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HIFU Treatment Results

When do you see a result after HIFU Treatment?

Are you thinking of having a HIFU treatment for your sagging skin but unsure when to expect a result?

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) Treatment is a nonsurgical skin tightening procedure facial treatment that uses ultrasound energy to target skin laxity and lifts sagging skin. 

The most common question about HIFU treatment is when can I expect to see a result from a HIFU facial treatment?

This noninvasive skin tightening treatment is an alternative to surgical facelifts and is becoming more popular because it works and there’s no downtime in comparison with aesthetic plastic surgery, with reduced risk and cost. 

High intensity focused ultrasound works by causing an inflammatory trauma to loose skin to create collagen production, leading to firmer lifted skin while reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles on the upper layers of your face or other body areas, resulting in overall quality facial rejuvenation.

However, when looking at what to expect after HIFU treatments, there are three main factors that need to be considered before you get too excited about a HIFU skin treatment as an alternative to surgical procedures.

This article explains the three main factors of the HIFU procedure

  1. How MANY HIFU treatments do you need to see a result?
  2. How LONG does it take to see the results?
  3. How long do the results LAST?

I’m Jen Adams as a functional nutritionist and aesthetics skin therapist. I have ten years of clinical experience in nutrition advice and skin aesthetics treatments.

I want to share with you what to expect from HIFU face treatment, as I have discovered over the years it’s important to learn more about ageing skin so you can understand how to enhance your nutrition and skin health and boost what you naturally have to glow every day.

My skin health approach is to educate you to have the confidence when investing in your skincare and professional aesthetic treatments that are right for your skin health, not just your type of skin or cosmetic procedure!

My approach is to educate you about aesthetic solutions that can slow down the natural ageing process, so you can feel confident about investing in your skincare routine and overall facial rejuvenation treatments that are right for your skin ageing, not just your skin type.

How MANY HIFU treatments do you need to see a result?

There are a few factors to consider when directly answering this question as openly and honestly as possible.

Namely, the quality of your skin texture and your realistic expectations of what a result is? 

The straight answer is ONE treatment is required to see and feel firmer skin.

You will feel and see the quality and skin laxity improve after one HIFU Treatment. 

However, consistent and repeated treatments will increase skin lifting and jawline definition over time.

The most common treatment protocol would recommend a HIFU treatment every 12 to 16 weeks with a minimum of three treatments per annum to improve tone and firmness.

It’s the next question when you will get a different answer depending on the treatment area you want to treat with the HIFU device.

How LONG does it take to see the results?

When looking at using focused ultrasound energy, onto the skin’s surface you feel an instant skin tightening result because the skin is thinner; a great example of this is around your eye area. 

You will see and feel an instant result- so look in the mirror and see a change.

This will continue to improve over the next few weeks. 

In my clinic, I call this HIFU Focused Area treatment which is ideal for moderate skin laxity, refining wrinkles and thin skin facial lifting.

However, if you have excess skin, and want jawline definition tightening and results similar to a surgical facelift such as HIFU Half face or HIFU Neck Lift treatment option.

The ultrasound energy will be deeper into the layers of the skin and the ultrasound waves penetrate down to the dermis layer of the skin, which will cause slight discomfort and will take longer for the results of fewer wrinkles, and firmer skin longer to be felt.

With the deeper ultrasound waves, there will be an initial feeling of tightness, but the lift takes time.

The deeper micro-energy layers into the dermis contract the smas layer and cause the inflammatory response.

The immune system takes time to react and produce fibroblast, which will harvest collagen and elastin production.

This can take from 3 months to 6 months to come to the surface of the skin.

However, during that period, you will feel a firmness from the mid-layer of collagen and elastin at 4 to 6 weeks, but the structured feeling of a lift takes a little longer than you want to believe.

Moreoften from experience with my new skin gym members, when they first have the HIFU Face Lift treatment, it is always at the six months point they report back to me they can notice a difference.

How long do the results LAST?

Any HIFU face treatment results will last as long as the natural ageing process takes for YOUR skin to age.

Depending on the quality of your skin health, age, and skin treatments you have in between will all impact how long the results from a HIFU treatment will last. 

It’s all due to the time it takes for your body to break down the collagen created. I am sorry that it is a bit of a politician’s answer; it is the best way to explain what happens honestly.

If you are under 30 and have mild to moderate skin laxity your collagen does not break down as quickly as it does when you are over 50 or 60 years old.

As we age, our collagen breakdowns at 1% per year and starts to gather speed if it does not have all the ingredients and stimulation it needs to keep regenerating.

But take a moment to think about a 50-year-old whose skin health is good, they are hydrated, have a good diet, don’t smoke, don’t go outdoors in the sun unprotected, and has regular aesthetic skin treatments?

How quickly is her collagen going to decrease?

Probably about the same speed as the 30 year old!

Therefore, the results from a HIFU treatment will depend on the depth of the skin treatment and your skin health.

Learn more about your skin health – A functional approach to slow down the effects of ageing.

In summary, when looking at HIFU treatment and when to expect a result, depends on your current skin laxity and the quality of your skin health.

The answer to how long the result lasts from one single HIFU facelift treatment; in general from between a further 6 to 12 months from once you feel the benefit of the treatment. 

All results depend on the quality of your skin health when you have the HIFU treatment and will depend on how long the effects of the treatment will be felt.

So if you plan only to have one HIFU face-lift treatment and your skin health is poor, you will feel the benefit of that treatment, but it will take longer than you expect and won’t last as long as you would prefer.

In conclusion, you will feel and see a result from ONE high intensity focused ultrasound treatment, the time it takes depends on the area and depth you want to treat.

In the case of how long will the results last, that makes no difference to the treated area, that depends on the quality of your skin health and any further treatment you have afterwards.

In Skin Health Clinic, I do a HIFU Half Face treatment every quarter, and within that 12 weeks period, I will also have other skin rejuvenation treatments such as collagen induction treatments or [microneedling] to maintain and keep my skin feeling firm and lifted. 

From personal experience, I can tell you that if life takes over and I don’t do my HIFU face-lift within 6 months, I definitely know it’s time to do a treatment.

Now the natural ageing process continues to take place and my skin is still losing its elasticity, but I do feel as though I am managing my skin laxity.

What I do to maintain my skin health at home: My 3-Step Method for younger looking skin

It’s important to clarify that my slow and low approach to your skincare routine is the same as HIFU face treatments and Microneedling treatments. 

If you are new to having aesthetic skin treatments, I strongly recommend a minimum of 3 collagen-induction treatments within a 12 week period first before considering a HIFU Treatment.

Starting with a HIFU Full facelift treatment and sitting back waiting for the results is not the best way to improve your skin laxity for firm lifted skin.

Regular and consistent collagen-stimulating treatments are an essential way to firm, tone and lift the structure of your skin tone.

Take a few moments to find your skin health score? Answer the 10 skin and lifestyle questions. If your score is 6 or more out of ten, then yes, the quality of your skin health will benefit from a HIFU facelift treatment, as long as you have realistic expectations from non-invasive skin treatments.