These days, I am looking for quick fixes.
In my time-starved world, I need anything and everything that’s efficient and saves me time. And I was so thrilled that Ultherapy will do just that for me in terms of stimulating collagen, lifting my face and smoothening my skin – because, eh, where got time to go for facial every month?
So what I hear about Ultherapy is this: you spend about one hour to get a non-invasive facelift for tighter and better skin which will last for about a year. That’s all, yes.
Sounds good! This is the quick fix I need for my life RIGHT NOW.
I recently headed to Halley Medical Aesthetics to find out more about Ultherapy from Dr Terence Tan, the same doctor who froze my fats a while earlier this year and made the cellulite on my thighs disappear. Dr Terence Tan is someone I fully trust, because after having experienced CoolSculpting at his clinic, I am convinced that it’s needful to be under the care of someone experienced and who knows what he’s doing with the technology that’s available to use.
Dr Terence Tan sharing why delivering 800 shots of micro-focused ultrasound energy for my full-facelift, with upper neck – no less – is important to him. It’s about dedication and commitment to his customers!
It’s the face we’re talking about here afterall; nobody wants a botched job!
Dr Terence Tan explaining how Ultherapy treats the different layers of the skin
Dr Terence Tan introducing me to Ulthera® – the machine responsible for delivering micro-focused ultrasound to stimulate collagen non-invasively
Back to Ultherapy, which I’ve heard so much about, being non-invasive, needle-free and all. BUT I’ve also heard about the discomfort it can cause, and so I needed to go for a consultation to understand what this all means. Quick fix doesn’t mean just go for a process blindly, right.
So here’s what it is, and what it means to undergo Ultherapy, and this treatment specifically at Halley Medical Aesthetics, summarized.
Ten Facts You Need to Know About Ultherapy at Halley Medical Aesthetics:
- Ultherapy is the only non-invasive skin tightening treatment that’s cleared by the US FDA. This means that it’s backed by numerous robust clinical trials and is very safe and effective. There is no downtime, no surgical incisions made.
- Ultherapy uses micro-focused ultrasound energy to bypass the surface of the skin to stimulate the body’s collagen.
- With Ultherapy, doctors are now able to direct ultrasound energy with pin-point accuracy at three specific skin depths (1.5mm, 3.0mm, and 4.5mm), to trigger lifting of the skin from within, a process that will develop over a period of 90 days. Tissue laxity is largely the result of structural weakening in the skin’s foundation (called SMAS) which is only accessible during a surgical facelift before Ultherapy came about.
- It is the only non-invasive treatment that has real-time visualization capability which allows doctors to see precisely what layer of tissue they are treating. This enables doctors to target exactly where energy will be delivered, and to avoid structures such as bone and blood vessels.
- The body will start responding to Ultherapy right after the treatment, and the skin will become tighter and more lifted over time with results most obvious three months after treatment.
- Medical evidence shows that the lifting and firming process continues even after three months.
- Ultherapy can be used to treat the whole face or it can be used to target problematic areas on the face like the cheeks, undereye, forehead, jawline, and upper and lower neck.
- Halley Medical Aesthetics (Halley) follows the Amplify™ Protocol recommended for Ultherapy. This protocol advocates that doctors deliver approximately 800 lines (or shots) of focused ultrasound energy for an effective, long-lasting full-face and upper neck lift. This means you can go elsewhere to do this but you may not be experiencing the full 800 shots! which Halley promises.
- Halley also gives patients doing the full-face and upper neck lift treatment an Ultherapy patient record that details the number of lines delivered to each part of the face. This is to provide them with transparency and peace of mind that they are receiving the optimal number of focused ultrasound energy needed to lift different parts of the face.
- Halley has also won two “Golden Record Awards” for their commitment and dedication that the clinic puts into delivering Ultherapy to its patients.
Halley has won 2 records for Ultherapy
So what about the discomfort? Any google search will inadvertently show up results of people talking about some pain they experienced. And I definitely need to have my fears allayed about this, and what level of discomfort to expect.
What I really appreciate being at Halley is that nothing is glossed over thoughtlessly if you had a concern. You get very honest answers here and yes, Dr Terence Tan says, there will be some degree of discomfort experienced because the device is directing micro-focused ultrasound energy into structural layers of the skin and such penetration will cause a certain level of discomfort. To minimise the discomfort, Dr Terence Tan recommended a combination of oral painkillers and numbing cream application.
And, that is ALL that will be experienced DURING the treatment. Some people may feel soreness on the jawline for a day or two, but other than that, it’s not going to last.
Oh well, for someone who’s walked an entire day without realising her foot was fractured, pushed three babies out naturally, did a hair transplant (will blog about it soon!), and lived with horrible cramps two days a month that sometimes induces fainting, I think I can live with this “pain” of some sort.
Ok la, let’s go for it!
TREATMENT DAY
On the day I was scheduled for Ultherapy, I showed up an hour early, took painkillers provided by the clinic and had numbing cream applied on my face and neck. I was a little nervous nonetheless but was quickly calmed by the ever-funny Dr Terence Tan who would tell me jokes and ask me riddles. I think he’s found a way to calm his patients’ nerves, since he’s probably done this for so many patients.
Numbing cream applied to my face and neck after cleansing
When it was time to start, Dr Terence Tan constantly checked in with me to see if I was feeling ok and would adjust the energy level if I wasn’t. The discomfort was also greatly alleviated with a fan blowing cool air next to my face, such a brilliant idea.
The fan blowing cool air to my face was such a relief!
Getting my shots on the right cheek
The Ulthera machine visualization screen which shows Dr Terence Tan my skin tissue depth, and also show how many lines (or shots) that have delivered to my right cheek
So the areas where it’s more boney and has lesser flesh were the parts that you could feel a zapping sensation that’s more pronounced than the rest. It was a momentarily sort of shock-zap that would disappear quickly. It was like maybe, 5 seconds of a burning sensation combined with a sharp pinching feeling of your skin.
Ultherapy on the forehead
Ultherapy on the left cheek. I’m smiling here cos’ there really was minimal discomfort and Dr Terence Tan kept telling me jokes
Ultherapy on the upper neck – double chin be gone!
I had two foam bears to squish and that helped with those bigger, sharper zaps that came in the undereye and jaw lines. Other than that, it was really interesting to watch Dr Terence Tan work with the Ulthera machine, experienced as he is, in adjusting the energy level according to how ok I feel, and at the same time, counting down the 800 shots he promised to deliver
Skillful hands at work!
He would place the device on the different parts of my face and activate the shots – all very deftly and skillfully within an hour.
POST TREATMENT
Any change? Yes! My double chin area instantly felt tighter!
After I was done, I felt a little sleepy from lying down for a full hour, and some aching sensation on my jaw. Almost immediately my face felt tighter. The next few days, I felt my face becoming tighter, my double chin becoming smaller, and my jawline becoming sharper.
I kid you not, it was that obvious, that fast.
I was so amazed when I looked in the mirror that I exclaimed to my husband that this is probably an investment I need to make every year.
Apparently, results will only be obvious 90 days later BUT I already felt a significant difference a few days after the treatment. I actually also felt my skin was more supple by the third week, and that it was absorbing facial products a little more readily than before.
I think there will be more surprising finds in the weeks to come, and I can’t wait. Feeling a huge difference already with collagen stimulated naturally, and I am pretty sure it hasn’t reached its peak yet. Another post to come after my 90-day review.
Evidence of my 800 lines, recorded in detail: cheek & jaw area for the 4.5mm depth
Shots delivered at the 3.0mm depth
These are the 1.5mm depth shots at my undereye and forehead area
My picture captured in a recent event, post-Ultherapy 2 weeks!
It’s $3900 to get 800 lines done, and I reckon this has been one of the best quick fixes ever. This price tag is for every 1 -2 years which your face would need this non-invasive lift. With this, you probably don’t need monthly facials, plus it goes a longer way than surface-only masks and scrubs.
Time for me to start saving up! Meanwhile, if you want to see what I went through for Ultherapy at Halley, watch the video below:
If you are interested to try out Ultherapy at Halley Medical Aesthetics, here’s where you can look for Dr Terence Tan directly for a consultation:
Address: 277 Orchard Road, #03-15 Orchard Gateway, Singapore 238858
Contact Number: (+65) 6737 8233
Email: info@halley.com.sg
Here are some quick links for you to check out the details for yourself:
Halley Medical Aesthetics Price List | Website | Blog | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Disclosure: All opinions here in this post are my own, including how desperate I am to have tighter skin in record time. Because, VAIN.
