The effects of aging appear on your face in a variety of ways. There are your garden variety wrinkles, which can form as a result of repeated facial expressions or a loss of volume or collagen. Then there’s the sagging and loose skin that develops, usually as a result of a loss of collagen, too. For a long time, the only way to cope with sagging skin was surgery.
But, there are new treatments available, among them Ultherapy, which can turn back the clock and tighten sagging, loose skin. Surgery is no longer your only option if you want to reverse the signs of aging and achieve a tighter, more toned looking chin, cheeks and brow line.
What Ultherapy Does
Ultherapy, sometimes called Ulthera, uses ultrasound energy to tighten the skin. During the treatment, a surgeon passes a wand over the area being treated. The wand sends ultrasound energy into the skin, stimulating the production of collagen. As your body produces new collagen, your skin begins to become firmer and more youthful looking.
Where It Works
Ultherapy is FDA approved for treating four areas: the chin, the brows, the neck and the chest, or decolletage. You can choose to treat just one area, such as drooping eyebrows or a turkey neck, or treat multiple areas at once.
How Long Does It Take?
Each area takes about an hour to treat, so many people schedule their Ultherapy sessions as part of their lunch breaks or take an afternoon off from work, then return the next day. Unlike many other non-invasive, non-surgical treatments, you usually only need a single treatment with Ultherapy to get the results you want.
Since the treatment works by stimulating collagen, a process called neocollagenesis, it can take some time before you actually see the results from treatment. Many people notice a bit of a difference or some improvement in their appearance right away. But the most dramatic results usually take several months before they are visible. Generally speaking, you can expect to see about a year’s worth of aging fade away per month, for up to six months.
What are Your Other Options?
If you want to tighten your skin without surgery, Ulthera is really your only option. There are other non-surgical treatments that help turn back the clock, such as Fraxel, which works on dark spots, scars, wrinkles and uneven skin texture. And there are a variety of injectables and fillers designed to treat wrinkles and add volume to the face. But none of those treatments tighten the skin.
You might prefer a more dramatic option, such as a facelift or brow lift, if you have a significant amount of sagging or very loose or droopy brows or jowls. But, if the degree of loose, sagging skin on your face and neck is still mild, if you just want to turn back the hands of time slightly, Ultherapy might be your best option.
Is Ultherapy Right for You?
If you’re just beginning to notice a bit of looseness in your skin, such as a slightly droopy brow or the early stages of a turkey wattle, Ultherapy might be right for you. The treatment is usually recommended to people with very mild or moderate signs of aging and skin laxity.
Your health also matters when determining if the treatment is right for you. Ideally, you’ll be in good health before treatment. Your doctor will go over your medical history, including past and current conditions, and will review your medications with you before treatment to make sure you’re a good candidate.
It also helps to know what to expect from treatment. If you have unrealistic expectations for the procedure, your doctor will be hesitant to move forward. For example, if you’re expecting Ultherapy to transform you or make you look like a celebrity, your surgeon might recommend reconsidering or might better explain what the treatment can and can’t do.
What is Recovery Like?
As a non-invasive treatment, recovery after Ultherapy is pretty minimal. You might want to take the rest of the day off after treatment or schedule your treatment before the weekend, so that you have plenty of time for any swelling to fade. Swelling tends to be rare, though, and many people are able to go back to work the next day or right away.
What Happens Next?
The results from Ultherapy can last for a year or several years, depending on your body’s aging process and how long it continues to produce more collagen. Although repeat treatments aren’t needed to get the best results, many people choose to schedule an annual touch-up Ultherapy appointment to maintain their results and to keep up a more youthful appearance. Whether you decide to have one Ultherapy treatment or schedule an annual appointment is up to you and how you feel about your results.
If you’re ready to turn back the hands of time and to get a more youthful, firmer look, contact Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique in Houston, Texas, to learn more about Ultherapy. Call 281-810-9083 today.