Thermage Versus Ultherapy: What is the difference?

When patients search for leading non-surgical treatments to tighten and lift the skin, two notable procedures often crop up on people’s beauty radar: CPT and Ultherapy®. Both treatments deliver skin tightening and skin lifting benefits without the need for invasive surgery or downtime.

However, on closer inspection, there is a range of significant differences between the two. These range from which areas they treat, to which technologies they use to enhance sagging, aged or wrinkled skin. In this article, we explore these similarities and differences to help you decide which one to pick when it comes to Thermage versus Ultherapy. Here is our detailed comparison:

Skin Lifting and Tightening with Thermage and Ultherapy

Thermage and Ultherapy are two leading non-surgical technologies. As two of the world’s , they give patients the ability to lift and tighten across the body while smoothing the skin’s texture and strength, without the need for any injections, surgery or scalpels. This means zero or recovery. The treatments have also both received an official seal of approval from the FDA for their clinically proven results.

Benefits of Thermage and Ultherapy

Both treatments are one of the most popular anti-ageing procedures. Traditionally, a surgical facelift was the go-to solution. But thanks to smart innovations in skincare technology, Ultherapy and Thermage can tackle the symptoms of ageing head-on, without the arduous recovery time of plastic surgery.

As we age, our skin gradually loses its ability to reproduce collagen and elastin proteins. These two essential structural proteins are crucial components that connect our inner skin tissues. They help to keep them taut, hydrated and firm. But after the age of 20, we lose elastin and collagen at a rate of 1% per year. This means that by the time we hit our 30s and 40s, our skin is on a downward natural path towards , looseness, sagging.

Thankfully, these procedures stimulate the production of collagen and elastin over time to give us tighter and firmer skin that is remodelled. Their dual benefits are outlined below:

Thermage Vs Ultherapy: What do they do?

While the two treatments stimulate the natural reproduction of collagen to tighten and lift the skin, they do so using different technologies. Both technologies use heat energy as a way to encourage our skin cells to and remodel. Whereas Ultherapy utilises ultrasound heat to stimulate collagen renewal deep within the skin, Thermage uses radiofrequency energy to kickstart production in skin layers. The primary goal of each technique is slightly different, but collagen renewal is their simultaneous raison d’etre.

Thermage tightens and the skin using radiofrequency (RF) energy. It has become a firm favourite with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow thanks to its ability to create flawlessly understated results that refresh, lift and tighten the skin. The radiofrequency heat that Thermage delivers works to three-dimensionally contract existing collagen proteins. At the very same time, it stimulates new ones to form. This collagen rejuvenation process makes Thermage a game-changing treatment when it comes to lifting the structure of sagging skin across the body, while also enhancing the visual texture and appearance of wrinkled and crepey skin. It can even smooth out the appearance of cellulite!

Ultherapy uses ultrasound technology to strengthen and lift the skin from deep inside. It utilises micro-focused ultrasound with visualisation (MFU-V) energy to reach the same depths that plastic surgeons can reach when they perform a surgical . This has made Ultherapy the go-to treatment for patients who require a without any side effects or downtime. By heating deep skin tissues with ultrasound, the skin responds by reproducing fresh collagen stores over time. This helps patients to achieve tighter skin that withstands the downward effects of gravity while keeping the skin toned, firm and youthful. Use it across the face, neck and decolletage to revitalise and uplift the skin.

Thermage Vs Ultherapy: How do they work?

and ultrasound energies work in slightly ways to reboot and encourage collagen production in our skin.

Using a highly laser, Thermage uses a smooth-tip handpiece to instantly heat up the dermis layer of the skin to degrees Celsius. This stimulating heat energy contracts proteins in a three-dimensional way within the collagen-rich dermis layer of the skin. This heat energy refreshes the skin in the same way as a deep , but without damaging the outer epidermis. The RF heat energy also accelerates the regeneration of damaged skin cells, which is why Thermage is so effective at revitalising and smoothing crepey