Non-invasive Butt Lift with Ulthera

Ulthera is an alternative choice for patients desiring a non-surgical buttock augmentation. This non-invasive butt lift technique promotes natural lifting as well as a tightening of the skin beneath the surface. The treatment uses ultrasound waves in order to target the deepest layers of the skin and to stimulate collagen growth.

Ultherapy is micro-focused ultrasound that basically takes two ultrasound waves and focuses them to create a controlled injury of 65° Celsius. It is usually an injury of about a millimeter. When an injury is created in places that have collagen (whether it is muscle or the envelopes muscle which is called fascia or the dermis that is comprised with collagen), the technology is able to regenerate or stimulate collagen production. Doctors are trying to trick the body to create more collagen.

The very deep layers of the skin that are treated and targeted are the same areas tightened during an invasive surgical butt lift. The buttocks can be treated using Ulthera to make a look that is firm and toned.

When women go into menopause, the decrease in estrogen and parathyroid (a hormone) will decrease the turnover of collagen as well. The age related and hormonal changes that affect this turnover cause laxity at the level of the skin. There are lasers that will stimulate and do it superficially but laxity is more than just skin deep sometimes. To truly lift, there needs to be something that goes deeper than just the skin.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

An ideal candidate for a non-invasive butt enhancement with Ulthera is someone who is within their ideal body weight. No matter how fit a person is and no matter how in shape they seem to be, they still have ptosis. Ptosis is a drop of the buttocks and it happens due to more than just muscle atrophy. It is a decrease in collagen.

ULTHERA VS SCULPTRA 

Sculptra volumizes so it is a little different than using Ulthera. Both of them work on the premise of stimulating collagen but the doctor is injecting something with Sculptra. Ulthera is applied externally like an ultrasound device on a pregnant woman. It allows a doctor to visualize the tissue that they are treating and ensure that they are treating fascia.

Ulthera is the only device that has really had a published trial and an ongoing trial to examine the effects of an energy-based device for butt lift. There is no other device that has done such a large trial to examine those effects.

LIMITATIONS 

The main limitation is it is not going to give a patient a surgical result. There is a size limit for how much can be treated. Doctors cannot go too deep with the transducers available. Hopefully when transducers are able to go deeper, doctors will be able to treat the larger buttock as well.

ADVANTAGES

The advantage here is the results are without scars and there is no downtime after the procedure. A surgical butt lift involves having to cut the patient and the scar looks like a belt across the body. Noninvasive butt lift with Ulthera is a scar-less procedure that takes an hour and a half. The patient can resume their daily activities.

COMPLICATIONS 

There can be some mild swelling but it is usually nothing that interferes with the person’s lifestyle.

RESULTS 

The results require collagen to be stimulated and the results can be seen as early as three months later. The maximum results generally appear after six months. Patients normally come back anywhere between a year to two years for a touch-up procedure. The results generally last for a year.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The use of Ulthera allows a patient to have the skin around their buttocks lifted without having to undergo an invasive surgical procedure. By stimulating the production of collagen, doctors can promote natural lifting and tightening of the skin. Patients should consult with a doctor experienced in using Ulthera for non-invasive butt lifts before undergoing any procedures.

Written by Cosmetic Town Editorial Team- MA

Based on an exclusive interview with Sabrina Fabi, MD in San Diego, CA