How does microfocused ultrasound tighten skin?

Ultherapy can sound like a mystery, since nothing is injected or cut. If you are in Mamaroneck, Larchmont or elsewhere in Westchester, the published research gives a straightforward description of what the device does.

What the research describes

A paper indexed in PubMed Central says: "MFU treatment entails applying numerous subdermal small heating points with temperatures of about 60–70 °C".

MFU stands for microfocused ultrasound. As that sentence describes it, the treatment is a pattern of small heating points placed below the surface of the skin.

More on the technology

A review of energy-based devices for the treatment of facial skin conditions in skin of color puts these devices in a wider group. A systematic review of combined microfocused ultrasound with visualization and calcium hydroxylapatite treatment looks at the two treatments together.

Questions for the clinic

Ask who will perform the treatment and how they explain it to you. Tell them about any injectable treatment you have had.

What to leave alone

Do not judge the treatment by a single sentence about heat. If something after treatment looks or feels wrong, call the clinic that treated you before trying anything from home.

The question that comes next

Readers often ask whether Ultherapy hurts. That is a separate question to put to the clinic.