The price to pay for fake treatments
Embrace the real you, the real way with Ultherapy®
MANILA, Philippines — With so many skin lifting treatments available today, it’s easy to confuse one for another. High-intensity frequency ultrasound (HIFU) procedures are especially popular now as a way to stimulate collagen growth and tighten the skin without surgery. But when it comes to ultrasound treatments, not all are created equal—some are even fake and can cause long-lasting disfiguration! But how do you spot the real thing?
One ultrasound treatment that’s made waves around the world is Ultherapy®, a favorite among celebrities from Hollywood all the way to the Philippines. To find out what makes Ultherapy®, a standout—and why real Ultherapy® gets real results, we talked to award-winning aesthetic physician Dr. Ting Song Lim, who has worked at various hospitals and clinics around the world, from Malaysia to Japan to the USA.
Dr. Ting Song Lim, award-winning aesthetic physician. Photo Release
Ultherapy® is a US FDA-cleared skin lifting procedure for use above the brows, under the chin, and on the neck and décolletage. Because of its micro-focused ultrasound with visualization (MFU-V) technology, Ultherapy is known for its precision, both in the visualisation it allows of the skin’s inner layers to the amount of micro-focused ultrasound energy needed for the procedure.
Unlike lasers and radiofrequency machines, which only target up to the dermis or 3.0 mm beneath the skin’s surface, Ultherapy® reaches all the way down and works on the innermost foundational layer at 4.5 mm.
“Ultherapy® lets you see where you target, and deliver the energy precisely on certain layers, which primarily target a structure called the anchoring complex,” said Dr. Lim. “Skin lifting devices that use ultrasound first started with Ultherapy®,” Dr. Lim said. “They spent almost ten years developing this device.”
While other HIFU treatments do succeed in lifting the skin, the results don’t last as long as Ultherapy®’s, which progressively shows positive effects due to new collagen synthesis and requires minimal to no downtime. It’s even been dubbed ‘the lunchtime lift’, due to the 90-minute (or less) length of the procedure, which lets you jump right back into your daily activities.
Following the treatment’s success, other providers began trying to reproduce the same results using cheaper devices that take out the visualization component and the precision of the targeted energy.
“A lot of devices that came out there want to do the same thing that Ultherapy® can do, but cannot because firstly, they do not have the correct visualization, and secondly they cannot deliver precise energy at precise depth,” said Dr. Lim. “Sometimes the energy goes haywire, and that can create a disparity. The most dangerous part about it is when you have devices that runs through different layers and can actually burn the skin, which can be quite disfiguring. And if it doesn’t give results, perhaps that’s even a blessing.”
Genuine Ulthera® system. Photo Release
“Nowadays there are devices that even use the name to confuse consumers. Most of the time what we see with these devices is sometimes they don’t give enough energy to do anything at all,” he added.
Dr. Lim strongly recommended that patients do their due diligence when it comes to choosing treatments, from looking up the official Ultherapy® website and social media pages as well as checking for in-clinic markers. “If a practice is authorized to provide Ultherapy®, the device will have a seal that says it’s an authentic Ultherapy® provider, or look for the authenticity plaque in the clinic,” he said.
“When you spend a certain amount of money and you want good results in a safe and effective way, there’s only one option. Go for an authentic process that’s been proven to be effective for the longest time.”
ULTHERAPY is a registered trademark of the Merz group of companies. Imported by: Merz Philippines Healthcare Inc., 10/F Net Lima Bldg., 5th Ave. cor. 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
For more information, you may visit: realmattersasia.com, www.merzaesthetics.com. You can use their clinic locator at realmattersasia.com/philippines. And follow them on social medie: Facebook and Instagram.
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