For some years, if you wanted to tighten and tone your skin to reduce the signs of aging, you needed to go under the knife. Surgeries such as facelift, brow lift and eyelid lift were the only want to firm up loose and sagging skin.
That’s all changed with the introduction of Ultherapy. It’s a non-invasive procedure that uses ultrasound energy to lift your skin. Although it’s not the answer to all your aging problems, Ultherapy can help many people get a more youthful look without having to got through surgery. Here’s what Ultherapy can and can’t do.
Ultherapy Works on the Entire Face
Often, certain procedures only work on certain areas. For example, Botox only helps to reduce wrinkles created by movements, not wrinkles created by gravity and a loss of collagen. A facelift zeros in on the lower part of the face, an eyelid lift treats the eyelids, and so on.
But Ultherapy helps treat skin concerns over the entire face. It is FDA approved to lift skin in the eyebrow and forehead area, as well as around the jawline, chin and neck. The treatment is safe to use in the under eye area, where it helps improve the appearance of crepiness, reduces bags under the eyes and can help minimize the appearance of dark circles.
Ultherapy Can Help Improve the Skin on the Neck and Chest
Right now, Ultherapy is the only non-surgical treatment approved to lift skin on the decollatage area. The skin on the upper chest and neck area tends to get wrinkled and crepey due to years of sun exposure. While many people think to protect the skin on their face with sunscreen and moisturizer, the skin on the chest and neck is often neglected.
Ultherapy helps improve the skin in the area using ultrasound energy. The energy is directed to the dermal layer of the skin, leaving the top layer intact. Over time, the dermis begins to produce more collagen, which helps the skin to become firmer and which helps to smooth out wrinkles in the area. In the case of the neck, Ultherapy can help lift the skin in the area and reduce any droopiness.
What Else to Know About Ultherapy
If you have some degree of skin laxity or sagging or if years of wearing low-cut tops has left you with crepey, wrinkly skin on the upper chest, you might be thinking “tell me more about Ultherapy.”
Since the treatment is non-invasive, recovery and preparation time are both fairly short. In many cases, people can schedule their Ultherapy treatment for a lunch break and return to work right afterwards. Since the treatment can be uncomfortable for some people, requiring pain relievers, many choose to take an entire day off.
The treatment itself is fairly quick, depending on how many areas you are having treated. Treating the entire face, for example, often takes about 90 minutes. Treating just the chest and neck are usually takes around 30 minutes.
Side effects after treatment are usually minimal. Some people have a bit of redness in the treated area, but that usually fades quickly. It’s not uncommon for people to have swelling afterwards. Often, the swelling goes away within a day or so.
Since the treatment doesn’t require any incisions, the risk for an infection is almost non-existent, as is the risk for bleeding or scarring.
Results from Ulthera aren’t instantaneous. It’s important to be patient, as it can take up to three or four months before you see your final results. Many people notice their results appearing gradually over that time period. You don’t have to schedule maintenance treatments, but people often do at least once a year.
What Ultherapy Doesn’t Do
If you’re thinking, this sounds great, book my appointment now, it’s worth it to understand what the treatment doesn’t do for you or who it might not be recommended for. Although it’s ideal for tightening some skin laxity or sagging, there are cases when a person is just going to better off going with surgery instead. Your surgeon can give you the full details on whether Ultherapy or another option is best for you.
Although it helps reduce the signs of aging when it comes to sagging or loose skin, Ulthera doesn’t treat every type of skin concern. Since it’s working on the dermal layer of skin and doesn’t exfoliate the top layer, it won’t help minimize dark spots or hyperpigmentation. It also doesn’t help reduce dynamic wrinkles. Those are best left to Botox.
Ultherapy isn’t for everyone. But if you’re looking for a way to tighten your skin or want to improve the look of your decolletage, it could be the right option for you. Houston-based plastic surgeon Dr. Paul Vitenas and the staff at Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique can help you learn more about the treatment and about other options that might be right for you, along with or instead of Ultherapy. To learn more, call 281-810-9083 to schedule a consultation today.