Thermage & Ultherapy Skin Tightening

WIDLS offers Thermage radiofrequency and Ultherapy (Ulthera) focused ultrasound skin tightening for patients experiencing facial and body skin laxity and sagging. Both modalities deliver thermal energy into deep skin layers — Thermage via monopolar RF, Ultherapy via focused ultrasound reaching the SMAS layer — to tighten existing collagen and stimulate new collagen formation. Treatments are non-surgical with no downtime, delivered in a single session per cycle, with results building gradually over three to six months. Effective for all skin types. Dr. Nina Hartman leads skin tightening treatments at WIDLS.

Skin tightening at the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery is performed using two complementary energy-based modalities — Thermage CPT radiofrequency and Ultherapy focused ultrasound — each targeting distinct tissue depths and mechanisms for non-surgical facial and body lifting. Thermage CPT uses monopolar radiofrequency energy delivered through a large-surface handpiece fitted with a treatment tip, creating a capacitively coupled radiofrequency field that heats the dermis and subdermal tissue to 65–75°C through resistive heating. At this temperature range, the triple-helix structure of existing collagen fibres contracts immediately — producing a degree of visible tightening within the session — while the thermal stimulus simultaneously activates fibroblasts to synthesise new collagen over the following three to six months. Thermage CPT treats the full face, periorbital area, brow, jawline, neck, and body areas including the abdomen and thighs. The vibration technology built into the Thermage CPT handpiece improves comfort significantly over previous RF generations. Ultherapy (by Merz/Ulthera) delivers focused ultrasound energy at three precise tissue depths: 1.5 mm (superficial dermis), 3.0 mm (deep dermis), and 4.5 mm (SMAS — the superficialis musculoaponeurotic system). Reaching the SMAS layer is the key differentiator of Ultherapy: the SMAS is the fibromuscular tissue layer that surgeons address during a facelift, and tightening it non-surgically produces a more significant lifting vector than superficial skin treatments alone can achieve. Focused ultrasound energy at each depth creates discrete thermal coagulation points (TCP) without heating intervening tissue layers, heating only the precise focal zone. The body's wound-healing response to these thermal points progressively remodels and tightens the collagen architecture in the treated layers over three to six months, with results typically peaking at six months and lasting one to two years. Ultherapy is FDA-cleared for brow lifting, submental (under-chin) tightening, neck laxity, and décolletage lines. Both Thermage and Ultherapy are non-invasive with no downtime — patients may experience mild redness or swelling for a few hours post-treatment. At WIDLS, Dr. Nina Hartman performs skin tightening treatments using real-time ultrasound imaging guidance for Ultherapy to precisely target the correct anatomical planes.