Difference Between Ultra Sound Face Lift and Fraxel Repair Laser Treatment?

Fractional resurfacing is best suited to treat fine wrinkles and discoloration of the skin while focused ultrasound treatments are intended to tighten and contour the skin.  Ultrasound treatments do not address skin color changes.  There is no recovery period after ultrasound treatments whereas approximately 1 week of recovery is needed after ablative fractional resurfacing treatment.  These treatments tend to be complementary as opposed to competitive.  That is to say, many patients can benefit from both of these treatments.

Resurfacing for lines around the lips improves these lines but the lines will not usually go away completely. The best results are obtained with laser resurfacing but it does take a week or more to heal and there is a risk of scarring. Fraxel Repair, non-fractional carbon dioxide laser and Portrait plasma therapy can be done but all do require at least a week to heal. Tightening procedures with radiofrequency, such as Thermage, do nothing to help the surface lines. Often patients undergo both and can do the Thermage the same day and immediately preceding the Fraxel laser.  Fraxel Restore can be done in a series of multiple treatments with minimal downtime and no need to stay at home, unlike the Fraxel Repair, but the results are not expected to produce as good a dimunition of wrinkles of the lips.

Hi Brookhaven,

Fraxel repair will give you skin rejuvenation by improving the tone, texture, and color of your skin as well as tightening select areas of crepe skin such as around the eyes, cheeks, and somewhat in necks.  Fraxel repair is the best technology for wrinkles around the eyes and lips. The treatment should not be painful when performed by a physician who knows how to use local anesthesia.  Thankfully, the post-treatment recovery is pain free (in 4 years I have not prescribed a pain med for a patient after Fraxel repair).  The acute recovery period is 7-10 days, but it takes 4-8 weeks for the skin color to return to normal. 

The current ultrasound technology used for tightening the face and neck is Ulthera.  Ulthera can be quite painful during the treatment, and there can be some discomfort afterwards.  Ulthera will "lift" the eyebrows, face, and somewhat the neck more so than Fraxel repair, but will not treat the crepe skin of the eyes and lines of the lips as well.  I have been treating patients with Ulthera for the past 2 1/2 years with excellent patient satisfaction.  The new "Amplify" protocol cuts the discomfort of Ulthera greatly by decreasing the amount of energy per pulse by 25% and increasing the total number of pulses by 33%.

As with many of the procedures in facial aesthetics, the old saying, "No Pain, No Gain" applies.  Good luck and be well.