Home/Technology/Ultherapy
Micro-focused ultrasound · Merz AestheticsUltherapy is micro-focused ultrasound with visualisation. It places discrete points of heat at set depths, including the SMAS layer that surgeons address in a facelift, and it is cleared for lifting the brow, under-chin and neck rather than merely firming them.
Most energy devices work in the dermis. Ultherapy focuses ultrasound to specific depths beneath it, creating small discrete coagulation points at 4.5 mm, 3.0 mm and 1.5 mm — the deepest of which reaches the superficial muscular aponeurotic system, the fibrous layer a surgeon repositions during a facelift.
Contraction at that depth produces lift rather than surface tightening, which is why the clearances Ultherapy holds are for lifting the brow, the under-chin and the neck. That is a different claim from improving skin tone, and it is the reason the two categories of device are not interchangeable.
The visualisation is the other half. An ultrasound image of the tissue is displayed before each line of energy is placed, so the operator can confirm the plane and the depth rather than inferring it. Anatomy varies, and in the neck and under the chin the margin for assumption is small.
Lift from a non-surgical device is measured in millimetres, not in the result of surgery. Where expectations are set at the surgical level, it is better to say so before treating than afterwards.
Ultrasound gel is applied and the transducer is passed in lines across the mapped area, delivering energy at the chosen depth. The sensation is a deep, brief prickling heat along each line — more noticeable than most energy treatments, and manageable with oral analgesia and topical anaesthetic. Face and neck usually take an hour to ninety minutes.
There is no downtime. Some tenderness to the touch, mild swelling, and occasionally small areas of numbness can last a few days to a couple of weeks.
Very little is visible immediately. The collagen response builds across two to three months, and the result is assessed at that point. One session is the usual course, repeated as needed — commonly after a year or more, depending on the response and the degree of laxity to begin with.
Questions
Ultherapy uses focused ultrasound to place heat at discrete deep points, reaching the SMAS, and is cleared for lifting. Thermage uses monopolar radiofrequency to heat the dermis broadly and evenly, and firms rather than lifts. One treats position, the other treats tone.
Two to three months, as the collagen response develops. There is little to see immediately after the session.
It is felt more than most energy treatments — a deep, brief prickling heat along each line. Topical anaesthetic and oral analgesia make it manageable, and the sensation stops when the pass stops.
Usually one, assessed at three months. Repeat treatment is commonly considered after a year or more depending on the response and the starting degree of laxity.
No. It works on the same layer a facelift addresses, but the degree of change is far smaller. Where laxity is advanced, surgery and Ultherapy are not comparable options.
Bring your concern rather than a treatment name. The assessment decides what is actually indicated, and what is not.
