Ultherapy: Stories

I am turning 50 in a couple of months and wanted to have a little lift to my jowl area so I thought Ultherapy would be a good option for me since I don't think I'm ready for a lower face lift yet. My friend had it done and I went with her. She got about 24 shots of lidocane in her face as well as a vicodin and xanax to help with the pain. She got immediate results and was very satisfied with the procedure. She had it done at a med-spa with a nurse practitioner for $3,500. I prefer to always have procedures done by a doctor so I did some research and found one in my area that would also charged $3,500. At the initial consulation he said they didn't use Lidocane, just the pain pill and xanax but when I came for the procedure he said that they had started using Lidocane shots as the patients complained too much about the pain. They numbed my face with numbing cream and I took my own pain reliever and a muscle relaxer as that is what I use for a chronic pain condition. I am very happy they put the numbing cream on because my friend did not get the cream and I think the shots hurt more than the Ulthera. I also brought my IPod and listened to music during the procedure which helped a lot.

The procedure was very painful around my cheek bones, temple and forehead but didn't hurt at all on my neck and lower face area. I think the pain would have been to much for me had I not had the Lidocane. The zaps last for about 3 seconds each so I tried to do breathing techniques and counting and get through the hard parts. I did get a couple of bruises but nothing dramatic. My face was also quiet red so for me this would not have worked as a "lunchtime" procedure. I'd say more like a weekend procedure as I was a little red and bruised for a couple of days. It has been one week today that I had it done and I went in for a follow up with the doctor. I can't tell much of a difference myself but he says that he can see a tightening of the skin and to be patient, that I will see results in a few months. So, so far I can't give it a resounding thumbs up or down...we'll just have to wait and see. The pictures I will post are of the day of the procedure before I went and then this morning. I am not wearing make up and I tried to get the same angles as well as I could. I'll post more photos as warranted. For now I guess I'd say if the money isn't a huge issue for you then go ahead and do it. Just be sure to get the numbing cream, Lidocane, a pain killer and anti anxiety meds and bring your IPod. I also advise to have all procedures done by an MD if possible because you are dealing with your face and why risk any harm being done by someone not as knowledgeable about the inner workings of your face. At my consultation the doctor told me I would be given a pain reliever and anti anxiety medicine. He said they did not use lidocane

Hi, I wanted to fix a spelling error and also remove the last line which was supposed to be deleted but I cannot figure out how to edit. Am I allowed to edit my posts?

P.S. remind me to never post pictures of myself straight out of the shower! How unflattering.

Here are pictures at 13 days out. I'm not really sure how much of a change I see. I think I see a little change but I don't want to lie to myself. I'd say in the pictures my neck looks a little tighter and maybe the jowls a little sharper. I'm cautiously optimistic.

My friend asked why I posted such bad pics of myself and I said it's because I wanted to show the actual reality of what I looked like unvarnished and not posing. So here are a couple pics with makeup and angling my face in a way that looks more flattering. :)

So here I am at 3 weeks out. Looking at the pics I think I can tell a difference on the right side jowl area (the right side of the photo, not right side of my face) but the left side not so much. I do think I got a bit of lift in the eye area as well although that wasn't a major problem for me. What I really hate are the jowls and my neck so I'm really hoping I get more of a result. I might have it redone if I don't feel like I got the result I wanted. My doctor charges $2,500 for a re-do which personally, I think is a little steep. That would bring the total to 6K and for that I probably could have gotten a lower face lift, or at least a large portion of it. But, since the whole reason I did Ulthera is to avoid a surgery I will wait until the 3 month mark before I consider if it is worth it or not. Until then I'd say, If money isn't an issue got for it. If money is an issue I'd probably put it towards fillers and Botox for an immediate result.

I did see my friend who had it done a month before me and her result is fantastic. It completely eliminated the little waddle she had under her chin and her whole face has a nice lift to it. For her it was definitely worth it and she'd do it again. Until next week....

Here I am at 4 weeks. I can say with certainty that I do see a difference in my jowl area which was the primary area of my concern. I think the right side (as you are looking at it) is doing a little better than the left. I'm not getting the kind of results that my friend got where she saw differences every day, I think I'm progressing very slowly but surely. I'm a pretty impatient person so it's pretty hard to wait it out. Still giving it an undecided review until I'm three months out because the cost is really high and money is really tight for a lot of people out there so I can't decide yet what the cost/benefit ratio is.

Okay, 5 weeks out. Still undecided because while I do see a slight difference its the cost vs. benefit ratio I have a problem with. In these pics I do have some powder, blush, gloss and mascara on because I was looking particularly haggard today! Also, you will see my kitty Snoopy's opinion on all this folly! I think I will wait till my 2 month mark before posting more pics to see if there is a more noticeable change if I don't take pics weekly. Hope this helps you make an informed decision.

I said I wasn't going to post until I was 2 months out BUT since I am going to get Dysport and a bit of Restylane tomorrow I thought I better post new pics before I do in order to give you the most accurate critique.

I feel pretty much the same as I did at 5 weeks and I think I'm at about 6.5 weeks now. I see a little difference but I still don't know if it's worth it at $3,500. My results seem to be coming very slowly thus the Drysport and Restylane. My birthday is in a month so I need so instant gratification!

P.S. The Doc I see for injections is not the same Doc that did the Ultherapy. I've just been using this Doc for a long time and I trust him to not 'Lohan' me. He is also very reasonable in his pricing. I hate it when Doc's charge Botox or Dysport by 'area'. I like to pay by unit because I don't get very much.

Hi everyone, so here I am at 3 months and change. I feel I can now for sure see a difference in my jowl area but you can judge for yourself. And in full disclosure I did have a Restylne and Dysport treatment about a month and a half ago. You can see the before pics I took before I went. I had the Restylene done on the marionette lines and a little put in my lips. As to whether or not it is worth it I still have to say undecided because of the cost vs. benefit issue. The price seems to vary by geographical location so I think it would be wise to get prices from different places. That might require a little traveling but if it saves you $1,000 it would be worth it. What I'm obsessing about now is my neck and how crepey the skin is getting. When I requested the Ultherapy be done all the way down my neck the doctor said that it wasn't shown to be effective in that area which does not make sense to me. If it makes collagen in one area why not the other? My last thought for this post is that if you have this done I strongly suggest you have the procedure performed by and MD. There have been pictures and stories showing some people have been burned by the procedure and as this happened to me with laser hair removal when performed by an RN (who was very well trained and recommended) I just don't think it's smart to trust your face to anyone other than a doctor. (And yes I sued and won.) So just be smart about the whole thing, if you have money to burn then sure go for it, if on the other hand you have credit card debt or other bills to pay then I'd say do that and wait for the prices to come down as they surely will once more doctors have the machine and competition drives the price down.

I decided to have a second Ultheray treatment January 9th 2013. The second treatment was originally quoted to me at $1,500 but since they now include the neck area they charged me $2,300 bringing my total Ultheapy expense to $5,800. So is it worth it? $5,800 is about $7,500 before tax income which for a lot of people is a few months salary. In my opinion only do it if you have a lot of money and no debt. You will see much more dramatic results with a lower face lift or eye lift than you will with Ultherapy but as I'm afraid of surgery I decided to give it another go especially since my main obsession now is my neck that is getting crepey. I have seen that there are other doctors offering specials including Ultherapy, Botox and Filler for around $3,500 which seems like a great deal to me, my only concern is that I still believe that the procedure should be performed by an MD for safety reasons and that low price makes me suspect that the work is being done by a nurse or PA.

I's been a week and a half since the second procedure and I still feel the strange hard to describe feeling in my forehead and a bit of soreness in my face and neck. Somehow this encourages me since at least I know something happened in there. I had bruises on my neck for a week that made it look like I had hickies all over. Thankfully it was cold and I was able to wear scarves. The bruises were likely caused by the lidocaine injections not the Ultherapy itself.

I'll post more pictures when I am at my one year mark so you can get a really solid of idea of what kind of results you might attain.