HIFU

Time and gravity take their toll on facial structure. Together, they turn a firm, smooth and supple face into one starting to show lines, folds and sag.

Intrinsic ageing occurs deep down, with structural rearrangements reshaping the features. Here’s how it unravels. Facial fat gets redistributed, muscles weaken and collagen loses elasticity. As collagen fibres slacken, they lose their capacity to support skin. Yielding to gravity, skin gradually sags downwards, altering the contours of the face, chin and neck.

Skin lifting becomes a key goal for age control treatment and non-surgical techniques, are the preferred choice. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is an emerging technology which holds great promise in various fields of medicine. As far as dermatology goes, it has proved to deliver remarkable results in skin-lifting applications – chin lifts, brow lifts and jawline redefinition. Unlike conventionally used laser-based techniques, it is effective on darker skin as well.

How it works

The core principle is to turn back the collagen clock so that skin can regain the internal support it needs to stay fit, firm and youthful.

HIFU restores and rejuvenates the collagen-producing capacity of the skin, repairs the existing collagen and revs up blood circulation, making the skin smooth, supple and radiant.

What makes it an invaluable non-surgical facelift technique is the power it gives the dermatologist  to target the deep foundational layer of skin (SMAS or superficial musculo-aponeurotic system) where the repair must be carried out. The process works through 3 key phenomena.

Ultrasound delivers deep-focused energy

High intensity ultrasound energy is focused on the treatment area through a hand-held device which emits high energy to the focal area and low energy in the surrounding regions. Ultrasound generates heat only in the spots where the energy is sharply focussed, getting straight to the deep layers of the skin causing no harm along the way – that is, without affecting the epidermis and dermis.

Micro-injury provokes collagen generation

The ultrasound energy causes vibrations amongst the tissue particles in the target area, generating thermal energy that causes micro injury to the tissues. Thousands of such tiny micro-injury points are created at multiple depths stimulating a triple-layer benefit – the SMAS, sub-dermal and deep-dermal levels.

Reorganised collagen tightens and lifts skin

Then, the body’s natural healing processes step in to heal the micro-injuries and consequently create a selective thermal coagulative zone. This stimulates collagen production, and as these new collagen fibres organise and shorten they tighten the skin, reverse sagging and creating a long-term lifting effect.