Have you heard? Ultherapy® uses ultrasound to lift and tighten the skin. If your noticing sagging in your lower face, furrows on your brows, looseness around your neck, and crepey lines across your chest but are not quite ready for surgery, it’s time you try Ultherapy!
Ultherapy® is the only FDA approved technology on the market today that is designed to lift and tighten the face, neck, and décolleté with NO downtime. Ultherapy® bypasses the skin and surrounding tissue and works by targeting the much deeper SMAS (superficial musculoaponeurotic system), which is the same muscle a surgeon would manipulate in a facelift. Ultherapy® then delivers energy (heat) into the skin to stimulate the production of collagen and elastin. Since collagen is the miracle protein responsible for delivering youthful plumpness and luster to the skin, when it’s stimulated, it rejuvenates the face by tightening the skin.
One unique advantage Ultherapy® offers over other skin tightening treatments is the ability to visualize beneath the skin’s surface. This ensures that energy is delivered to precisely the right depth to get optimal results in each patient.
More to love about Ultherapy
Following an Ultherapy treatment, there is no downtime. You can have your treatment in the morning and be ready to go out to dinner that night. There may be some redness and slight swelling to the face immediately after, but it quickly disappears. You may also experience some soreness to the touch for a few weeks post treatment. However, recovery is rapid, with no damage to the outer layers of the skin, as is the case with lasers or more superficial treatments.
Good things come to those who wait
As Ultherapy works deep beneath the surface of the skin to encourage collagen production, it will take anywhere from three to six months to see results. Results will continue to improve for up to a year.
Who should consider Ultherapy?
Anyone who has mild to moderate elasticity without too much excess skin and sun damage makes a good candidate. If you are thinking about tightening up without undergoing surgery and you are not pregnant, Ultherapy is a great option. Some patients who are surgical candidates, but do not want to undergo the knife can still opt to do Ultherapy, but may require an additional treatment sooner, and will need to tweak their expectations accordingly since Ultherapy works best in those with mild to moderate, not severe laxity.
Prep Time
As there is no downtime, prep time is also minimal. Please talk to us before you stop any required medication. In general, we will advise you to eliminate certain supplements (e.g. fish oil) that make you more prone to bruising. Bruising is more common in the neck since it’s a vascular region. Following the procedure, we will ask that you severely limit or completely omit the use of ibuprofen (anti-inflammatory) type products as they minimize inflammation, which is necessary to begin the healing, and tightening process. You can take Ibuprofen to get you through the Ultherapy treatment with no risk of it interfering with the results or we can discuss the use of pain medication if necessary.
The procedure will take 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the number of treatment areas to be addressed. We advise you to wear comfortable clothing that you would not mind either changing out of or potentially getting some ultrasound gel (non staining don’t worry) on.
What to expect
You will be placed in a comfortable reclining position. You may be offered topical numbing cream to help with tolerable discomfort if and when we use the most superficial transducer in your treatment. It may take 15 minutes to numb up your skin. Otherwise we suggest the use of Ibuprofen immediately prior to the treatment or a pain medication (prescribed by our MD after consultation). Our highly trained technician will use a handheld transducer to direct the ultrasound energy to where it is needed. You may experience some slight discomfort during the procedure.
Post-procedure
When the treatment is over, you are ready to go with no downtime. You may be given some ice to apply to your skin and there may be some redness that will fade within a short amount of time. Occasionally some patients experience some slight bruising a day or two following treatment. If this occurs, it is typically not the traditional black and blue bruising but more of a green or yellow tint since we are treating at the muscle level.
Follow-up
Typically, and per the clinical studies, results last for two years. However, most of our patients who rave about Ultherapy, are getting a treatment (or at least a touch up) every 12-18 months.
Are you a candidate for Ultherapy?
We invite you to our office at Koniver Aesthetics in Charleston/Mt Pleasant to come and find out. If you want to look fresher, brighter, and younger without having a facelift, Ultherapy could be the right treatment for you. Your new vibrant look will delight you. Contact us today!
