What Is Ultherapy Skin Tightening: Cost, Pain Level, Down Time

This noninvasive treatment lifts and firms your jawline and brows without needles or scalpels.

I'm not one of those Gen Zers that's fully onboard with the "prejuvenation" movement—the idea that you should start noninvasive aesthetic treatments like laser skin tightening or baby Botox at an early age to ward off signs of aging later. At 30, I think my jawline and neck are doing just fine thanks to my regular skincare routine.

But when I was offered Ultherapy as part of a radiofrequency facial during a recent trip to Miami, I was intrigued. I admit I didn't know much about the treatment beforehand, but of course it's one of those things that a lot of people in my friend group—and seemingly everyone on social media—is talking about.

That's because, in spite of gua shas and fancy facial tools, there are certain skin woes that need a little extra oomph to treat properly. And that's what Ultherapy promises: lifting and tightening in areas like the jawline, the neck, and the brow bone, which is where I received my treatment. “Ultherapty uses micro-focused ultrasound energy to lift and tighten the skin by stimulating collagen production at targeted depths,” says Pooja Rambhia, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York. “The energy bypasses the skin’s surface to reach deep tissue layers, where it causes collagen to contract, eventually triggering the formation of new collagen and elastin.”

Meet the experts: David Colbert, MD, is the founder and head physician of the New York Dermatology Group. Pooja Rambhia, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist based in New York.

It can also be fairly useful in tightening areas that can be otherwise tricky to treat, such as the submental area (aka, the jawline and neck). "The fat pocket under the chin is pretty weight loss-resistant for most people," says board-certified dermatologist David Colbert, MD, the founder and head physician of the New York Dermatology Group.

Curious to know more? Below, find all the details on how it works, the procedure details, and how long you can expect results to last, among other frequently asked questions.

I settled into the chair at Del Campo Dermatology and Laser Institute and about 20 minutes later, I was done. Almost immediately after leaving the treatment room, a friend told me that I looked "snatched," which should at least give you some insight into the results. They can be almost immediate—more on that below.

There's no wonder, then, that Dr. Colbert says it's one of his most popular procedures. "It's pretty simple to do," he says. "There's no cutting—you get up and walk out." Despite being approved by the FDA for noninavsive lifting back in 2009, he adds that he's seen an uptick in procedures equally across sexes. Why? "There is absolutely no doubt that social media is turning everyone selfie-conscious," Colbert says.

After all, a strong jawline and lifted brown bone is flattering at every angle.

The procedure can range anywhere from my 20-minute flash treatment to more than an hour. It involves first applying ultrasound gel, then going over the treatment area in three passes at different depths: two millimeters and three and a half millimeters. "The deeper you go, the deeper you are into the muscle, the more contraction you get," Dr. Colbert says. "We do it in a certain pattern. Imagine a diagram of a face with multiple lines that are parallel down the face—you just follow that pattern." And while patients most often come in for the jawline and neck, Ultherapy is effective around the brows and cleavage as well.

It can also be combined with other procedures for even better results. "Sometimes people will have a deposit of fat under their chin so they don't have a really clear cut jawline," Dr. Colbert explains, adding that he could get even stronger definition by doing CoolSculpt, Sculpsure, or Kybella to "freeze, dissolve, or destroy fat cells then later do Ultherapy to tighten them."

While all the action happens without any cutting involved, it's not totally painless. At the start, my esthetician applied numbing cream around my brow area and warned me that the treatment might feel "spicy." We let the cream sit for about 20 minutes while she gave me a radiofrequency treatment, and once it was time for the Ultherapy, she removed the excess cream from the area. Everyone's pain tolerance is a little different; to me, it was a very strange sensation, almost like someone was plucking or poking at my eyebrows.

Really though, the high-pitched noise of the machine is what made me more uncomfortable than anything. "There's definitely a sound, and some patients just sort of grit their teeth and endure while others are fine with it—it's very individual," Dr. Colbert says. "I have patients that can sit and do anything, no numbing, no nothing...and they don't even wince."

He adds that he typically pre-medicates with a painkiller or laughing gas, but many people don't use anything at all (in fact, he himself has done Ultherapy twice with no pain). Additionally, you may feel soreness or numbness in the area for a couple of days that goes away. My brow area felt slightly tender in the days following, but the pain wasn't unbearable.

According to Dr. Rambhia, some people will start to see a difference in two to three months since it's takes time to rebuild collagen through the infliction of thermal injury. However, others, like me, may see results almost immediately. This is particularly true if you're someone with sagging skin or jowls, says Dr. Colbert. "Collagen rebuilds itself and continues to grow for about three months, and then it plateaus off," he says.

You only need one session for results, and it lasts for one to two years depending on individual factors such as skin condition, age, and weight fluctuations, says Dr. Rambhia. Dr. Colbert adds that he occasionally will allow patients to do the procedure in stages with one day focusing on the superficial depth followed by a deeper pass on another day. After six months, you can ask your provider for an extra pass, but it can be done once a year or once every two years for maintenance.

At Dr. Colbert's practice in New York City, Ultherapy for full face and neck costs $5,000, lower face and neck costs $3,800, and décolleté costs $2,500. While that price can vary across different cities, you can expect the range to be four figures—at least you're only going in and paying for it once.

Bottom line: I was a little nervous going into my first Ultherapy treatment, since again, it’s something I didn’t know much about at the time. While I’m happy to say that I was adventurous enough to try it, and the pain I experienced wasn’t quite as bad as some of the stories I’ve previously heard, this isn’t something I think I'll need to get again in the near future. Though 'snatched' is high praise, indeed.

Additional reporting by Kristina Rodulfo and Sabrina Talbert.

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