How Ultherapy Helped Tighten My Under Eye Skin

What Led Me To Need Ultherapy

I remember the first time I was truly conscious of my under eye bags was when I was in high school. A friend turned around to face me in home period and was genuinely startled. “Oh my god! Did you get any sleep last night?” I calmy responded “yes”. I think she then realized how rude it was to ask me that and rushed an apology but I understood why she was concerned. Some people get their hair color from their mom or height from their dad; one of the traits passed down to me was my dad’s (and grandmother’s) under eye bags. Truthfully, they were more like creases that created a bag-like appearance but, nevertheless, still made me appear chronically exhausted. I’d pull back my skin and fantasize about the excess skin being gone so my under eye bags weren’t the main focal points. Thankfully, after getting older and becoming a nurse, I quickly found myself diving into the aesthetics field that I grew to admire so much. The added benefit of working in the aesthetics field, specifically in a medical spa, is that it gives you the opportunity to be the guinea pig for all the fun and innovative skin treatments. I explored numerous treatments aiming to improve both collagen and elastin to my under-eye skin, and in my quest Ultherapy emerged as a top contender for creating incredibly effective results.

What Is Ultherapy?

Ultherapy is an OG device in the world of skin tightening. Research on micro-focused ultrasound began in 1998 however, Ultherapy was not established until 2004. Its a non-invasive ultrasound that uses heat to targeted areas to ultimately create a lift and tightening to the skin. Ultherapy pushes for natural, long-lasting results, which was what quickly caught my attention. You could also customize the depths based on the area being treated and targeted. The goal with Ultherapy was to target the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) layer, lying below the subcutaneous fat layer of the face. This layer houses collagen and elastin fibers. Targeting this specific region was important because laxity in the skin is largely due to a weakening of structure in the SMAS . This area is typically the area surgeons focus on when doing a “SMAS” facelift as the area is very dynamic and connects the face and neck muscles to the skin. The precision of targeting 1.5 mm to 4.5 mm under the skin means it meticulously addresses areas most vulnerable to aging, without disturbing the upper layers of the dermis. Ultherapy targets the SMAS layer (when instructed to do so based on visual confirmation by the instructor) at about 65 degrees Celsius causing denaturing, remodeling and the synthesis of collagen. With this the body’s repair system creates long-term collagen and elastin remodeling, enough to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and create subtle lifting to lax skin overtime. Results can last a year or longer.

My Personal Experience: Before, During, and After Ultherapy

Ultherapy was a treatment I was all too familiar with since I treated countless of men and women with the treatment coined “the non-surgical facelift”. What ultherapy was most notorious of, however, was the pain it caused. I mean, this was a treatment most patients had to be on some kind of sedative, narcotic or anti-anxiety pill to tolerate the treatment, on top of the hour numbing with a potent numbing cream. However, patients would rave about the results they were seeing and I was very impressed with the results I was seeing so I decided I would just muster through the pain.

The Process went as follows:

1. I stopped applying any form of topical retinoids and stopped any other exfoliants like glycolic acid and even lactic acid that would make my skin more sensitive for 2 weeks. I also avoided the sun and antibiotics for 2 weeks as these both make you more prone to an adverse reaction like a burn or extreme sensitivity during or after treatment.

2. On the day of the treatment I numbed my forehead, under-eyes and submental region for 1 hour.

3. The numbing was cleansed and the transducers used were specific to the areas I was treating. Treated more superficially on frontalis and under eyes and did less passes compared to submental region.

4. I used a PRO NOX machine (lighter version of laughing gas) to relax during the treatment. Pro-Nox uses 50/50 mix of nitrous oxide and oxygen to alter the perception of pain and anxiety. It relaxes you a bit more and although it doesn’t completely remove pain, it allows you to not focus on it as much. Best thing about Pro-Nox is it filters out of your system within 5-20 minutes and you can drive home after that. Pro-nox in my eyes is absolutely essential for the ultherapy treatment!

5. During the treatment, the area that was the most sensitive was the frontalis. I’d rate the pain 8/10. No shocker as I’ve treated several people in this area and I typically have to take tons of breaks. Under eyes were actually very tolerable, I’d rate it maybe 5/10 and the submental region was the most tolerable at a 3/10 pain rating. When you do feel the pain, it feels almost like a shock or electric bolt of energy shooting through the nerve.

6. After the treatment I was only slightly swollen and had a minimal pink hue to the area. However, I will say the sensitivity to the area by touch definitely lasted a few weeks.

7. Within the healing time during the first few weeks I really liked the looks of the areas. The healing process already gave me the appearance of tighter skin. But these results definitely heightened at the 1 to 6 month range. The improvements were more and more visible as the months went on.

**A few months after 2nd** **Ultherapy treatment.** 2022

Treatments Other Than Ultherapy That’s Improved My Skin Appearance

Ultherapy was absolutely the first treatment in which I saw and felt tightening to my skin. I had minimal stretching ability to the skin a year after my 2nd ultherapy treatment which immensely improved the appearance. However, ultherapy has not been thing only thing I’ve done to improve and maintain my under eye appearance. This list shows the treatments I’ve done and the rating of how effective the treatment was in the appearance of my under eyes and overall skin.

Clear and Brilliant (laser resurfacing): Great for subtly reducing the deep crease pigment on my under eyes but didn’t see much if any tightening effects. Clear and Brilliant is great for evening out skin tone and texture though! I’ve done this treatment atleast 7 times.

Botox: Botox is one of my favorite treatments to do. You may see in my before picture (in which I had maybe only done a few laser resurfacing treatments) I have a scar on my forehead that was causing a deep horizontal line across my forehead even at rest. At that time I was 25 and it was something I felt aged me and made me look stressed. Botox improved the line immensely and has prevented the line from getting deeper. Even though Botox’s purpose is to relax the muscle, it does create a tightening effect. However, I don’t have smile lines around my eyes so I usually just treat my lateral brows to lift them but Botox is not effective in tightening the under eye area. In terms of treating my under eye crease/bags it’s a 0/10 for improving this area but botox is a 9/10 for improving other areas that appear aged. I do this treatment about every 4-5 months.

Radiesse: Radiesse is a calcium hydroxyapetite filler that breaksdown and builds collagen in it’s place. I did this treatment in 2021 to help reduce my under eye crease by improving my cheeks. My experience with radiesse was a 2/10 as it made me look like an alien for the first few weeks. It has more G prime (projection) than most hyaluronic fillers and the process of it integrating in the tissue can take about 3 weeks compared to the two weeks of hyaluronic acid fillers. Once it settled though, even months later I saw a boost in my skin’s radience even though I hadn’t done any recent treatments. My under eye creases were still apparent but minimized. In terms of it helping to reduce any deficit in the cheek that may have been creating the under eye crease, I would say the under eyes to looked better as the months continued. 5.5-6/10.

Morpheus: Obviously, I’ve discussed how much of an impact ultherapy has been on tightening my under eyes. But morpheus has made an impact in maintaining the tightness. Typically ultherapy needs to be done every year or to really increase the results, every 6 months. Morpheus can be done every month and then 1-3 times a year depending on necessity as we cant stop our body’s from ultimately aging and breaking down collagen. Morpheus includes 24 pins of needles that break the skin while simultaneously emitting radiofrequency to designated layers in the skin to produce collagen and elastin. Morpheus is also coined the “non-surgical facelift) and can be seen as the modern version of ultherapy. I’ve done 3 morpheus treatments in a year and a half but hope to not have to do anymore for some time. Again, I’ve noticed the continual tightening of the skin where I finally feel I might be at my max tightness right now and I’m happy to now just wait till I see visible signs of laxity in the area before treating again. Rating for morpheus will be 7.5/10 with ultherapy taking the number one spot at 9/10.

Final Thoughts: Is Ultherapy Worth It?

It’s important to talk to the professional treating you to determine if ultherapy is truly right for you. Skin tightening may not be what’s causing your concerns. If you have a deficit in skin tissue then fillers may be the better option. If you have pigmentation issues then, again, there are better options for this. Ultherapy is great for those with laxity in the skin (not helpful in extreme laxity where only surgery can correct it) and those with obvious signs of collagen and elastin loss. Ultherapy can help almost reverse the metabolic age of the skin by creating a more youthful atmosphere. It’s important to note that while Ultherapy immensely improved the tightness of my under eye skin, I believe all the treatments I’ve done were the building blocks to the overall foundation of my current skin and under eye appearance. Clear and brilliant resurfaced my skin creating a brighter, more even texture, radiesse increased the collagen and elastin in the area. While botox did not affect my under eyes directly, it absolutely created a smoother atmosphere for the rest of the areas for a more cohesive look.

I’m blessed to work in this field as there’s no way I can afford as many treatments as I’ve done without it. Unfortuneatly, the one thing I’ve found is most of these treatments that rely on your body producing and remodeling collagen will take time to show results and often need several treatments to see impactful results. When I did the ultherapy treatment I was in my later 20s, I’m 30 right now so my body typically doesnt have trouble producing collagen at this age. As we get older, this does become a problem and more and more treatments may be needed to achieve similar results to when we were young. So, as I do believe this treatment is a great, effective treatment it can still be pricey. However, ultherapy is one of the few heat based treatments that dont market doing 3-6 treatments every month. Ultherapy states it’s full results typically show at the 9 month mar and you can do a treatment at the 6month mark to increase the results or wait the year and do another treatment if needed. This is alot better than spending hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars every month for other treatments. If your wallet can afford it and the tightening you need is moderate to minimal, doing ultherapy may be worth a shot!

Also Read: How Important Are Morpheus Needle Depths?