ULTHERAPY® OR HI-FU?

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ULTHERAPY® AND OTHER NON-INVASIVE DEVICES?

This question is often asked – HI-FU or Ultherapy®, when to choose which method, why is Ultherapy® more expensive, what is more effective? In short: why do we work with Ultherapy® and no other HI-FU method when it comes to skin tightening without surgery?

Generally speaking, we have to distinguish between the general name of the technology “HI-FU” – which stands for “High Intensive Focused Ultrasound” – and the device name “Ultherapy®”, which stands for probably the best device on the market that uses this HI-FU technology. HI-FU technology is about focused high-intensity ultrasound delivered deep and into the tissue.  Without invasively penetrating the skin, the energy is delivered into the dermis and deep connective tissue without causing any injury. The only reaction from the skin should be redness as the resulting heat is delivered deep. Different devices deliver different levels of energy, the dose of energy is one thing, and the depth of treatment is another. The range here is from 1 to 14/15mm depth. However, with most HI-FU devices, it should be the case that different attachments achieve different depths.

INDIVIDUALITY IN TREATMENT.

No two patients are the same, and therefore treatment must be adjusted accordingly to each patient’s anatomy. Age, BMI, body fat and constitution are taken into account and measured. Not every woman has a 3mm layer of connective tissue in her cheek.

And this is where the decisive advantage of Ultherapy® comes into play: the patented DeepSEE technology. This enables the physician to precisely define the tissue layers to be treated and to deliver the microfocused sound pulses in a controlled and very targeted manner.

With Ultherapy®, the treating physician can see exactly in which layers he is treating by means of “real-time ultrasound”. If HI-FU is simply delivered into the fat tissue, this means that fat tissue is lost. Negative reports even show that after treatment with HI-FU the result was not the expected one, but may even be a worse one. How does this happen? If the fatty tissue is removed from the wrong place, the connective tissue may even yield more. For example, when treating sagging cheeks, they can appear even more afterward if ultrasound energy focused blindly into the tissue is delivered.

WHY DOES ULTHERAPY® MAKE MORE SENSE?

Ultherapy® is a procedure that uses micro-focused ultrasound to stimulate collagen synthesis in the deeper layers of tissue without damaging the skin’s surface. It is the only device where you can see exactly which layer you are working on during the treatment through the treatment head. This is because HI-FU energy should only be delivered to the connective tissue layer, not above or below it. This is also exactly the layer that is treated during a face lift. Therefore, one speaks of a firmness effect as after a surgical lift. The energy can be targeted through the treatment head. The treatment is safe, one works much more precisely and can therefore “destroy” less, “tighten” better and there is also less pain. There is a greater effect with less energy output.

We focus on combination therapies and like to use Ultherapy® in combination with Radiesse®. In a figurative sense Ultherapy® works like the muscle training, and Radiesse® afterwards like the protein afterwards. We achieve great results with this combination therapy in the décolleté, face and body with the right patient (skin structure, age, BMI, constitution).

IN SUMMARY THIS MEANS FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW

HI-FU is a name for a variety of devices that use this technology. Without simultaneous ultrasound control, which is only possible with Ultherapy®, the treatment with other devices is like performing an injection with closed eyes. No patient should want that.

Ultherapy® means selective and targeted treatment. Only this makes sense for us.