Why Do They Ask You if You Have Cancer When You Have Ulthera Consultation?

All of my patients, whether they arrive to discuss a cosmetic procedure, or to consult about Mohs surgery for skin cancer, are given a full medical history to fill out which asks questions whether they have had any type of skin cancer. This is practicing good medicine as the doctor should know as much about our patient as possible. There is no direct correlation of which I am aware of cancer and Ultherapy.

With any procedure, physicians and surgeons use a 'review of systems' questionnaire that attuenes them to comorbidities that may affect the outcome or recommendations for a certain treatment or procedure. Ultherapy is no exception. It is not known to accelerate cancers anywhere in the body. But if a patient has terminal cancer, the phyisician may opt to not do cosmetic procedures, for example. 

Medical consent questionnaires frequently include an extremely wide variety of conditions, almost always including cancer. Ultherapy is no exception. The ultrasound technology that Ulthera uses in no way is known to cause or accelerate the cell replication that is associated with cancer. Instead, practitioners ask about cancer because it can change the way the body responds to various medical treatments. If someone has cancer, they may be undergoing procedures or taking medications that alter their ability to take certain medications, use certain creams, or respond appropriately to the Ulthera treatment. 

 

Hope this helps! 

During any cosmetic consultation, there are a number of questions that are asked that gauge the appropriateness of the procedure, the likelihood of a successful outcome and risk of complication.  Questions regarding history of cancer or heart disease fall into the category of general health risk and are common with all types of consultations, not just Ultherapy.  Ultherapy uses ultrasound energy for visualization and treatment.  If you have not had an ultrasound, you certainly know someone that has.  Ultrasound energy is exceedingly safe and does not activate or accelerate cancer.