How Ultherapy Stimulates Collagen Production
Durable results last one year or more
Ultherapy is the only nonsurgical skin lifting technology that treats the same deep tissue planes as a modern facelift. Microfocused ultrasound precisely targets dermal and subcutaneous tissues to create thermal coagulation points (TCPs), heating tissues to the optimal temperature for collagen contraction and denaturation. Neocollagenesis commences immediately, and proceeds through three phases that can produce visible results for a year or longer.1-9
Phases of neocollagenesis
Phase 1: Inflammation
Activated upon InjuryApplication of Microfocused ultrasound energy creates TCPs, which denature collagen and initiate an inflammatory response. Macrophages engulf and digest injured tissue and release cytokines, which attract fibroblasts.8,10
Phase 2: Proliferation
Typically starts within hours; can last for several weeksFibroblasts synthesize new collagen, mainly Type III, and other mediators important to rebuilding of the collagen matrix. Histological analysis of facial skin treated with Ultherapy shows a significant increase in collagen and elastin.8,11
Phase 3: Maturation & Remodeling
Typically starts at 3 weeks post-injury; may last up to 1 yearType III collagen is replaced by Type I, forming tight cross-links with itself and other proteins. This gradual collagen remodeling process is essential to the skin tightening and lifting provided by Ultherapy.8
Ultherapy increases collagen synthesis by 42%.10
Data from a unique Ultherapy study, in which patients received Ultherapy treatment on only one side of the face, demonstrated an average 1.4 times increase in the rate of collagen production in the treated side vs. untreated. The rate of production for collagen Types I and III—those types most closely associated with the effects of aging—increased 42% in the side treated with Ultherapy.12
