wasteoftime - Nassau, NY

Hi, I posted a review of ultherapy last year on Real Self. I ended up with a dent under my right eye on the top part of the cheek. It is still there! Hope yours fills in.

Others are talking about starting a class action suit.

I, too, had an awful experience. My neck is still numb and it has been 3 months! I had severe nerve damage, but, of course, my doctor claims it will go away. BULL. If someone starts a lawsuit against ulthera, please post so we can all join. What bothers me most is that they fail to inform the public and, according to two doctors offices, the doctors themselves about possible problems.

I've been promising to post my pics here but my doctor won't give them to me! I received partial copies of my medical records and specifically requested the pictures. Not only did I have NO results 7 months after Ultherapy, but still have pain and numbing. My doctor is taking NO responsibility.

thank you Megan but my Derm. has taken full responsibility and is treating me. ULTHERA is 100 % at fault here and should be doing something for my emotional and physical stress since that awful May 9th day.

What did the lawyer tell you?

I'm so sorry to hear you have had to go through this. I would be curious to hear besides the burns did you notice other changes in your skin after the treatment (good or bad)?

Glad you are going to get a second opinion - hopefully they have some good ideas on how to help with this.

I have only one lesion.. and honestly I am not even sure it is a burn- 2 weeks today and 2 very clear deep holes have shown themselves. i think it was more of a puncture wound that felt like a burn. I see no improvement at all. My right side had been totally done as well as the jaw and chin. The problem occurred as they were finishing left cheek. no one has any real answers as they are waiting to see how i will heal. Thanks

Just got to your post today choedog, and I agree with you. I don't believe that the second photograph showing the two ice-pick scars are going to improve much more. They appear to epithelialized. It appears to be what one would see with a dilated pore of Winer. I am a Dermatologist. Ask your Dermatologist about performing a punch biopsy. A 2 mm punch biopsy of each of the ice-pick scars should remove them nicely. A suture is placed to close the area, one suture for each scar and that should take care of it. I do these all the time for ice-pick scars or dilated pore of Winer (pilar sheath acanthoma) with excellent results. I would have the tissue sent off to pathology. Often no scar is observable after removal since it is such a small biopsy. Best of luck. Sorry you had these problems.

thank you very much for taking the time to view my pics and give m your opinion. I have forwarded this to my derm. I saw him this Am and he feels he sees improvement from last week. I am seeing a plastic surgeon on monday. It seems to be clear that too much pulse was perhaps directed - the machine was exchanged for a new machine. In your opinion how did this happen ? I understand you may not wish to share that and you can send me a private message.

I recommend a biopsy because it appears to be epithelialized, the epithelial lining has formed over the ice-pick scar, or dilated pore. That means that it will not improve further, so we are now onto a corrective treatment. As I noted, if you core out the scar and close the skin side-to-side it should heal up quickly and nicely. Just a recommendation! Good luck!

As far as how did this happen I am totally at a loss. The transducer lays down a series of 15-20 small dots of thermalcoagulation. Why only two dots side-by-side? The transducer contains water (the medium used to transmit and focus the sound waves), but there is a small amount of air in the transducer head which transmits and focuses the sound wave. If the technician turns the transducer upside down, and this can happen when treating under the jaw line if you are not careful, then bubbles can trap in the head of the transducer as it moves across the arm in the transducer... This could result in a misfire and focus of the sound wave more superficially resulting in epidermal injury. The injury is usually a small welt or a small 1-2 mm white superficial burn that does not ulcerate. It usually heals up in a few days. In over 350 cases that we have done, we have seen this only twice, just under the jaw line and in both cases there was no significant complication. Also, remember that because it uses ultrasound during treatment we are actually visualizing the layers of your skin. If air traps in the head, or too little gel is utilized on the face during treatment, the ultrasound image does not transmit and you know that there is an issue usually. If it is a small air bubble then it will show as a black spot on the screen with no sound wave transmissions to the deeper tissues, but if it is only a small portion of the image it might not have been detected before firing the machine. I hope this helps.