Ultherapy Q&A
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Should Ulthera Be Painful?
asked 1 year ago by Fort Myers9859 in Fort Myers, Fl
Latest answer by Peter G. Lee, MD
Question viewed 10,239 times
Tags: jaw line, normal, pain
Ulthera 1st attempt was painful and had to stop. Also,have tenderness along jawline 2 days afterward. 2nd attempt scheduled soon with pain medication. Is my experience typical? Please advise.
24 answers to Should Ulthera Be Painful?
+6
Ultherapy and Pain Control - The benefits of "Talk Anesthesia"
My experience with patients undergoing an Ulthera treatment has ranged from those that tolerate the procedure well without any medications to those that do need some kind of intervention. During the consultation, I try to get an idea as to what kind of pain threshold a patient has. Then we decide on what to prescribe or use if need be. This can range from absolutely nothing (yes, I do have patients that have tolerated the procedure with nothing at all), to Tylenol or Advil, or to...
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+7
Ultherapy Painful - It does not need to be
Discomfort experienced during Ultherapy treatments varies between patients and the areas treated.
In general patients with thin skin experience more discomfort than those with thicker skin. The neck region seems to be the area that tolerates the Ultherapy treatment the best.
Pain control in my patients is achieved with oral Ibuprofen (Motrin), Valium (anti-anxiety) or Percocet (narcotic), and local anesthesia. In general I try not to give a narcotic as it...
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+6
Is Ulthera painful?
Hello,
Yes. Ulthera hurts. In a way thats how you know it is working. Nerve blocks or oral pain medication is the most common methods of helping with the pain experienced during treatment.
All the best,
Dr Repta
+5
Ulthera can hurt, but your discomfort can be managed
Ulthera is uncomfortable for most patients. The patient feels discomfort when the heat is being delivered. Some people tolerate this pain better than others. For patients with lower pain thresholds, we can help you manage the discomfort with oral pain medication (Tylenol, ibuprofen, vicodin), anti-anxiety medication (Ativan), and/or nerve blocks.
+5
Ulthera should NOT be painful!
Ulthera (ultherapy) uses ultrasound energy to tone and lift your skin. Many providers use valium or ativan with pain medication such as percocet or vicodin. Some rely on lidocaine topical gel. I have tried these during our initial 20 -30 or so patients and found to be unacceptable for two reasons: 1) patients still had a significant amount of pain and 2) patients needed a driver to take them home.
We have changed the protocol to use local anesthetic. I use a special mix of local...
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Kyle S. Choe, MD
Virginia Beach Facial Plastic Surgeon
Virginia Beach Facial Plastic Surgeon
+5
Pain meds for Ulthera
We routinely use Vicodin (a narcotic pain medication) and Xanax (a mild sedative) orally for Ulthera. Patients can expect pain during the procedure, but most patients tolerate Ulthera well since there is no cutting, no shots, nothing invasive.
Steven Goldman, MD
Cleveland Plastic Surgeon
Cleveland Plastic Surgeon
+5
Ultherapy is great, but many need some pain managment
Many patients find Ultherapy pain-free, though most have been prescribed Ibuprofrin-type medication prior to treatment. Some patients have a low tolerance and experience more discomfort. Talk to your phsyician to discuss pain management options; they should have several for you that make the treatment very manageable.
+5
Ultherapy is not painless
Most patients are able to tolerate the Ultherapy procedure without significant pain however, they can certainly feel the procedure. How intense this sensation feels is extremely variable from patient to patient.
When we were considering the device, both my partner and I had a treatment without any sedation or local anesthesia. We had to take frequent breaks and finished the procedure but our experience made us decide to offer something to help with the tolerability...
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Joseph Campanelli, MD
Minneapolis Facial Plastic Surgeon
Minneapolis Facial Plastic Surgeon
+4
Varying levels of discomfort
Pain levels during Ultherapy treatments vary from patient to patient. Some of my patients say it doesn’t hurt at all, while others say it ranks from 6 to 9 on a pain scale of 1 to 10. Having had the treatment myself, I can say that the entire treatment is easily tolerable, and that the area around the forehead is the most sensitive. We certainly want our patients to be as comfortable as possible during all treatments, so we offer patients the option of pre-medicating...
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Daniel J. Leeman, MD
Austin Facial Plastic Surgeon
Austin Facial Plastic Surgeon
+3
Ulthera does not need to be painful
Like many physicians, I began using Ulthera 16 months ago with minimal pre-medication for my patients. Following my own personal Ultherapy treatment with no medication, I made the decision to offer local anesthesia to all of my patients. This eliminates the need for pre-medication, eliminates most discomfort during the procedure, and makes the entire experience more comfortable. Patients are able to drive themselves to the office for treatment and return to normal activity...
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Steven L. Ringler, MD
Grand Rapids Plastic Surgeon
Grand Rapids Plastic Surgeon
+2
Ultherapy: No pain, no gain?
It is not unusual for people to report discomfort or even some pain during their Ultherapy treatment. The therapy works by delivering heat energy to the muscle and deeper layers of skin which is what allows the desired lifting and tightening effect. This heat, however, is also what can make the procedure uncomfortable while you are undergoing it. Although it is not unusual to have that "tightened", almost sunburned feeling after the treatment for several days, any discomfort...
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+2
Ulthera treatment hurts
I have an Ulthera in my office and has been very busy. I also had it done myself. It hurts. I did not have any medication because I did it in between seeing patients. If I repeat the treatment, I will probably take a tramadol and a valium. That is what we recommend our patients now. It seems to take the edge off. The results take time but are worth it. As a plastic surgeon and patient, I recommend it.
Luis A. Vinas, MD
West Palm Beach Plastic Surgeon
West Palm Beach Plastic Surgeon
+2
Ulthera and pain tolerance
Yes. Your experience was typical. Just because an intervention does not involve needles doesn't mean that it is not painful. This involves a unique delivery of ultrasonic energy to the structures beneath the skin.
Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon
Chicago Plastic Surgeon
+1
Management Of Analgesia With Ultherapy Should Be Customized To Each Patient
Of Course Ulthera can be painful, depending on the settings used, the area being treated, the number of lines being laid down, and the pain tolerance of the patient. In our clinic, this is not a one-size-fits-all treatment, nor do we believe that it should be.
To manage any pain associated with Ultherapy, we use a strategy we call Escalation Dominance, meaning that we make sure we have the ability to to appropriately manage whatever level of pain the patient might experience with the...
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Peter G. Lee, MD
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon
+1
Discomfort during Ultherapy procedure and intervention at California Dermatology Care by Dr. William Ting
It is fair to state that the pain threshold for each person varies significantly. For Ultherapy face and neck skin tightening and eyebrow lifting, we typically offer a cocktail, i.e. mild sedation, where the pain during the procedure becomes a nonissue. We would then request our patients arrange transportation to get back home. We do have a handful of patients who have done fine with just a couple tablets of ibuprofen for pain relief during the procedure. Thankfully, there is minimal...
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+1
Pain is common but should be manageable
Ultherapy can be a painful procedure. Degree of pain, in my experience, vary greatly from patient to patient. Generally speaking, however, there are many excellent methods to control pain. One additional note, the pain if usually experience only during the procedure and there usually is not persisting pain once the procedure in completed.
Chang Son, MD
Fort Lee Dermatologist
Fort Lee Dermatologist
+1
Should Ulthera be painful?
Most patients feel some pain with Ulthera, but not very much. In my practice, I treat patients with percocet and toradol pills 1 hour before the procedure. Using these 2 medications, most patients rate the pain as a 3 or 4 out of 10 where 10 is very severe pain. I have treated over 80 patients and every patient has completed the treatment on the highest treatment settings.
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+1
Is Ultherapy painful?
There is mild to moderate discomfort with Ultherapy, which can be managed with oral medications and alterations in the technique. Most patients who have had Botox, fillers, or office-based lasers will generally tolerate this well. Pain management is discussed at a pre-treatment consultation at our office.
+1
Ultherapy's discomfort can be improved
There are several different things we do to make the Ultherapy experience as pleasant as possible. In consultation we determine the person's unique pain concerns and tailor the treatment of medication for them. Some areas on the face can be more painful than others in some individuals and the treatment can be delivered to those areas in stages, rather than delivering multiple lines adjacent to each other consecutively. The assistant massages the patient and soothes them with...
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+1
Ulthera is quite tolerable with nerve blocks
I use regional nerve blocks with lidocaine for all of my patients undergoing Ulthera treatment. In over a year of using the device I have yet to have a patient unable to tolerate the procedure without excessive discomfort. Most patients still feel the energy pulse. I offer patients the option of having a Valium or pain medication, however, if this is chose the patient cannot drive themselves home.
+1
Discomfort During Ulthera
There is no question that Ulthera treatment is somewhat uncomfortable, but generally well within the realm of what most patients can tolerated. This is generally addressed by oral medication your Doctor can give you 30-40 minutes prior to the procedure. If the procedure was entirely painless, the likelihood of any significant result would be minimal
+1
Many patients do express there is discomfort with an Ulthera treatment
Ultherapy or Ulthera is a non-surgical treatment utilizing high-focused ultrasonic energy to heat the tissues and cause a lifting of the brow and face/neck. Much energy is delivered to the tissues which will cause some discomfort for most patients. In our practice, we prefer to give most of our patients a mild sedative/anti-anxiety medication (Xanax) along with a narcotic medication (Vicodin). Most patients find this a very tolerable treatment with those medications on...
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+1
Ultherapy can be uncomfortable
We were chosen during the phase one clinical release to be one of the first facilities to get the Ultherapy device. We have treated literally hundreds of patients and we even performed a brief clinical study regarding pain during the treatment. We have found that many patients, including yourself, find the treatment to be rather uncomfortable. Numbing cream, a zimmer cooling unit, and for some, narcotic pain relievers with a mild relaxing agent such as Valium, have all been found to be...
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Andrew Campbell, MD
Milwaukee Facial Plastic Surgeon
Milwaukee Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1
Best Way to Make Ulthera as Comfortable as Possible
Hi Fort Meyers,
Ultherapy by Ulthera uses ultrasound energy to heat the muscle lining and skin deeper than any other technology currently available. The intense heating of deeper tissues can be discomforting. There is no "typical" patient pain level, it varies among individuals. We treat most of our patients with Xanax and either an oral narcotic, or in some patients an injectable narcotic. Patients are also offered the use of Zimmer cooler cold air....
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