How Often Do Patients Still Get Neck-lifts After Ulthera?

Ulthera is a great procedure and option for most patients, however some with a greater degree of skin excess/laxity will benefit more from surgical options. Consultation with your physician should explain your best options and also reasonable expectations based on the degree of aging and laxity. It's up to you to make the best informed decision for the procedure that best suits you. Neck lifts can be performed later on after an ultherapy treatment, and ulthera can also be performed after surgery to supplement results if needed.

Ultherapy is an excellent procedure. However, to achieve a nice result patient selection is important. A surgical neck lift is indicated if significant skin laxity and redundancy are present with prominent muscle bands and excessive fat. A consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon will assist you in deciding which procedure would be best for you.

Ultherapy is an effective procedure for the neck with less sagging and earlier aging.  It is also an alternative for patients who do not desire to undergo a more invasive procedure.  While there are "home runs" with Ultherapy, average expectations are that the procedure provides an "uplift" for the neck, and not a "neck lift".  Your thought that the procedure often works better when younger is valid.   The jury is still out about whether performing non-invasive procedures can avoid subsequent more invasive procedures. Ask your doctor if you are a candidate and obtain consultation to see if the therapy has a good prognosis for you.

It is realistic to expect that, as Ulthera does not provide the same amount of lifting as a neck lift with one, or more treatments, that you may wish to have further treatment in the future, whether with additional Ulthera in 6 to 12 months, or more, or with other treatment such as surgery.  Results are better with Utlherapy in patients whose skin has not yet lost elasticity, so the older you are and more sundamaged, and heavy smokers, will not get as good a result as someone younger with better quality skin. Starting younger makes more sense, so when you see the jowls starting to form, that's the time to consider a consultation. I am seeing many women in their forties in consultation for Ulthera in my NYC practice.

Hi,

Ulthera is a unique tool that can be used to tighten and lift the skin and muscles of the neck, face, and brows. It is most effective in treating the earliest signs of aging in women and men.  Those signs are loosness of the neck, early jowling, and mid-cheek hollowness.  Patients who are treated early, who maintain their treatments over the years, and who keep up with facial volume replacement...may not require surgical lifting.  There will always be patients who have too much excessive skin or fat so that surgery will be necessary.  Younger patients do respond better to the treatment as it stimulates collagen production, and younger patients make collagen more abundantly.  When combined with Sculptra, Ulthera will help many patients avoid having to have surgery to achieve their facial rejuvenation results.  Good luck and be well.

Dr. P

Ulthera is a wonderful procedure, and its effects are expected to last 18 months to 2 years.  It is important to remember that Ulthera is a much less invasive procedure than a Facelift or Necklift and the results will not last as long.  That having been said, the lack of downtime is often in line with the busy schedules of well informed patients.  I describe Ulthera, in my practice, as a niche procedure for those without the time or the indications for a Facelift, but who expect to have some significant result. There is no procedure, including a Necklift, which will preclude the "need" to have another Necklift.

Ultherapy works by using ultrasound energy to stimulate collagen
to produce tightening and firming of the skin. The best candidates have mild-moderate skin laxity and do not have
excessively sun-damaged skin. While the
results are not as dramatic as a neck or face lift, it is non-invasive and
there is no down time.
Regarding your question on whether it is better to have
Ulthera done while you are younger, I think that is a good idea since younger
skin has less laxity and sun damage, there is an increased potential for good
collagen stimulation and improved results. Having maintenance treatments every 1-3 years may decrease or delay the
need for a neck lift later on.

I am a provider of ultherapy, and I am not convinced that this procedure will avoid a neck lift. There is more complexity to what goes into a sagging neck than just lax skin.  Ultherapy does nothing for muscle laxity which is a significant component of the aging neck for most individuals.  The decision to proceed with Ultherapy must be made with a thorough review of the expectations for this procedure. It does come at a considerable cost, and so if neck banding from muscle laxity is what is most concerning, this may not be the best procedure for you.  Talk with an office that can lay out your options.  If the only procedure that is provided is Ultherapy, then you know this is the only option you will be presented with. I advise my clients that Ultherapy is not a vector or directional pull procedure, it is more of a shrink rap treatment. This seems to provide the insight that is needed to make a decision.