Ultherapy in Santa Barbara, CA

While a facelift provides the most significant results, many patients find that Ultherapy is an excellent alternative when they’re not ready for surgery yet. For suitable candidates, Ultherapy can provide enough facial rejuvenation and skin tightening to postpone more invasive facial surgeries such as a facelift or neck lift.

Ultherapy patients can achieve improvement in skin tightness and overall rejuvenation of the face, neck and jawline. The advantages of Ultherapy over a facelift are the lack of incisions, anesthesia and downtime required with facelift procedures.

An Ultherapy treatment addresses mild to moderate loose or sagging skin by targeting the foundation tissue below the skin surface. By renewing the tissue from within, Ultherapy can improve the following areas and concerns:

• Drooping brow and temples

• Excess skin in the upper eyelid

• Midface and excess skin around the nasolabial folds

• Loose skin on the neck (“turkey neck”)

• Loose skin along the jawline (jowls)

• Fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth and lips

• Upper chest and décolleté region

The biggest benefit to Ultherapy is that it provides much of what can be achieved with a surgical facelift without the surgery. While Ultherapy’s ultrasound energy can’t deliver the degree of rejuvenation and tissue firming that can be achieved with a surgical facelift, you also don’t have the pain, swelling and lengthy recovery.

Ultrasound has been used in diagnostics for decades, so you can rest assured that the human body tolerates ultrasound energy very well.

After your Ultherapy session, your skin may appear flushed, but this will disappear within a few hours in most cases. Some patients experience slight swelling, tingling or tenderness on the treated areas, which also subsides quickly.

There is no downtime after Ultherapy. Immediately after your session, you can go right back to work, exercise or any other normal activities.

Ultherapy triggers new collagen production which can be thought of as a reset point for your skin. Results tend to last for about one to three years. As the natural decline of collagen continues, another Ultherapy session can be scheduled to maintain your results.

Remember that our bodies produce one additional percentage point less collagen every year after our 20th birthday. That means by our 50th birthday our skin has one-third less collagen to provide its structural support. That’s why our aging skin allows more and more wrinkles to form and areas such as the cheeks flatten due to volume loss.

Most Montecito Plastic Surgery patients only need one Ultherapy session to achieve their goals. However, it’s important to note that as your body’s natural collagen supply continues to decrease, additional treatments throughout the years may be necessary to help maintain your results.

Typically, individuals in their 30s and older who have mild to moderate skin laxity are candidates. A good candidate for Ultherapy is someone with aging skin that has relaxed to the point of looking and feeling less firm. A lowered eyebrow or sagging skin on the eyelids is often the first sign of maturing skin.

Suitable candidates for Ultherapy are those who want to tighten their skin without the commitment of surgery. For those who want some lifting but are not ready for surgery either mentally, financially or logistically, Ultherapy can be a good option. Other Ultherapy candidates are younger people who want to prevent future signs of aging and those looking to prolong the effects of previous cosmetic surgery.

Some of our patients see an initial tightening effect shortly after their Ultherapy session, but the most dramatic improvements occur over the following two to three months as the body builds new collagen and elastin.

Depending on the area being treated, a single Ultherapy procedure on the face or neck can last up to 90 minutes. Ultherapy treatment on the décolletage takes about 30 minutes.

Ultherapy can benefit many different age groups.

For maintaining a youthful appearance, Ultherapy tends to work best when started at a relatively young age. Patients in their 40s retain enough ability to produce more collagen and elastin to receive the best outcomes from the Ultherapy treatment. Patients in this relatively young age group tend to see longer-lasting results, and ongoing maintenance treatments provide excellent responses when repeated every three years or so.

Older patients are usually trying to make a specific improvement in the jowls, neck or decollete. These patients will often see improvements in these areas but may need to repeat the treatment more often.

There may be a mildly unpleasant sensation during an Ultherapy treatment. When the ultrasound energy is delivered into the dermis, you’ll feel a mild warming sensation, sometimes accompanied by a slight prickly feeling.

At Montecito Plastic Surgery, we recommend our patients take 800 mg of over-the-counter ibuprofen about 45 minutes before their Ultherapy session. Additionally, Dr. Lowenstein and his expert aesthetic staff use Pro-Nox, an on-demand laughing gas system that can make the Ultherapy session more tolerable.

To find out more about the benefits of Ultherapy, contact Montecito Plastic Surgery at (805) 969-9004 to schedule your consultation today.