Can you explain why Ultherapy often does not work?

Question

I had Ultherapy last fall and after six months have seen absolutely no results whatsoever. I am 59 and it's certainly possible that I have very little collagen left in my face. I've heard that the procedure works better on younger patients who do still have quite a bit of collagen. (Also, I am a Type I diabetic and high blood sugar apparently accelerates the breakdown of collagen even faster than in a "normal" person.) Still, I was told that I was a good candidate.

Michael A. Zadeh, MD, FACS · Answer

Hi Peggy. While it is impossible to determine why Ultherapy did not work on you without an in-person evaluation or at least seeing before and after pictures, there are some general reasons why some people may not get the results they want. The two most common reasons are that either you were a poor candidate for treatment to begin with, or you received inadequate treatment. You are correct that younger people get better results because they have more of a foundation of collagen to work with. Many older individuals will need more than 1 treatment to really start seeing the benefits of the treatment. We have treated several patient's with Diabetes who have gotten good results, so that shouldn't be a big issue unless your diabetes is poorly controlled. Ultimately the experience of provider plays a huge role in the results. An experienced provider will be able to choose the proper candidates and administer a customized treatment that will produce optimal results for each patient. Hope this helps clear things up for you a bit.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

All skin tightening procedure rely on your own bodys response to the treatment and its ability to produce collagen.  some people produce more collagen than others.  also, we are always aging, and despite the best technologies, the skin will continue to fall and need more treatments in the future.  Combinations are always better than a single treatment.  I often add in venus legacy treatments post thermage or ultherapy.  Best, Dr. Emer.

Michael I. Echavez, MD · Answer

Ultherapy is an individualized procedure that needs to be tailored to each patient.  Without knowing how you looked before the procedure and what your treatment parameters were, it is impossible to give you specific advice for why you see little results from your treatment.  There are three different possible treatment depths, and it is possible that some of these depths would do little for you while others would give you more results.  You should discuss your concerns with the physician who treated you to see if something else might be able to be done to give you a better result.

Can you explain why Ultherapy often does not work?

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Can you explain why Ultherapy often does not work?

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Everything you need to know about Ultherapy

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.