This ‘waffle iron for your crow’s feet’ really works
Tixel was first described to me as ‘a waffle-iron for your crow’s feet’. it’s a device that uses heat to create a controlled burn on the skin, so it’s a relatively extreme option and also requires a few days of downtime, but it is effective.
WHAT IS IT? Tixel Skin Tightening and Resurfacing uses heat energy to deliver smoother, firmer and tighter skin. Compared to some of the sophisticated sorts of technology on the market, which work off radiofrequency energy, or use focused ultrasound, or miniature lightning bolts of ‘plasma’ energy, Tixel is very straightforward.
All of these skin-rejuvenating technologies work by creating a trauma in the skin, which stimulates the skin’s own wound-healing process. That means your skin begins to produce not just more collagen and elastin, the proteins that keep skin strong and flexible, but also the growth factors that assist the formation of new skin tissue, to give you fresher, tighter, smoother skin in the treatment area.
But all Tixel uses to do this is heat. Nothing fancier than that. The treatment head of the device is 1cm square, and packed into that space are 81 titanium rods with gently pointed ends. These are heated up to 400c, then lightly touched onto the skin to create the necessary trauma.
You may be wondering, ‘ Did she really mean 400c?’ Yes, i did. That’s incredibly hot, searingly hot, so that ‘touch’ on your skin has to be very light in order to create tiny pinpoint burns (rather than, say, permanent branding) on your skin.
The point about there being 81 rods is that each hot rod tip creates a channel of damage into the skin, but the fractions of skin between the rodtips are left intact, which helps the treated skin to heal swiftly.
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: i hadn’t quite appreciated how serious a treatment this was until the anaesthetic cream is applied. Not just your average clinical numbing cream with 4 per cent lidocaine (local anaesthetic), but the clinic’s own special super- strength numbing cream, with 23 per cent lidocaine. Within 20 minutes, the goggleshaped area of skin around my eyes, neatly marked out for the treatment with a white pencil, is utterly numb, which is reassuring.
As Dr Tapan Patel begins treating the area, i can feel each touch of the device clearly enough, but it feels hot, rather than painful.
On the skin just below the eyes, i feel it more acutely, but not enough to make me shout for him to stop.
And then he dials down the intensity to treat the skin on my eyelid — i can’t think of any other treatment that can be carried out on the eyelid, but for Tixel, it’s part of the treatment protocol — and that, strangely enough, is perfectly bearable.
By the end, i look as if i am wearing a pink eye mask. My skin feels fieryhot for the rest of the day and i wish i hadn’t arranged to go out for supper because i look pink and puffy enough to catch curious glances in the restaurant. Worse: you’re not allowed to wear make-up for 24 hours until your skin has started to heal.
it isn’t painful overnight, though, and by the next morning my skin is almost its normal colour. The treated area is a bit swollen, but nothing a large pair of sunglasses won’t cover.
Over the next week, the skin feels a bit rough, and if i look closely in a magnifying mirror, i can see the gridmark of pin pricks etched on my skin as they heal up.
When i go back for reassessment four weeks later, i am amazed at the difference in the before-and-after photos. Crow’s feet are softer, the skin below my eyes is more taut, and the skin above the eyelid is tighter, too.
PAIN LEVEL (OUT OF 10): 6. Tolerable. Some patches are uncomfortable.
VERDICT: A remarkable improvement, much more than i would have expected from a single treatment (a course of three treatments is recommended). But be prepared for the swelling afterwards. This treatment needs to be done with great care, by an experienced practitioner. Too much heat could result in a deeper burn.
COST AND LOCATION: From £ 495, at the Phi Clinic in Harley Street ( phiclinic.com).