I mean

Whitney: She's a star.

Amy: Yeah, exactly.

Whitney: So, anyway, and and I was all aflutter with her, and I go, "Oh, you know, this is so stupid!" I go, "I just" As we're walking out, we're all stunned that nothing happened. And she's walking us out and I go, "You know, I remember you back in the day, you've been with the band a long time, and I just" "I just want to thank you for everything that you've done for the fans and for the band." As if I'm like And she's just looking at me like, "You freak." And then I go, "I remember, you know, I remember when you did Ask Katie," and she goes, "It's Katy."

Amy: Uh!

Whitney: And I was like, "Oh yeah, I remember there was something I was forgetting." And then then she just pushed us out the gate and closed it. And I'm just like, "This did not go the way that I had planned."

Amy: What the fuck? There's got to be more humanity in this.

Whitney: It's just I'm sorry, but again, and then we will move on, but why give us the passes? Why make the effort if you won't allow us to have a moment?

Amy: Yeah, I agree.

Whitney: After 30 years? Yeah, and I'm mad at myself for not saying, "John, I have idolized you for over 30 years. Can't you spare one more second for a photo?"

Amy: Fulfill it. Fulfill it. That's how it works.

Famous people need to realize that, too. I guess they just don't take it seriously, since there's so many demands on their time all the time, but

Whitney: Yeah, this was different. I wasn't attacking him in the bathroom, which is what my sister and I did for Steven

Amy: But God!

Tyler?

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: Was he in the ladies' room?

Whitney: No, he was in the men's men's room. We didn't follow him into the men's room, but we waited outside for him.

Amy: And, did it work?

Whitney: Then we were like, "Get it Can we get a picture?" And he goes He was so sweet. He goes, "Ladies, ladies, can I finish my meal first and then" He goes, "I'll do it on the way out, because if I do it now, everyone else will swarm me." And we were like, "Yes." And then he like like, give me your hand. He was like, and then we walked away like that. Like, You know, he slid his hand past us as we walked in separate ways.

Amy: He's like, "I know I can fuck y'all if I want to."

Whitney: Oh! And it and it, by the way, this was only like 10 years ago. It was old Steven Tyler.

Amy: Oh, that doesn't matter. He still got it.

Whitney: Anyway, but this this wasn't even that. This was you invited us into the back. Granted, Angelique got us invited, but

Amy: Well, the thing is, he was going in that trailer with other people to shoot the shit for 10 minutes.

Whitney: Yeah, they didn't get No, this was at this was like at 6:00 and they didn't go on until 9:00.

Amy: Oh, my god! I thought he was going on stage.

Whitney: This wasn't like

No, dude.

Amy: What in the world?

Whitney: And and I'm so frustrated by it, because I if I had just you know, what's the word, exserted? No.

Exsert- exerted? No.

Amy: Maybe. Inserted?

Whitney: Inserted, exerted. If I just inserted myself. If I had just tried, you know, if I just spoken up and been

Amy: Exalted.

Asserted.

Whitney: Asserted myself, yes.

Amy: Asserted.

Whitney: But I'd also like to insert myself.

Amy: You you would have been inserting yourself.

Whitney: I would have been inserting.

Amy: And he should have inserted himself

Whitney: Yeah, what is the point?

Amy: in the most mild way possible.

Whitney: But maybe he thought, you know, Angelique is who gets the moment, but we're just I'm sure we were standing there like, you know.

Amy: Well, I mean, come on.

Whitney: And then he just goes, "Hi, ladies," and then he walks off. You don't have a lot of time. We're not asking for, you know, sperm.

Amy: No. No.

Whitney: I mean, I would have, but Anyway.

Amy: Damn! I know. I'm sorry.

Whitney: But it was still fun. But yeah, I I was disappointed that it ended that way, but they still put on a good show.

Amy: I'm sure it took the wind out of your sail for a minute.

Whitney: It did. I was a little angry, and and my friends wanted to leave early, because they were cold, and I did, I left early. Whereas in the past, I'd have been like, "Fuck no, we're not leaving."

Amy: Damn. Yeah.

Whitney: We only stayed for like their first three or four songs.

Amy: Damn, man.

Whitney: That's what happens. I'm no longer supporting you, John Taylor. You can buy your own leather jackets and blazers from this moment on.

Amy: That's right. You can layer them all day long with your own money. So weird.

Whitney: Anyway.

Amy: All right. Well, my mid moment, are you ready for mine?

Whitney: Yes, tell me.

Amy: Are you sitting down? I think you need to sit even deeper, even downer.

Whitney: I am.

Amy: Are you ready?

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: I started my motherfucking period.

Whitney: Okay, it's your hormones.

Amy: It is. Well, this is almost 3 months that I've been back on the estrogen after the

Whitney: Tell me what your

Are you remembering to take it religiously?

Amy: I take it fucking do not forget ever. I'm religious.

Whitney: It's the pill?

Amy: It's a pill. It's a pill. I take DHEA with progesterone. I take pregnenolone.

Whitney: Do you know why we're taking DHEA?

Amy: I take testosterone and

Something about our sleep? No, but I'm going to look into it. I'm taking it.

Whitney: Yeah, because I also was taking DHEA when I was with the Function Health doctor and then after a while, I was like, "Why am I taking this? I don't remember."

Amy: All right, I'm going to look into DHEA. I'm going to report back.

Whitney: I I don't take it anymore. Anyway,

Amy: DHEA and of course,

Whitney: So you started

Amy: estradiol or whatever. So,

Amy: Yeah. Back on estrogen, so I guess that's what kicked it in. in, but I was in utter disbelief because it's been since November, so what is that? A good six months.

Whitney: Mhm. Tell me how much progesterone you're taking.

Amy: Oh, shit, I don't know.

Whitney: 100 milligrams probably.

Amy: Probably.

Whitney: And then do you know how much estradiol?

Amy: No.

Whitney: Okay. This is what I learned because this happened to me. I started bleeding again, which actually, it didn't make me feel mid moment. It made me feel young, because I was dating a younger guy, like you. You're married to a younger man.

Amy: I'm on my period.

Whitney: And I was like, "Oh, I can't have sex with you, because I'm on my period." It was like the good old days.

Amy: You don't have sex on your period?

Whitney: I do, but he doesn't.

Amy: Bye! That's so fucking stupid! Bye. I mean, really, you need a man who's like, "Yes!" Listen. Justin'll rub it on his face. He don't care.

Whitney: Oh, that is hilarious. War paint. That is so funny. No, I wasn't offended by it. It I changed his mind, like-

Amy: Way to go.

Whitney: Yeah, I didn't take no for an answer, but anyway, I felt young, because I was like, "All right." But okay, so this is what I learned. Because then I'm contacting my OB-GYN, and I'm like, "I'm bleeding." You know, "I think I need my more hormones need to be different." No, she was like, "Oh, this is a big deal, and you need to get an ultrasound, and you need to do this and that."

Amy: What?

Whitney: And Yeah, or sonogram. I don't ever remember which one is which.

Amy: What? Why?

Whitney: So, because there could be a tumor in there or something.

Amy: No.

Whitney: And so, I go in all freaked out. I did get to see my uterus, which I haven't seen in since my kid's 20.

Amy: Hey, uterus.

Whitney: Yeah. So, I haven't seen it since for 20 years. She looked great,

Amy: She did.

Whitney: and there were no tumors. It was because my progesterone level- My progesterone level was lower than the estrogen level. Like, the progesterone is supposed to be the thing that makes your uterus lining thin. It thins it. The estrogen thickens it. So, you don't need to go to the gynecologist and see your uterus. You just need to make sure that the progesterone is enough to thin you're getting enough progesterone to thin out the uterus.

Amy: Okay. No, that's great. You know what? I'm gonna do a series on all of these hormones, and I'll add DHEA in there, so that's gonna be coming up, 'cause I gotta know this. That's really good intel. That's like-

Whitney: Well, and why wouldn't my doctor tell me that? Like, you know who told me that? Was the Function Health doctor that I went to see. He was like, "You don't need to go this is we just need to up your progesterone." But now I'm on 300 milligrams of progesterone,

Amy: Oh, right. Oh.

Whitney: which is quite a bit more than most people take. But it's working.

Amy: I'm interested.

Whitney: That was the last time I had a period.

Amy: Wow. Which was a couple years ago, right?

Whitney: Yeah, it was 4 1/2 years ago. Like, I had my last I went into menopause at 50, and then about a year later, my I got my period, which I was like, "What?"

Amy: Okay. So, it could be that. Okay, good.

Whitney: And then Yeah.

Amy: Well, I've got I think it's it is hormone-related.

Whitney: It is hormone-related.

Amy: I'm gonna do my blood work soon and sort of reconfigure these things. So, yeah. Great. Okay. Well, shall we dive in?

Whitney: There you go. Yes, let's dive in.

Amy: Speaking of ultrasounds, thank you for the segue, we are doing Ultherapy today, so-

Whitney: Oh, Ul stands for ultra.

Amy: Ultrasound, like it's like an ultrasound technology.

Whitney: Ultherapy.

Amy: Yeah. Oh, well, sort of.

Whitney: Okay. I don't know anything about this, which is weird.

Amy: Ultherapy, really? I can't believe we haven't talked about it, 'cause I've done it twice. So, here we go.

Whitney: Okay, I need to know everything.

Amy: Well, one of the reasons I wanna do it is 'cause I feel like there I've heard some weird stuff about it in the last few years, that it's melting people's fat and it's not good, and all this stuff. So, I wanna talk about that.

Whitney: Oh, is it CoolSculpting?

Amy: Well, now, I don't know. I can't answer that.

Whitney: Oh, okay. Sorry.

Amy: But there are some other ones now. So, Ultherapy, it is known also known as Ulthera. I've never heard it called that, though, but according to my research, it's a non-surgical cosmetic treatment used to tighten the skin of the face and neck, which I've had it done on my full face and neck. It's FDA-approved. It's an ultrasound therapy that works to gradually lift the skin on your neck, chin, and brow, minimizing fine lines and wrinkles. It has FDA clearance, which I'll cover in a minute, for lifting skin. So, it's like legitimately Yeah.

Whitney: So, it's a skin lift. It's tightening it's tightening your skin.

Amy: Yep. Yep. But it's building collagen too. Using, which I know you love that, yeah.

Whitney: I love to build me some collagen.

Amy: You love it. Using micro-focused ultrasound, Ultherapy treats the superficial layers of the skin at a lower level of ultrasound energy than like what you would get in your uterus. Right, to or what they used to remove tumors or something. So- So, the there are two types of focused ultrasound that are Oh, it's I'm sorry. They're similar to a pregnancy ultrasound or other types of ultrasound used in medical imaging.

Whitney: Interesting.

Amy: The main difference is that this therapy emits various frequencies of ultrasound energy through the skin in order to lift and tighten. So, it's the only non-invasive treatment option of its kind, and it's proven to be safe and effective. As I said, I've had it twice. I had it at age 39, and I had it at age 49. And the cost was roughly the same for both. I wanna say it was about $4,000. It's not cheap.

Whitney: Holy moly!

Amy: Not cheap for both.

Whitney: And that was for your face and neck?

Amy: Yeah. And so, you know, maybe the price has gone down a little bit, but anyway. So-

Whitney: Was it worth it? I mean, obviously, you did it again. Did you At 39, I can't imagine that you would notice a big difference. Why at 39?

Amy: Here's the weird part about Ultherapy. It doesn't really act right away. It acts over the course of the next 18 months. And so, and I feel like and longer. And so, it's very hard to tell why you look good, but I do think that it had really long-lasting results on both my face and my neck. So-

Whitney: And you're gonna talk about the research and the science behind it.

Amy: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I am. I don't understand what I know that you're saying it's shrinking the shrinking the skin. It's like tightening it up. I'm gonna do my best. Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna tell you how it works.

Whitney: But it's also producing collagen, okay.

Amy: On their website, too, Salma Hayek front and center. We like Salma.

Whitney: She looks good.

Amy: She I don't You know what? Let me see how old she is. So-

Whitney: She's older than us.

Amy: How old Yeah. Salma Hayek.

Whitney: That's what I love. I love to look at actresses that are

Amy: 59.

Whitney: Oh, yeah.

Amy: Yeah. I thought she was 56.

Whitney: But she's also got some curves, like she's got some fat.

Amy: Yeah, she's not like an emaciated Hollywood figure.

Whitney: And that's the truth. If you want cheap filler, just go eat a cheeseburger.

Amy: I ate a bag of chips the other day and I was like puffy as hell. I was like, "I can't do that."

Whitney: Oh, lord.

Amy: Okay, so Ultherapy uses a smooth applicator with ultrasound technology to target your natural collagen and stimulate production of new collagen fibers.

Whitney: So, it's like a wand, a smooth wand that they're going over your face?

Amy: It's It's a device, yeah. I'm usually pretty out of it.

Whitney: Oh, really?

Amy: It hurts like a motherfucker to me. I feel like I can feel it down to my bone, and so-

Whitney: Oh, wow. Ooh.

Amy: I think it hurts, and I ran into a fucking fabulous woman last night, and for some reason, Ultherapy came up in the conversation. Oh, one chick that I was talking to worked in a medspa and was telling us that she has something called XERF, X-E-R-F, that's similar to this and it's new.

Whitney: And it's not as painful?

Amy: And she said I don't know if it's as painful, but kind of does the same thing. I'm suspicious of anything, though. I kind of wanna stick with the OG and I'll tell you why. But But the other woman was like, "Oh, I like Ultherapy. That's what I do." And she looked great. And-

Whitney: Man, it sounds like, and I don't know how CoolSculpting works, but I know like talking about like melting the fat, or whatever, that that is painful and that is what it does, so-

Amy: Well, I do think that that is more melting the fat. Ul- Ultherapy lifts and tightens, while CoolSculpting, here it says, freezes and destroys fat cells,

Whitney: All right, it's doing

Amy: so different.

Whitney: Right, but is it using the same kind of technology? No, I guess it couldn't.

Amy: I don't think so, no.

Whitney: Wow, $4,000. So, you're out of it, you take something, or you're numb?

Amy: I last time used like laughing gas and I took something. And yeah, you gotta just push through.

Whitney: Oh, my god.

Amy: I mean, it's over quickly.

Whitney: How long does it take?

Amy: Less than an hour, you know.

Whitney: What? In that kind of pain for an hour?

Amy: Well, but it It doesn't It really just hurts on my jaw.

Whitney: You can feel it on in your bones. Yes, I know what you're talking about.

Amy: Because of the bones. Yeah. The bones. Yeah, and like ache. Yeah, it's that kind of pain. It's not like that surface skin pain.

Whitney: No, it is deep.

Amy: It is. It's deep, and ooh, the thought of doing it again makes me like uh.

Whitney: Are you gonna do it at 59?

Amy: I mean, Salma. Yes. Okay. So, collagen, of course, is our natural protein that keeps our skin firm and toned, as Whitney well knows. See our episode on collagen, right? So, as you age, of course, quick reminder, your body stops producing collagen and the collagen in your body loses its strength. This is what causes gravity, of course, to run its course, 'cause the collagen's no longer strong enough to withstand the effects of gravity, and your skin begins to sag or pull downward. So, to counteract that, the Ultherapy device targets the collagen and elastin beneath the surface of your skin and delivers focused ultrasound energy up to 5 millimeters deep. Felt deeper. Anyway,

Amy: Felt like it was like 2 inches.

Whitney: That's what she said. Susan.

Amy: Good one.

Whitney: Thanks.

Amy: 5 millimeters deep to briefly heat the tissue. So, CoolSculpting is cooling, this is heating. The heat then starts to gradually repair the skin by strengthening the existing collagen and stimulating the body to make new collagen. I hope that helps a little bit. So, it's safe for all skin types too, because it doesn't target melanin. The woman I was speaking with last night was from India,

Whitney: Oh, yeah.

Amy: and so she was like, "I love it, 'cause it works for my skin type," and she had a darker skin. There is also no downtime, like it's just painful and then you're ready to go.

Whitney: The downtime is that hour of like uh. You are down.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. You recover from the pain for the next hour. So, yes, as I said, I think it takes about an hour. I can't quite remember. I blocked it out, I guess, but most I love this. Most patients report little to no discomfort during Ultherapy. In fact, some find the procedure to be calming and relaxing. I wrote, "LOL." So, yeah. Yeah, right. So, it was developed in 2004 in Arizona by Ulthera, Inc., a medical device company, and it was established as the first spinoff from Guided Therapy Systems, which was an ultrasonic medical technology company. And then, it was purchased by Merz. It was acquired by Merz in, I don't have the year for that, but it was cleared by the FDA for this in 2009. And I mean, I did it in like 2011, so

Whitney: Merz. Yeah.

Amy: I I remember it being kind of new. So, yeah. So, it's basically, you know, a precursor to a face lift, is I feel like, you know, like it's gonna give you-

Whitney: Well, it's interesting because, you know, we do all these things to stimulate collagen. This is this is a way where you're not putting anything into your body to to have the body go and attack it. This is just a

Amy: or an ultrasound.

Whitney: Ultrasound. I get I'm getting confused on

Amy: Ultrasound frequency.

Whitney: Yeah, frequency, that's what.

Amy: on what ultrasound frequency is?

Whitney: Yeah, it's not light. It's It's

Amy: I think it's sound.

Whitney: It's sound,

Amy: Which is so bizarre.

Whitney: which is looking it up right now.

Amy: "Ultrasound uses sound waves with frequencies greater than 20 kHz, above human hearing, typically ranging from 2 MHz to 18 MHz for medical diagnostic imaging."

Whitney: Isn't that crazy?

Amy: "Lower frequencies provide deeper penetration."

Whitney: So, sound, it's you're putting sound into your body and it's creating collagen.

Amy: Higher frequency It's like ultrasonic sound. Weird. Trippy. So, they have a new one out now called Ultherapy Prime, but from what I read, they're just trying to get us to think it's new, and it's like It's not that different. Apparently, like what I read from some of the practitioners, it's just a bigger screen.

Whitney: And it's not.

Amy: So,

Whitney: Oh, so it's not even about the Pretty much. process for you, it's just

Amy: They're claiming it is, I think, but I don't know that it is. And I I think this is very targeted. So, what I read about Sculptra versus Ultherapy as far as collagen, is sometimes Sculptra isn't as targeted as people would like it to be, and your skin can build collagen in other places. And so, this apparently is building collagen in your targeted area.

Whitney: Mm-hmm. But you said you did it all over your face. Hmm.

Amy: I don't get it.

Whitney: I don't get it.

Amy: I don't get it. So, okay, um, so they say, unlike lasers or light-based treatments, it's targeting those deeper layers of skin safely and effectively. But gosh, I don't know how they target it so well, you know, like I don't want to build collagen around my jawline.

Whitney: No, I'm already doing that with my nightly grinding.

Amy: Right. Right.

Whitney: You know, I'm getting a man jawline from that, so

Amy: You're you're jaw maxing or something. Yeah, so um,

Whitney: Is that a real term?

Amy: No, it's not. I just made it up.

Whitney: Probably. I don't fucking know. So,

Amy: So, anyway, this they say they say that a doctor said that that, quote, "the burn is below the skin, and skin cells start start creating collagen to repair this very small burn, and that's how the collagen is generated. And then it's lifting and it's building that elastin in your skin." So, you're just basically pulling like less sag, you know, which, of course, I have these jowls, so I do need it here. So, yeah.

Whitney: Why don't you just do a thread?

Amy: You know, you made me think about it. I'm not going to lie. Watching you get those, no, it didn't look like it hurt at all.

Whitney: Yeah, it doesn't It didn't hurt that bad. And there's no blood or bruising, nothing.

Amy: I mean, you look great.

Whitney: Well, it hasn't it hasn't taken effect. You know, it takes

Amy: How does it not take effect right away? Like

Whitney: Cuz it's it's just in there. It's not pulling anything necessarily.

Amy: Tighten that shit up. You know, just like take a a couple of millimeters off.

Whitney: Well, if you get the one with barbs, then it kind of hooks on and yeah, but I didn't need those. That's for really old people.

Amy: Really? Barbs, ooh.

Whitney: Barbs in the threads. Anyway, okay, so this is so this because this is how your body gets collagen where it needs to go anyway. There's something that needs to be repaired. So, this is burning it.

Amy: is addressing it. Burning it, I guess so. Yeah, but it's very small burn and so it's and I like that it's been around for so long. But recently, I heard things like, "Oh, it's melting fat in your face, and you shouldn't do it," and all this stuff. And then I was like, "Oh fuck, did I fuck myself up?" And so, that was one of the reasons I did this, cuz I was like, I got to look into that. So, here's what I

Whitney: It's just a small burn.

Amy: found.

Whitney: Yeah. But you didn't. I mean, your face doesn't look fucked up.

Amy: I don't think so. But I always did have a lot of fat in my face. I grew up with really big cheeks. You know, like I had cheeks till I was in my 30s. I was not one of these people with a really lean face, which is good in later life.

Whitney: Oh. Yeah.

Amy: So, when you're young, you're kind of like, "Great, baby fat everywhere." So, my

Whitney: Yeah, I would kill for that baby fat now.

Amy: my child, Gigi, is like, "What about these cheeks?" And I'm like, "Just trust me. It's going to serve you later in life."

Whitney: Yeah. What about these cheeks?

Amy: Yeah, so there is still a lot of concerns circulating about whether this treatment melts fat in your face. That's, I think, the main criticism. Merz says that those are not genuine Ultherapy machines, that there is counterfeiting, and that is important to remember. There's counterfeiting in every way, or they say, "This is just like it," or something like that. So, practitioners say the same thing. So, that's according to my research, so

Whitney: Oh. You need to make sure you're getting a legit machine.

Amy: Yeah, and I mean I went to reputable places where they had an actual machine. So, they say that you don't get any problems if you follow the treatment protocols, and obviously use genuine machines. Counterfeiting is as much of an issue in aesthetic medicine as in any industry. So, that's scary and true, and so just like make sure. So, it can melt fat. So, if practitioners are looking to stimulate collagen, they need to use the visualized tool, which shows at what depth in the skin they're working on with great accuracy. So, that's one of the good things about the machine.

Whitney: Yeah. Mm, well, that's is scaring me now because you get the wrong person with the right machine, you're still screwed.

Amy: Yeah. I mean That That sentence makes me wonder. You know, so you've got to go with somebody who's done it a lot and really understands how to use it. So, maybe that Prime machine really does give greater accuracy. So, maybe it's worth doing the updated machine, you know. Maybe they're really addressing that. So, anyway, reviews from people who've done it, I would I think are overall good, but there are some mixed reviews. Many people swear by it. I wouldn't say I swear by it, but I have wondered why I look better as I've gone along. And I do a lot of stuff. It's hard to discern what's causing the effect, but I do think this is a big part of it. So,

Whitney: positive.

Amy: and

Whitney: I don't know, at this stage So so bottom line, you don't know yet if you would do it again. If the price were right.

Amy: Right. Right, I don't know. You know, maybe the price has gone down a little bit now. I don't know.

Whitney: But to me, it's expensive and it's painful. Why not do Sculptra or threads? You're still creating collagen. It's just a different way. I don't know. I don't know why you would choose that over Sculptra

Amy: What?

Whitney: in my mind.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah.

Whitney: You know.

Amy: And like you said though, it's hard to know. Like if you and I both did that you did your procedure, I did mine, and then we didn't do anything else for 18 months, you know,

Whitney: maybe we'd be able to see if one was better than the other, but

Amy: But most likely, anyone doing these things is doing a bunch of other stuff.

Whitney: is doing Yeah, exactly.

Amy: You know. Even if it's gua sha at night. I mean, like you're doing something else, so it's not happening in a vacuum. So, we just we just don't know. Even when you look at pictures of results, it's sort of like

Whitney: How do you know for sure? Yeah.

Amy: Did they do anything Come on. You know, like

Whitney: Right. And same thing with Salma Hayek. I mean, she's She's doing all kinds of

Amy: Oh, my god. You know Salma's got a team of people.

Whitney: and she's getting facials probably every week, and yeah.

Amy: Oh, for sure. She's glowing. I once actually

Whitney: I wonder if Jennifer Lopez does it.

Amy: I Oh, I bet. I She looks I think maybe she's had surgery, but I do. I do. But I once in Allure magazine or something, they had something like what takes

Whitney: Cuz her skin

Amy: what the team of a star, and they featured Salma Hayek, and they had her with everybody, and it was like 17 people or something like that, you know. And like so, she's like we're talking about the food that she eats, we're talking about all the biohacking she like when you consider all of that, you can't be like, "She just does Ultherapy."

Whitney: Oh, sure.

Amy: Right?

Whitney: Sure. skincare

Amy: No.

Whitney: Right. No, it's so many things. So many things. And then some of it is genetics.

Amy: Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, yes.

Whitney: Darker skin people, I think they they don't wrinkle as quickly,

Amy: As much, yeah.

Whitney: because the sun doesn't impact them the way that it's impacting us.

Amy: Right. And they didn't cook in the sun probably the way that we have.

Whitney: Right. Yeah, they weren't trying to get tan. They already were tan.

Amy: They weren't putting Crisco on, or Hawaiian Tropic

Whitney: Oh, lord.

Amy: solid oil, you know, whatever. So, okay, so that's my report on Ultherapy.

Whitney: Okay, I think it's interesting that it came up last night at your event.

Amy: It was so interesting. And so, it was just interesting that she mentioned XERF. Let me just look it up right quick. Yeah, so I I I was like, "Oh, man." You know, there's And she said that at their med spa She was at Muse MedSpa or something like that. So, XERF, X-E-R-F, is extra enhanced radiofrequency, a non-invasive, FDA-cleared, monopolar radiofrequency skin tightening device, designed to boost collagen and reduce laxity. Dual-frequency technology to deeply heat skin layers, while cooling the surface for comfort. Hmm. "Improved contouring, fewer wrinkles, firmer skin, no downtime." So,

Whitney: anyway. I know. So every The The bottom line is everybody is trying to produce more collagen. That's That is the main way to keep your skin looking youthful.

Amy: Yeah. XERF is still expensive, man.

Whitney: How much?

Amy: Full face and neck averaging around $2,500.

Whitney: Okay, type in Sculptra and see And you have to have more than one.

Amy: So,

Whitney: Oh, you have to have more than But the the Ultherapy you don't need to have You can just do it one time.

Amy: Once. Sculptra typically cost between $700 and $1,000 per vial. Most patients pay $600 to $1,200, depending on the provider and location, and a full treatment series usually involves two to four vials over two to three sessions.

Whitney: Two, three

Amy: $2,000 to $6,000. So, you know. You know what? I think we've just hit on an interesting point though. Like, when you see the before and after of someone's face, what products are they using? What are they eating? What are they doing? What other treatments have they had? You know, it all matters, and we're not just seeing that, and I can't believe I haven't really thought of that before now.

Whitney: I do think the only time when that's different is when you see an immediate,

Amy: Cuz I haven't.

Whitney: you know. But if you're coming back in 16 months or something,

Amy: Yes. Yes. 6 months. Or even 6 months, 6 months, yeah.

Whitney: Yeah. A facelift, typically they'll do some photos along the way so you can see the difference.

Amy: Facelift is more dramatic, and you're really going to see that, you know. And

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah. But I think Sculptra, any of these collagen-boosting therapies, you just don't know, cuz it takes so long. And by the time I'm seeing results, I've forgotten that I was going for any results.

Amy: Yeah. Right. 100%. You're like, "I don't know what I did. Let me think about last month." You know? You're not thinking about a year and a half ago.

Whitney: Yeah, exactly. "Oh, it's this Korean skincare that I've got."

Amy: Exactly. You're crediting your salmon sperm mask you just wore. Yes! Yes.

Whitney: Salmon sperm Yeah.

Amy: So, all right. Well, anyway, I just hope that helps anybody like at least understand it more, cuz I needed to understand it more too, so

Whitney: to say it. Well, it sounds like the positives of it is that it's a one one-time deal, and the results are permanent,

Amy: Yeah. Yeah.

Whitney: no downtime.

Amy: Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of And I thought, you know, when I thought about the price, and like the other things that I would do, I was like, "Well, it's not filler, and how much I had spent on filler and stuff." So, I was like, you know what? I I felt like I was okay with that price. So, you know.

Whitney: Well, and if you think about it, it's just one time versus you go back multiple times for Sculptra Yeah. it might end up being right on

Amy: Yeah. Yeah.

Whitney: par.

Amy: And, you know, and I'm interested in your threads that they're so much cheaper than I thought, cuz I consulted with that person who was like $7,000 and I was like, this literally makes no sense.

Whitney: Yeah, so so Angelique who is based out of San Diego, she charges about $500 a thread. But some places, I think she said $700 to even $1,000, it just depends where you go. But that's per thread. And so, if you go to our

Amy: And you only got three. One, two,

Whitney: If you go to our Instagram page

Amy: and you did one across, which is freaky as fuck.

Whitney: Right. Isn't it freaky? Did you see it? Cuz I put it on there, too. Yeah, so I got three three threads,

Amy: Oh, that's so weird. Okay.

Whitney: so $1,500 for three threads. But I and if you watch the video, I am, I mean, there is some discomfort. A lot of it was just fear of pain. Yeah. But I mean, the fact that there's no bleeding, there's no bruising,

Amy: Amazing.

Whitney: and Yeah. And then and then you just watch it. She did it right here.

Amy: Where was it? Wow.

Whitney: But you're not going to be I do feel them. Like Like sometimes something Not Not with my fingers like on the inside

Amy: Oh. I'm like, what?

Whitney: Like on the inside, I I feel like I might feel it a little bit.

Amy: That was weird, I could feel your cheek vibrating when you were talking.

Whitney: But um Oh. Well, that's funny.

Amy: You can You can feel them. Hmm.

Whitney: Not Not with my fingertips, just I noticed last night that sometimes when I was talking or something, I would feel something. And I'm like, "Oh, I wonder if that's the thread." But the thread will dissolve within 6 months, but the collagen that is building there

Amy: Building up around it.

Whitney: is Yeah.

Amy: Interesting. Okay. Okay.

Whitney: It's stick sticking around.

Amy: I'm I'm so glad.

Whitney: But remember, and I told I said this on a previous episode, the sun kills collagen. The sun rays literally go in like asteroids and and are getting rid of your collagen. So, wear your sunblock. If you're spending the money that we're spending on threads and Sculptra and Ultherapy and all of that, you are just ruining it if you're not putting your sunblock on. I did not realize that. I thought if I'm getting a sunburn, then I've damaged my skin. But those UV rays going down are like You remember that old game Asteroids?

Amy: Damn. Yeah, yeah.

Whitney: I loved that game.

Amy: I know, it was fun. Or Galaga.

Whitney: No. Not Galaga.

Amy: I liked Galaga.

Whitney: I liked the hyperspace with the asteroids and you're and you're exploding the rock. Anyway, that's what the sun is doing to your collagen. So, protect it.

Amy: Oh yeah. Okay. Good to know. Okay. Okay. So All right. Well, awesome. Well, if you have anything to share with us, we want to hear from you. Comment anywhere. Hit us up. DM us. Follow us, please, on Instagram. And, you know, we're Please share it with a friend.

Whitney: Start a conversation with us. Like get on our Instagram and leave us a comment. Tell us what you think about what we're doing.

Amy: Yes, please.

Whitney: Cuz we don't know.

Amy: Good or bad, we'll take it. We want to know.

Whitney: That's right.

Amy: And always remember that you do what you want.

Whitney: Please follow and subscribe to Anything But Mid anywhere you get your podcasts. Email us your mid moment at anythingbutmidpodcast@gmail.com. And remember, you do what you want.