You Don't Need The Knife - How To Get A Facelift Without Surgery
Technology continues to push forward and to give us surprising ways that we can solve longstanding problems. Medical procedures are an area that has always been rife with innovation, and today more than ever we’re seeing older technologies being used for new applications. Aesthetic procedures that once required going under the knife no longer require that kind of intervention. Today it’s possible to get a facelift without surgery.
Ultrasound Technology Changes the Face of Facelifts
Most of us understandably associate ultrasounds with medical procedures during pregnancy or the diagnosis of an illness. Ultherapy holds a relatively new status, but the science supporting it goes back for half a century. Ultherapy results are dramatic and improve over time once treatment has begun.
This facelift without surgery was approved by the FDA in 2009 for the non-invasive Ultherapy brow lift. In 2012 the FDA cleared the procedure for the treatment of neck and submental skin laxity. Essentially what these approvals mean is that doctors can use this advanced ultrasound technology to address sagging skin and wrinkles all over the face, neck, and chest.
It’s difficult to overstate the nature of this approval. Ultherapy enjoyed popularity in other parts of the world prior to garnering approval in the United States for cosmetic treatment. With great results from those other parts of the world, Ultherapy quickly became popular here. It’s revolutionary because it offers effectiveness without requiring surgery. Ultherapy offers results for a wide variety of places on the face and neck, even the decolletage. It’s no longer necessary to have painful surgery that presents infection risks and long recovery times. Those changes are huge for clients who are seeking an improved appearance but who aren’t candidates for a surgical facelift.
How Ultherapy Works
The aging of the skin happens for a complex and interconnected set of reasons. The redistribution of fat underneath the skin, the breakdown of collagen, and the changing of bone structure all contribute to the signs of aging. Ultrasound therapy uses heat and sound waves to penetrate nearly five millimeters under the skin. This allows the ultrasound waves to reach the layer of fibrous tissue underneath that suffers from the effects of aging. This layer is called the superficial muscular aponeurotic system, and it’s the key to the success of cosmetic ultrasound therapy.
Working with a certified doctor is a critical piece of the process for patients. This procedure essentially cauterizes the tissue under the skin, coagulating it to eliminate the appearance of sagging and to minimize wrinkles. That’s not something to be taken lightly, and only a doctor can do it properly. Always seek the supervision of a qualified medical professional.
A single treatment can combat the sagging skin around the neckline and jaws, tightening skin and creating a more youthful appearance. The sound waves are nearly painless for most people, though the level of discomfort associated with this non surgical facelift changes from person to person. Doctors who perform these procedures can offer ideas on how to minimize discomfort during and after the procedure. Most of then this simply involves patients taking simple over the counter pain medications.
Ultherapy – How Long Does It Last?
A major question that people want to know is how long the effects of these treatments last. An Ultherapy brow lift, along with the treatments on the other areas of the body, start off with strong results that only get stronger with time. That means that the skin will look tighter the longer out from treatment it is. This improvement goes on for several weeks. Given that, the results are not necessarily permanent. Doctors recommend that initial treatment follow-ups happen at least annually in order to maintain the results. This is something that each individual would discuss with their healthcare provider prior to treatment, but for many people a facelift without surgery offers a perfect solution.
What are your questions about getting a facelift without surgery? Maybe you’ve had great results from a non-invasive procedure – we’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Resources
Noninvasive skin tightening: focus on new ultrasound techniques
Photo credit: Victor Semionov via Foter.com / CC BY
