Ultherapy, fillers and IPL. How long after IPL should I wait before doing Ultherapy?

There is more of a conflict between the Ultherapy and the facial fillers than between the IPL and the Ultherapy. The sequencing is really the trick with this one, most facial fillers are hylauranic acid based or calcium beads suspended in a glucose gel matrix both the glucose gel matrix and the hylauranic acid can be susceptible to heat making the product degrade faster and your result last less time. The ideal solution would be to do the Ultherapy first and then have your fillers performed and then do the IPL. Essentially treating your conditions from the inside out. If you already have fillers existing in your face prior to an Ulthera treatment you can still have the procedure performed but it is possible that your filler results will not last quite as long as you have grown accustomed to. Remember facial filler is temporary and the body is actively metabolizing the product while it is in you so if you do something to compromise the structure of the molecules it is possible that your body will become more efficient at removing the product.

There has been no reason that IPL couldn't be done after the Ultherapy for facial tightening. If the fillers are deeper than the areas that Ultherapy reaches, or if the fillers are injected in areas that Ultherapy does not treat, Ultherapy can be done.   On the other hand, I typically wait six months after fillers are done before I treat with Ultherapy over the same areas. There are exceptions and different providers have different protocols they follow.

I do not space out IPL and Ultherapy, I do them both on the same day, Ultherapy first. Best, Dr. Emer.

If possible, I would do the Ultherapy first, then IPL although they could be done the same day if you don't mind some additional swelling. I usually try to avoid doing Ultherapy directly over areas with fillers, but often there isn't much overlap any way; for example you could have fillers in the nasolabial lines and do Ultherapy on the cheeks. If you get enough lifting with Ultherapy, that could potentially affect how the fillers are placed so wait a month or two.

There is no absolute answer for timing between laser treatment, IPL, fillers, and Ultherapy. I will give you my guidelines. For IPL and Ultherapy - they could actually be done on the same day, or days apart. However, if done on the same day, I would recommend the Ultherapy first and then the IPL. You may have more swelling and a bit more down-time if you do them together. If you decide to do them apart from each other - I would wait until you are healed from the first treatment before you do the 2nd. For fillers and Ultherapy, I think it is important to NOT do the Ultherapy right after you have had fillers done. Again, there is no strict guideline. Since Ultherapy uses ultrasound waves to heat up the lower tissues and cause tightening, I expect that it could "melt" the fillers if they are in the same areas. So, I would wait to do the fillers after the Ultherapy. If fillers are done before, I recommend that you wait at least a 2-3 months until you have Ultherapy done in the same area. 

IPL and Ultherapy do not need to have wait times between treatments because they treat different depths of skin and do not interfere with each other, but they should not be performed the same day. As for fillers, if you have them already in, you can have Ultherapy but be aware there is some minor risk of the fillers resorbing faster if they are within the areas treated by Ultherapy. In general, we recommend doing Ultherapy before fillers. However, depending on the filler used, we may wait 4-6 months after to do Ultherapy if the fillers are in the same region being treated.

Ultherapy and IPL can be done the same day.Fillers can be done the same day as Ultherapy. Ultherapy first followed by the fillers. Sometimes, we plan the Ultherapy and bring the patient back in a week to place the fillers. Some practitioners have coined the term sculptherapy where they inject Sculptra at the same setting as Ultherapy with some emperical observations showing that together the effect is more than additive. Read my ebook about Ultherapy on the link below. 

I usually recommend patients who have had filler injected into areas that will be treated with the Ulthera transducers, should wait for 6 months before proceeding.As for IPLs, I would recommend waiting 2 weeks after Ultherapy. One can develop swelling and tenderness after Ultherapy, so having an IPL immediately afterwards may be uncomfortable.