48 Year Old Looking for a More Refreshed Look - Arlington, TX

This year is my 20th wedding anniversary. My husband is 8 years old than me, but looks younger. Although I wanted to look better, I am not at all ready to go under the knife. I work in a male dominated field, with colleagues usually younger than me.

After doing some investigation, I decided to try out Ultherapy at Ideal Image where I got some laser hair removal. All the RNs (yes, they are all RNs) that do the procedure have to under go the procedure also as part of their training, so they know what it feels like.

I read that the procedure was quite painful, but was hoping that not be the case for me. I believe(d) I had a high threshold of pain. Well, I must say...it HURT! Some areas were easier than other, but the areas near the bones, i.e. forehead and jawline had me raising up on the table. Laura was very gentle with me and coached me thru the process. BTW, I had a full face and neck treatment. She did each area separate: upper face, lower face and neck. She used (3) different "tools", first one was ultrasound that went to the deepest level. She was unable to use this one on my upper face since my skin was too thin (for which I was later relieved).

The upper face, she used the next (2) tools, ultrasound, that did not go as deep as the 1st tool, and then the 3rd tool, which she told me was for the more fine lines and was more like an electrical pulse. The one I had the most difficulty the upper forehead. It felt like someone was shocking the whole top of my head. I ever felt it in the back of my head. She did "squares" with any where from 40 - 60 "lines" (aka shocks) per square. She used the 2nd tool, then the same process with the 3rd tool.

The lower face, wow this was the first time she used 1st tool (i.e. the deep ultra sound), I must say this was my least favorite. Along the jawline it felt like someone was pulling my teeth without Novocain. Again, she did squares with between 40-80 lines for each square and each tool.

Once she got to my neck, I thought 'oh no' this is going to be the worst, but actually, it was the easiest. I'm not sure if it actually was, or that I had become use to the sensation.

Total, we started at about 9:15 am, with one bathroom break and two short breaks so I could make a couple of calls, and we finished at around 12:30. It total, she did 1,915 "lines" combined with all three tools.

This may scare some off, but I just want people to know that the procedure is very uncomfortable, sometime outright painful, but tolerable. It is not as bad as childbirth, like some have said. The pain is sometimes intense but only for a second or two at a time. I would suggest taking 800 mg of ibuprofen before the procedure. Laura told me one lady actually had a dental block before the treatment.

I only had the procedure a few hours ago, so my checks and my chin area are still numb, kind of like you would feel is you had a tooth filled. The area around my jawline is very puffing, I look like I am storing nuts for the winter, but I'm hoping that goes away soon.

I truly hope this works for me after all this. Laura said it might take between 3-6 months to see the effects. they have me coming back in in 6 months to do follow up pictures. She suggested that I take my own pics every 2 weeks. I will start posting those in a few weeks.

BTW, I am also doing botox on my forehead and crows feet in the recommended 2 weeks, just to see some immediate results. :-)

Well it's been 3 days since my Ultherapy treatment. My jawline is still sore and my jaw/check areas are still "numb", feels kind of like Novocain. It has gotten a little better, but still numb. My jawline is still very swollen. I also have a few lines on one check that look like welts. Has anyone else experienced this?

It's been 2 weeks and I see no noticeable results. I know it is suppose to take up to 6 months, but I had hope to see something. Actually I think I look worse. Trying to stay hopeful.