Why is Ultherapy only showing a 67% satisfaction rate over a large group of reviews, relatively lower than other treatments?

Ultherapy is a great non-invasive skin tightening treatment when performed correctly. Certified Ultherapists are trained to see exactly where your collagen presents in the skin using ultrasound technology. This technology allows each pulse of energy to enter the collagen in a precise and pristine way. With that being said, you want to make sure your service provider is a certified Ultherapist. This ensures you are receiving a proper treatment, so you can feel confident that you will see amazing results. Also, keep in mind that you need to be the perfect candidate for Ulthera and have realistic expectations. Ultherapy works wonders for those suffering from mild to moderate signs of aging. Although it can treat severe signs of aging too, we want to be realistic. Depending on your laxity severity, this treatment may not replace a surgical face lift. It's important to first consult with your service provider to determine if you expectations will be reached using Ultherapy.

Ultherapy can give good results when done in proper hands on the proper patients. Most of the bad results or no results that you see are in patients who should have never gotten the treatment in the first place. Many people are not good candidates for the treatment. At my practice about 30% of patients that come in wanting Ultherapy are not good candidates for the treatment and we recommend more appropriate treatments to them. 
Also, Ultherapy is just a tool which in different hands will yield different results. Most med-spas or "technicians" which perform the procedure use a cookie cutter approach for every patient. This can lead to suboptimal results and adverse effects.
Ultherapy is not a substitute for a facelift and will not give facelift results. It's used best as a preventative and maintenance treatment in combination with other treatments such as Botox, Fillers, Lasers, etc. Most people that are educated about this and have realistic expectations are satisfied with their results.
Hope this helps answer your question.

I recommend seeing a board-certified doctor with experience using Ultherapy. Ultherapy is a great device for skin tightening, but a combination approach would gives the most improvement. I recommend Ultherapy with RF treatments, lasers, microneedling/PRP, J Plasma, nova threads or sculptra to get increased collagen, tightening and improve skin tone.  I recommend getting a formal evaluation with an expert. Best, Dr. Emer

Just to add to the previous comment, there is an increasing number of salons use HIFU machines and offer "Ultherapy" treatment. A lot of people received a HIFU treatment with adverse results but then blame Ultherapy as the only FDA approved procedure. Some Chinese machines look very similar and only checking authenticity with Merz protects you from number of complications.  

I agree with most of the comments below.  Ultherapy is an excellent procedure when done by properly trained technicians AND done on the right patients.  It is not an appropriate procedure for somebody who needs surgical lifting and tightening.  When performed on people who need minimal to moderate tightening and when done with the correct number and depth of pulses, a large percentage of people in my practice see very good results.Studies show that Ultherapy does stimulate collagen production and muscle tightening.  I believe it is a great procedure for people in their 40's - early 50's who are just starting to notice collagen loss.  Ultherapy will put collagen in their "collagen bank", which is a wonderful thing!

I am always amazed at the Ultherapy ratings too. In our office, it is one of the most popular procedures! The POSITIVES: 1) Stops the aging clock. Seriously! If you're not doing this, you are missing the boat.   2) No down-time or incisions    3) No repetitive maintenance. It is designed as a one time procedure, though we do it repetitively to add to the effects.   4) Totally customizable
The NEGATIVES: 1) Painful for many people. If done at a physician's office, pre-medication helps!   2) As already said, anyone can buy the machine. Skill in ultrasound is paramount to achieve great results.  3) Cost- It is expensive, but again.... you are stopping the aging clock!

There are many reasons people do not see good results with Ulthera, but 1 main reason they have negative results.First,  the negative.   Usually, these are treatments done by a poorly trained/ educated technician.   Unfortunately,  anyone can buy a machine and use it.  In our practice we have NOT seen negative results.   The worst is little to no results. There are a variety of reasons I can point to for little to no results. SmokersElderlyHeavy or thick extra skinReally needed a faceliftReally needed volume correction as well as tightening. The best advice I can give you is to see a board certified plastic surgeon who performs a variety of non invasive and invasive procedures.   This way you can review all the possible options available and you and your surgeon can decide what's best for you.