Ultherapy Before or After Weight Loss?

In general, an approximately 30 lb weight loss is noticeable in the face and neck. If you were planning on losing 10 lbs, I would say that it would not matter whether you did Ultherapy now or later. If you are planning on losing 20 lbs, I would consider waiting until after you have lost all the weight first. If you are planning on losing 30 lbs, I would definitely recommend waiting.

The additional weight loss may affect the appearance of your face and neck in the form of volume loss, as well as sagging skin. It makes more sense to treat these areas once you’ve achieved your target weight than to do it half way through your weight loss. Imagine having a treatment now and being happy with your results, only to develop more sagging as a result of additional weight loss. In addition, addressing your face and neck after your complete weight loss also allows your physician to tailor your treatment to give you the best results possible. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Dr.Sunder

Having ultherapy before or after a slight weight change should not matter, but IF you have a fat face and want tightening, and then lose significant volume of fat, the Ultherapy's depth of 4.5mm may penetrate to the important deep structures of the connective tissue to help tighten it. If your face is not fat to begin with and your weight loss is in the body area, then it shouldn't make much of a change. However, if you will be losing weight by incorrectly dieting and not consuming enough protein and vitamin C then your collagen production might be jeopardized and the Ultherapy may not be as successful.

Hi San FRancisco in San Francisco,

Sarmela Sunder, MD has answered your question beautifully and accurately.  Good luck and be well.

Dr. P

With a procedure like Ultherapy, it's best for the patient to be at a stable and consistent weight. Additional weight loss may cause additional laxity to your skin, therefore it is best to have the treatment once you are at your goal weight. 

Thank you for our question. We encourage patients to be a stable weight
prior to the Ultherapy procedure. As with any contouring or tightening
procedure, a stable weight will allow for optimal results.
If you are looking to lose 15-20+ pounds, we recommend that you get close to
goal prior to having the procedure done. Losing weight can many times make the skin
have more laxity and sagging. You will most
likely get the best result after you hit goal weight.

I would wait on the Ultherapy until you have reached your weight goal. You will find, at that point, that the laxity is worst than you thought it was - it will give you realistic expectations as to what is needed to correct the laxity of the skin.We have performed Ultherapy since 2011 in hundreds of patients. Read the Ultherapy book on the link below. 

You will most likely get the best result if you wait until you are at your goal weight before having Ultherapy.   However, patients have been treated as part of a healthy weight loss process and have have very good results.  As long as you are losing weight on a steady 1-2 pounds per week basis, not a crash diet, it seems the Ultherapy is able to tighten the skin at the same time.

It is probably better to wait until optimal weight is achieved because Ultera is more effective in patients with thinner skin.

As with any contouring or tightening procedure, we recommend that you achieve your weight loss prior to the procedure and be stable at that weight.  There are two main principles behind this reasoning.  First, when someone is unstable in their weight, any procedure performed is akin to hitting a moving target--we may not achieve optimal, lasting results.  Second, as was stated previously, with a much lower weight your skin laxity may require an altogether different procedure for effective contouring or tightening to take place.  I recommend that you achieve your realistic weight loss goal and be stable at that weight for 6 months prior to any contouring or tightening procedure.

Th amount of weight loss that you are anticipating will effect the treatment results from Ultherapy.  An additional 20 lb weight loss should take about  3-4 months.  It will be worthwhile to wait this amount of time to get optimal results.