The non invasive way to treat sagging skin

Although not everyone experiences pigmentation or acne throughout their lives, everyone will experience sagging skin. Therefore, understanding facial sagging will help you in the long run.

In this article we discuss a non-invasive way to tighten, lift and contour the skin using HIFU skin tightening, the different types, benefits, side effects, and why our HIFU treatment is a must have in your overall aesthetic skin maintenance routine.

HIFU stands for high-intensity focused ultrasound and is an advanced medical technology that uses focused sound waves to treat medical and cosmetic problems in tissues.

It can penetrate the outer layer of skin to treat deeper skin tissue. This means HIFU does not cut into your body and is a completely non-invasive treatment.

The first HIFU treatments were developed to treat medical conditions in the body. Today, HIFU is a popular medical aesthetic treatment for its ability to tighten different skin layers non-invasively.

There are 2 types of HIFU, Macro-focused HIFU and micro-focused HIFU.

• Macro-focused HIFU is usually used to remove unwanted tissues such as fat on the face or body.
• Micro-focused HIFU only damages or removes very small columns of skin tissues, with the main purpose of contracting the target layers and stimulating collagen.

However, some brands only have either technology, hence limiting its application.

As mentioned above, HIFU is non-invasive. It can tighten skin at various different layers without harming the surface. An example of this strength of HIFU is in treating facial sagging. Facial sagging can occur at many layers, from the deep retaining ligaments, to the retinacular fibres within fat compartments and skin.

A pleasant unintended effect of HIFU treatment is that patients often comment that their complexion improves and skin pigmentation appears clearer. This is because the treatment stimulates growth factors in the deeper skin layers, resulting in collagen growth and overall skin rejuvenation.

1. Special ultrasound transducers direct the ultrasound energy to a small focal point where high temperatures cause tissue coagulation.
2. Similar to medical imaging, the focused beam of ultrasound energy can be made to pass harmlessly through the skin, allowing the focal point to target deeper tissues, such as the fat or muscle layers, where protein around the focal point will reach over 65°C and be denatured almost instantly.
3. By targeting highly focused ultrasound energy in different depths within dermal and subdermal tissues, HIFU causes discrete thermal coagulation points while sparing adjacent non target tissues.
4. The tightening of different depths allows to stiffen different saggy tissues, from saggy ligaments, to pendulous fat areas, all the way up to skin laxity and wrinkles.

The main advantage of HIFU treatment is that it is ‘colour-blind’ and can tighten tissues at predetermined and specific depths. This is true regardless of your skin type or colour. Even though HIFU aesthetic treatments have a mild immediate effect, the long term results are visibly noticeable when used appropriately.

Compare this to radiofrequency skin tightening, which is very dependent on each individual’s skin’s ability to conduct electricity (skin impedance). Skin impedance varies from person to person.

Depending on the type of laser used, laser skin tightening could be dependent on the skin type or the fitzpatrick skin colour of the individual.

• Eye Wrinkles: Reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles around the eyes
• Droopy Brows: Lift and rejuvenate the brows to create a more alert and ‘awake’ appearance
• Lower Face:  Lift and tighten jowls and define the jawline.  Reduce the appearance of lines around the mouth
• Neck and Décolletage: Treat wrinkles on the neck, including a turkey neck, and upper chest
• Sagging Abdominal Skin: Address skin laxity following weight loss or pregnancy
  Arms and Thighs: Reduce skin laxity on the undersides of the arms or the inner thighs
• Knees: Improve lax skin and wrinkles around the knee

We  talked about how HIFU works regardless of skin colour. There are of course still some limitations on who can use HIFU.

While it is usually suitable for almost everyone with facial sagging, it is less suitable for those with:

In these cases, fillers or other collagen stimulators will be more beneficial. The example below is not an ideal candidate, and better suited to alternative treatment.

Too much facial sagging or individuals with extremely damaged skin. HIFU encourages your skin layers to repair itself and this process is too slow or insufficient to make much of a difference. The below patient is not an ideal candidate is better suited to a surgical facelift. 

It is very important to get an experienced and detailed clinical consult to determine your problem and the various treatment options. A clinic that has various treatment options is more likely to give you an unbiased opinion of how HIFU can work for you. Therefore, you have to make sure:

• You find a clinic who is patient and knowledgeable in explaining the various options and who knows how to say NO to you when it’s unsafe or unnecessary.
• To look for someone experienced with many patients under their belt and with credible before and after case studies to show you.
• Be open to other treatment options, if they are necessary, to manage your concerns. If you have a headache and a cough, cough medicine will not be useful for your headache. Similarly, you may have other aesthetic issues that HIFU is not suitable for, so be open to different treatment options if you’re looking for a reliable aesthetic solution!

The cost of treatment in Sydney depends on three factors

• Brand (Certain brands charges more than 10x the price of consumables from other branded HIFU treatments – this cost is passed on to consumers).
• Treatment time (Larger areas require more time and are more expensive).
• Expertise and experience (this is why are a dedicated network of clinic specialising in certain treatments and backed by a medical team).

HIFU for smaller areas can start from less than $300 (usually what you see on advertising promos), vary for larger areas.

Take note that many other treatments offer a different dimension for non-invasive face lifting with new exciting options such as:

• Biostimulators: Injectable collagen stimulators are also a frequent complement with HIFU treatments (since HIFU treatments cannot replace lost volume) – studies have shown that these injectables are especially synergistic with HIFU since they target different aspects of a face lift treatment, so be open to injectables if you want optimal results! They’re not a must, but they can be very helpful in some cases.
• APTOS Threads: APTOS threads specifically are designed to lift and tighten the skin – they are different to PDO threads (do not provide lift) and must not be confused.  They help to reposition the sagging tissue and are a more invasive way to lifting and tightening the skin.  HIFU is often used post a thread lift to maintain and improve results. 
• Dermal Fillers: Help to restore volume loss and rejuvenate the skin.  They are often used in conjunction with other treatments like HIFU for an overall aesthetic treatment plan.

If you are still unsure of which treatments to choose, I would suggest you consult your trusted practitioner.

There are multiple methods for facelifting, both surgical and non-surgical. HIFU remains an extremely useful weapon in non-surgical facelifts, is well tested, and remains a serious alternative despite rapid medical advancements.

There’s no need to travel far for treatment. We have medical grade HIFU available at all body sculpting clinic locations. To learn more about this procedure and to help you make an informed decision book a complimentary consultation with one of our specialists today.