Non-surgical lifting
Ultherapy
Focused ultrasound that reaches the same tissue layer a surgeon addresses in a facelift, without an incision. One appointment, no downtime.
- Minutes
- 60–90
- Session
- 1
- Downtime
- None
What it does
Ultherapy delivers focused ultrasound to the SMAS — the sheet of connective tissue and muscle that a surgeon lifts and stitches during a facelift. Heat delivered at that depth causes small, controlled points of injury, and the body answers them by laying down new collagen over the following months. That is why the change appears gradually rather than on the day: you are waiting on your own tissue, not on swelling going down.
The applicator carries an ultrasound imaging window, so the practitioner sees the layers under the probe — skin, fat, SMAS, and the bone beneath — and places each line of energy against that picture. Devices without imaging set depth by assumption. On a thin temple or over the jawline, where the distance between the surface and the nerve is a few millimetres, that assumption is the difference between treating the right plane and treating the wrong one. The device with the imaging window is the one we use at our North Vancouver clinic, and the assessment before it decides whether ultrasound is the right answer for your face at all.
Reaches the surgical plane
The SMAS layer, without an incision or anaesthetic.
You see the tissue
Ultrasound imaging during treatment, not guesswork about depth.
Nothing to recover from
Most people return to work the same afternoon.
Skin tone does not change the settings
Ultrasound is not absorbed by pigment the way light is, so it is not a device that has to be dialled back for darker skin.
Usually a good fit
- Mild to moderate laxity along the jawline, brow or neck
- Skin that still has reasonable elasticity
- You would rather not have surgery, or are not ready for it
- You can wait two to three months to judge the result
- You are in your late thirties to sixties, which is where the tissue still answers well
- You want the jaw or neck addressed rather than the mid-face alone
Usually not
- Significant loose skin — a surgical consultation is the honest answer
- Open wounds or active infection in the treatment area
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
- You need to look different by next week
- Very thin skin with little underlying fat — there may not be enough to work with
- A metal implant, pacemaker or defibrillator in the treatment field
- Severe cystic acne in the area being treated
Before
- Come with clean skin and no makeup if you can
- Tell us about any recent fillers, threads or neuromodulator in the area
- Eat beforehand — the treatment is easier on a full stomach
- Take nothing that thins the blood in the days before unless a doctor has prescribed it
- Book it at least two weeks clear of any event — the settling is mild but it is not nothing
On the day
- 01MappingWe mark the treatment areas and set depths using the ultrasound image.
- 02TreatmentThe applicator delivers energy in lines across the area. You feel heat in short bursts.
- 03FinishSkin may look slightly flushed. You leave without a dressing.
- 04PhotographsStandardised photographs before you leave, so the review in three months compares like with like rather than memory.
After
- Mild tenderness or swelling for a few days is normal
- Sunscreen, as always
- Changes build over 2–3 months; we photograph at your review so you can compare
- Normal skincare and makeup the same day — there is no barrier to protect
- Tenderness to touch along the jaw can last two to three weeks and is not a sign anything is wrong
- A review at three months, which is the earliest point the result is worth judging
$2,800 – $3,200
per area
The range reflects how much area is treated and how many lines of energy it takes to cover it — a jawline alone sits at the lower end, full face and neck at the upper. It is priced per treatment, not per session of a course, because this is usually one appointment rather than a series. You will have an exact quote before anything begins.
What can go wrong
Ultherapy is non-invasive. Non-invasive does not mean without risk. Most of what follows settles on its own; the last two are uncommon and are the reason this is done by someone who can see the tissue layer they are treating.
- Tenderness, mild swelling and a bruised feeling for a few days to a couple of weeks
- Redness or slight welting along the treated lines, usually gone within hours
- Numbness or tingling in the treated area for days to weeks
- Temporary weakness of a facial muscle or an asymmetric smile, if energy reaches a nerve. Uncommon, and it resolves — but it is weeks, not hours
- Loss of fat in the treated plane, producing hollowing rather than lifting. This is why an assessment decides whether you have enough support to treat at all, and why we decline people who do not
Questions we get
Does it hurt?
There is heat, and it is sharper over bone along the jaw and brow. It lasts seconds at a time and most people manage without medication. Tell your practitioner if it is too much — the settings can be adjusted.
When will I see something?
A little tightening early on, then gradual change over two to three months as new collagen forms. It is not an overnight treatment.
How long does it last?
Typically around a year, though this varies with age, skin quality and sun exposure. Your skin continues to age; the treatment does not stop that.
Is this instead of a facelift?
No. It treats the same layer but does not remove skin. If you have significant laxity, a surgical consultation is the more honest conversation, and we will say so.
Can I combine it with injectables?
Often yes, with a sensible interval. Bring what you have had recently to your consultation so timing can be planned.
How many treatments will I need?
Usually one, then a review at three months. Some people have a second treatment at that point if the assessment shows there is more to gain; many do not. Anyone who tells you the number before seeing your tissue is guessing.
Does it work on darker skin?
Yes, and the settings are the same. Ultrasound is not absorbed by pigment the way light-based energy is, so the risk of burns or pigment change that comes with some laser treatments does not apply here in the same way.
I have filler already. Does that matter?
Tell us what you have had and when. Heat at that depth can affect some products, and existing filler also changes what the imaging shows. It is usually a question of sequence and interval rather than a reason not to treat — but it needs to be known before, not discovered during.
What if I do not see a change?
Bring it to the three-month review with the before photographs. Response varies with age, skin quality and how much laxity was there to begin with, and some people get little from it. We would rather say that at the review than have you book a second one on hope.
Is there really no downtime?
There is no barrier to protect afterwards, so normal skincare and makeup go back on the same day and no time is taken off. What is ordinary afterwards is mild tenderness or swelling for a few days, and tenderness to touch along the jaw that can last two to three weeks — that is the treated tissue, not a sign anything is wrong. The change itself builds over two to three months.
Book an assessment
Book onlineWho does this
Assessments and treatments at the Lonsdale Avenue clinic in North Vancouver are carried out by MMC’s own clinicians. Who they are, what they trained in and which treatments each of them does is on the team page.
Other treatments here
Everything listed here is offered at the Lonsdale Avenue address in North Vancouver. Names, durations and prices come from the clinic’s live schedule rather than from this page, so what you see is what is bookable today.
- Dermal Filler
- HarmonyCa
- IV TherapyConsultation first
- Injectable Consultation
- Neuromodulator Treatment
- Skin Booster
- Thermage
Other places people start
These are sorted by what is bothering you rather than by treatment name. Each page says what actually helps, what does not, and when the honest answer is that nothing here is needed.
- Loose Skin After Weight LossLosing the weight is the hard part and you have done it. What is left is usually a skin problem rather than a fat problem, and those have completely different answers.
- Fatigue & Low EnergyThis is the concern where we are least likely to sell you anything, and we would rather say that at the top of the page than at the end of a consultation.
- Dullness & Uneven ToneDullness and dehydration are a texture problem, not a shape problem. That distinction decides which half of the menu is even relevant.
- Volume Loss & HollowsVolume loss is the change people describe as looking tired or gaunt without being able to name a line. It is also the one where over-treatment is most visible from across a room.
- Forehead & Frown LinesForehead and frown lines are muscle before they are skin. The question that decides your result is not the dose — it is whether the line is still only there when you move.
- Hooded Upper LidsThe line where this stops being an injectable question and becomes a surgical one is unusually clear, and you are entitled to be told which side of it you are on.
- Jawline & Contour LossThe most common reason people book here, and the one where the honest answer changes most with age. In your forties a device usually does it. In your sixties it usually does not.
- Nasolabial FoldsNasolabial folds are usually a symptom. Filling the fold itself is the most common way to end up looking heavy in the lower face.
- Stubborn Body FatA pocket that stays the same size while the rest of you changes. Usually the flanks, the lower abdomen, or under the chin. The useful question is not which machine to use — it is whether what you are looking at is fat at all.
- Under-Eye Hollows & ShadowsThe most common request here, and the one where the answer is most often no. Under-eye shadow has at least four causes and filler helps exactly one of them.