MIAMI – A Miami-based dermatologist is using radio frequency to make patients' knees and elbows look younger.
"We don't move our skin from our shoulder to our elbow, but the elbow is a joint, like the knee, and we're constantly moving them in our lives," said Bowes.
Bowes said constant movement, sun exposure, and time can make elbows and knees look old, but a device called the E-Prime is changing that.
"It has been very successful at lifting the jaw line area, defining the neck, giving volume to the aging face so we have started using it to rejuvenate the skin of the knees as well as the elbows," she said.
The E-Prime uses radio frequency delivered through micro-needles to stimulate the body's ability to produce collagen.
"It's a very natural process in that we're not injecting anything strange," said Bowes. "It's our own bodies reaction to radio frequency."
Patients undergoing the E-Prime treatment require some topical numbing. The treatment can be completed in about an hour.
"You see immediate results because you are actually contracting, to some extent, the collagen that is there, so you're getting some tightening, but the more significant result is after two, three months when you've really built complete new collagen," said Bowes.
A month after the procedure, Ana Tano felt confident enough to wear a short dress without pantyhose, something she hasn't done in years.
"I've noticed I have less creases in a month and which I'm hoping, in a couple of month it's still warm, which means it's still working, it will get better," she said.
The E-Prime treatment costs $700 for elbows and $1,000 for knees.