Ultherapy session took only 1/2 hour last week.

Question

I had an Ultherapy session last week at a doctor's office and she came into the room and did the whole session very fast. I was shocked when she said she was done. I did see that she was moving wand under my chin, pressing button and than even before the button buzzed she was moving on to another section under my neck. She only did under my chin and neck. If someone goes fast will the procedure still take effect? I previously had her nurse do a session and she was slow and took about a hour.

Dilip D. Madnani, MD, FACS · Answer

It sounds like you did a smaller area and your provider is probably very quick with the treatments. Its hard to speculate based on what you have written but at this point, you will be able to tell only when you see the results in a few months. During our ultherapy sessions, we are sure to keep the patient informed on exactly what is going on, how many lines are being done, we regularly show the patient on the monitor the treatment areas so there is no guessing as to how and why things are being done a certain way.

Mike Majmundar, MD · Answer

Thank you for the question.  It's hard to say what really happened here.  Sounds like you had the chin and full neck treated.  This usually takes 45-60 min to treat if done properly.  It really depends on how much you paid.  Each 'buzz' sound you heard costs the practice money.  Some practices provide several hundred 'buzzes' while others only provide a hundred.  The more 'buzzes' that are delivered, the better the result.

Michael H. Gold, MD · Answer

Thanks for your question – and although the time may be correct for what was treated, the fact that you are telling us that the provider was moving before the lines were done is of concern to me.  Ultherapy is a science and we spend time with the patient, time drawing what we are going to treat and what we are not going to treat, and we need the device to deliver the ultrasound in a precise manner.  From how you are describing things, this procedure may not have been done correctly.

Gail Nield, MD, FRCPC · Answer

Hello. It usually takes an hour to do a full face and upper neck treatment with ultherapy. A patient typically receives 700 -800 + lines. It seems like you were doing just your neck so this would account for the shorter time taken to do the procedure. Ensure that you know what areas are to be done prior to a treatment, and feel free to look at the monitor as you can see how many lines were done per area.

Matthew Elias, DO, FAAD · Answer

Thank you for your question.  While it is difficult to determine exactly what happened, it is possible to treat a small area such as a neck in 30 minutes.  That being said the more lines ("buzzes") delivered to an area typically the better results.  There are some practices doing Ulthera light which involves less lines combined with other treatments.  If you have any questions, I would discuss your concerns with your board certified Dermatologist/PS where the procedure was performed.  Regards, Dr. Matt Elias

Ultherapy session took only 1/2 hour last week.

Answers (5)