I had a facelift -- without surgery

And so began my dermatological adventure. For 12 weeks my friends at the spa worked to even out the colour in my face, smooth fine lines on my forehead and around my eyes and mouth and eliminate the deeper furrows on my brow and cheeks. I returned for numerous treatments that involved everything from lasers and peels to injections and muscle workouts. I also maintained an at-home program of applying creams, cleansers, moisturizers, vitamin therapies and antioxidants every morning and night. I even stuck small stickers that contained vitamins to the corners of my eyes to help diminish my crow's feet.

Here's a detailed description of the procedures. Each session lasted less than an hour, and some procedures (such as the injections) were over in just a few minutes. I've included the cost of individual procedures at SpaMedica in case you only have one or two problems that you want to correct. Please note that prices may be different at other clinics.

Myofacial
What it is: This is like weight lifting for your face; it's aimed at firming up facial muscles and enhancing blood flow. Using an electrode, Dawn Sinclair, my designated esthetician, isolated and mechanically stimulated the main muscles in my neck, cheeks and forehead and around my mouth. Mulholland says he's the only doctor in Canada using this MyoFacial machine, a 1.15-metre box on wheels, which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.

Sinclair started with a low level of energy and increased it gradually over several weeks. After a few sessions she started using elastics (she called them 'little dumbbells') to add resistance and increase the intensity of the workout. They were attached to a thick belt, which was wrapped around my chest, and taped to different parts of my face as Sinclair worked on various muscle groups. The elastics pulled each muscle down while the electrode pulled it up.

My take: At first, the facial gymnastics felt strange and even painful in places -- especially over areas of my mouth that have dental work. I often thought how funny I must look with my muscles dancing around uncontrollably. Despite this, the MyoFacial was my favourite procedure. Very early on, I could feel my face tightening and becoming more elastic. My skin tingled and glowed.

Cost: One MyoFacial for $150; 20 for $2,000. You can also buy a home unit for $2,000 to $2,400 (it includes a SonoFacial ultrasound unit; see SonoPeel). The unit is programmed for six months, or 25 hours (two hours per week). You return twice a year for an assessment and to renew the prescription for the unit.

Fotofacial
What it is: In a FotoFacial, various high energy systems emit beams of light that are absorbed by water in the skin, unwanted blood vessels and brown spots. The heat from the light removes the unwanted colour and builds up collagen, leaving underlying cells to form a healthier surface. My FotoFacial program consisted of several three-part treatments. Lying on a bed with my eyes protected and my face covered in cold gel, a nurse used a filter and intense pulsed light to close pores, lighten the pink discoloration and smooth rough texture on the outer layer of my skin (or epidermis). Another filter and a new wavelength of energy went into deeper layers of skin to build collagen and smooth wrinkles. A laser beam then penetrated even deeper, again to build up collagen and plump up fine lines.

My take: The pulsed light treatment felt like elastics being snapped across my face -- it was painful at times and merely irritating at other times. The deeper laser treatment was less painful, since there are fewer nerve endings deep in the skin. I was relatively uneasy about the laser after developing a half-dozen round red burns on my forehead and around my eyes and mouth following one treatment. I was told that this side-effect is rare (other possible but rare side-effects include pigment changes, scarring and bruising) and may have been caused by unprotected sun exposure (very unlikely in my case) or because the laser beam was too intense for my sensitive skin. The sores healed after a few days, and I continued with the FotoFacial, but with some unease. I'm glad I did, though. After each treatment, my skin got progressively more uniform in colour. It took on a healthy, rosy glow, which drew comments from friends and colleagues. And after I finished the Pan G, I was told that I'd only need two FotoFacial sessions every year to maintain the improvements.

Cost: The FotoFacials are sold as a package: $2,500 for six, plus four SonoPeels (see SonoPeel).