Are the visible signs of aging on your skin causing you to feel less confident about yourself? Have you tried a battery of over-the-counter skincare products only to end up dissatisfied with your lack of significant results? Ultherapy Jacksonville FL is a skin-tightening treatment that uses high-intensity ultrasound energy to address and treat the visible signs of aging on your skin. If you’d like to know more about this highly effective, revolutionary treatment, contact us at Laser Skin Solutions in Jacksonville Beach, FL to find out more.
How Does Ultherapy Work?
Collagen is one of the most abundant proteins found in the human body, and it plays a critical role in many of the body’s processes. When it comes to your skin, collagen gives it its youthful look by keeping it firm and toned. As your body ages, collagen breaks down, resulting in a loss of skin strength, elasticity, and smoothness. Treatment effectively addresses this by “lifting” your skin through the power of ultrasound technology.
Why Your Skin Looks Great When You’re Young
Children and young adults rarely wrinkle or have to deal with loose, saggy skin because collagen is constantly being produced. Once we enter our 30s, the body stops producing it, and the residual collagen in your skin reduces about 1% per year. The result is that your skin isn’t as efficient at replacing dead skin cells, often leading to skin that looks saggy, crepey, or wrinkled.
Minor Damage, Major Improvement
Researchers have discovered that the best way to get your skin to produce collagen again is to shock it into doing so. Past treatments have been able to do this by using a combination of heat and microneedling. Ultherapy uses ultrasound technology to achieve excellent results through a less invasive method.
The Power of Focused Energy
Treatment involves the use of ultrasound technology, which sends pulses of energy that penetrate about 4mm below the surface of your skin. The technology bypasses the top layers of your skin to deliver focused energy to the foundational layers, where your collagen is located, triggering a response that stimulates the regeneration of your skin’s collagen proteins in a process known as Neocollagenesis.
How Neocollagenesis Works
As treatment focuses energy on the foundational layer of your skin, the collagen existing in the area receives just enough damage on a cellular level to kick start the body’s healing process. Fortunately, the body isn’t very good at regulating how much healing needs to be done and will end up generating much more collagen than was damaged during treatment.
Collagen proteins take anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks to grow. When Neocollagenesis is stimulated by treatment, an extended regeneration process is kick-started that can last anywhere between three and six months, during which period strong, healthy collagen is manufactured within your skin to replace your older, less effective collagen. The result is skin that looks younger with fewer fine lines, wrinkles, and saggy or crepey skin.
How Is Ultherapy Different From Other Cosmetic Treatments?
This treatment targets the deeper layers of your skin that are usually only reachable with cosmetic surgery. Topical creams, lotions, tinctures, and balms that are applied to the surface of your skin can only reach so deep and, while they can sometimes provide a measure of improvement, the results are generally limited.
An added Ultherapy Benefits of using ultrasound technology is that it provides ultrasound imaging, which allows a medical professional to see the underlying layers of skin during treatment. The ability to see the deeper layers of your skin allows your provider to guide the treatment to the areas where your skin needs it most.
Who Is a Good Candidate for Treatment?
Anyone at any age who is experiencing a degree of skin laxity and is dissatisfied with the effects of aging on their skin is a candidate. The best time to undergo treatment is when your skin is less firm than it was in years prior but still has some elasticity to it. If you’re beginning to notice a lowered brow line, sagging on your neck or jawline, or the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, it may be the perfect time to undergo treatment to address these issues.
Most patients will begin to notice these signs of aging in their 30s. However, patients in their 40s who are experiencing mild-to-moderate skin laxity can also make good candidates for treatment. Ultherapy is also an excellent method to stave off the effects of aging when you choose to undergo treatment at an earlier age before the signs of aging have significantly progressed.
What if You’re in Your 20s?
Most people in their 20s aren’t going to be experiencing the effects of aging on their skin, however, aging affects us all at different rates, and some people in their late 20s can make great candidates for treatment. What matters most is that you’re noticing the effects of aging on your skin and you want to make a change. If you’re unsure whether treatment is right for you, we’re more than happy to discuss your concerns, and your options, at your appointment.
What Are the Benefits of Ultherapy?
Treatment Is Non-Invasive
Any time someone chooses to undergo surgery, the procedure carries some degree of risk. There are always going to be potential side effects when you involve anesthesia, incisions, and post-procedure healing. This treatment is 100% non-invasive. Treatment does not require breaking the surface of your skin and can provide a significant improvement in sagging skin without exposing you to the potential (though unlikely) side effects or complications that surgery does.
Treatment Is Customizable
The areas of your face most in need of treatment aren’t always going to be obvious when looking at the surface of your skin. As mentioned, ultrasound imaging allows your provider to visualize the lower layers of your skin in the treated area. In doing so, your provider can direct the heat during treatment to the precise areas that are most in need of improvement.
Treatment works by repairing the cause of aging’s undesirable effects. By triggering your body’s healing response to rebuild collagen, the associated wrinkles and excess skin laxity is addressed. It does not physically remove wrinkles from the surface of your skin, but the wrinkles are removed naturally as the collagen underneath is rejuvenated and rebuilt. To do the most good, your provider will need to know where the most damaged collagen is, not necessarily where your wrinkles are.
Treatment Has No Downtime
It’s common for patients to experience redness or flushing of the skin immediately after treatment, but that’s about it. You will not be required to spend any time healing or recovering afterward and can immediately resume your normal daily activities without restriction.
Results Look Natural Because They Are!
The results of your treatment will gradually become apparent post-treatment. Since it takes four to 10 days for collagen to form, there’s no dramatic post-treatment “reveal” that shows you had anything done.
Remember, treatment triggers your body’s healing response to stimulate the growth of new, strong, resilient collagen in your skin. The result is your collagen rejuvenating your facial structure. Your “after” picture, if you take one, won’t look like you had anything altered on your face. Your skin will look tighter, smoother, and more youthful, just like it did in previous years.
How Long Do the Effects of Ultherapy Last?
The skin-tightening effects of treatment are due to rejuvenating the collagen deep within your skin and can result in “turning back the clock” on your skin. It cannot stop the aging process completely, though. Most patients will enjoy the effects of their treatment for about two years, though, and after that, you may want to come in periodically for additional maintenance treatments once or twice a year.
If you continue with maintenance treatments, your skin will continue to age but you’ll always look younger than you are, and your skin will be tighter and more elastic than it would be had you not elected to undergo treatment at all.
How Can You Maximize Your Results?
Treatment is effective at addressing the signs of aging in your skin, but there are a few things you can do post-treatment to help ensure your results last as long as possible.
Use Sunscreen
The sun’s light is the #1 cause for premature aging in your skin, and if you want to look your best for as long as possible, you need to protect yourself when you go outside. Always use sunscreen with an SPF rating of at least 30 or above and avoid repetitive, prolonged exposure to direct sunlight when you can.
Don’t Smoke
Tobacco products don’t just harm you internally: they can also wreak havoc on your skin and greatly increase the rate at which your skin ages. If you smoke, it’s best to quit as soon as possible.
Use Quality Skincare Products
While using anti-aging products are unlikely to produce anywhere near as dramatic of results as treatment with us, they can help keep your skin supple and preserve its elasticity post-treatment. Moisturize regularly and use only quality skincare products. If you have questions about which products to use, let us know. We will be more than happy to make recommendations based on your aesthetic goals and the current condition of your skin.
Why Choose Us?
Dr. Jill Lezaic
Dr. Lezaic is a Board Certified Family Physician who has been specializing in aesthetic and laser medicine since 2002. She is a fellow of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), a Luminary speaker for a variety of aesthetic companies, and one of the lead trainers for the American Academy of Facial Esthetics.
Dr. Lezaic has performed thousands of aesthetic treatments over the years and is a frequently requested speaker, expert panelist, and trainer at many conferences, including Pri-Med, Family Medicine, The Aesthetic Show, and the A4M Anti-Aging Conference. She has been interviewed for multiple news affiliates, has served on expert panels during national presentations, and has contributed to published articles through round table expert discussions and interviews.
Turn Back the Clock on Aging
The effects of aging on your skin are brought about due to the degeneration of the collagen within its deeper layers. Collagen provides structure and elasticity to your skin, and as it degrades you’ll notice the effects of aging becoming increasingly pronounced.
Ultherapy is an FDA-approved treatment for addressing the effects of aging in your skin. It is non-invasive, safe, fast, and effective. If you think this treatment is right for you or would like to learn more, call Laser Skin Solutions Jacksonville in Jacksonville Beach, FL to schedule a consultation.
