By Dr. TRACY MOUNTFORD, MBBS MBCAM
Ageing isn’t always kind, and while most of us hope to embrace it gracefully, some of us may need a little help to do so. It’s not only the face and neck that shows the signs that the hands of time have been moving, but the chest area too; like your face, your decolletage will at some point experience a loss in elasticity. At The Cosmetic Skin Clinic, we offer Ultherapy in London to help tighten the skin on the chest as well as improve the fine lines and wrinkles, giving you a smoother, fresher rejuvenated chest.
Skin as it ages
Science states that the number one external factor for ageing skin is sunlight. Harmful UV rays from the sun break down the elastin in our skin. This elastin is made up of fibres that keep the structural integrity of the skin together but when they are broken down, they begin to stretch and sag with little chance of bouncing back. Avoiding spending too much time in the sun and consistently using SPF products will significantly protect your skin from the harmful light.
What is happening beneath your skin as you age?
As we get older, the chemicals that keep our bodies together have less output than in our youth. Things like hyaluronic acid, that hold onto water thus plumping up the skin to help keep it smooth and avoid wrinkles, start to decrease, and this is as well as a breakdown of collagen with age. As we get older, the diminishing of such chemicals causes the skin to become thin and sag.
What is Ultherapy
This non-invasive anti-ageing therapy came into being in 2009 and it revolutionised the non-surgical facelift industry; with not a needle or an incision in sight it fast became a preferred method for many people seeking a fresh-faced appearance.
Ultherapy in London and the UK uses High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) to lift, tighten, and tone loose skin. It is also the only therapy to be approved by the FDA for this purpose, assisting with sagging in the face, chin, neck, and decolletage.
Ultherapy goes deep into the skin, up to 4.5mm, thus bypassing superficial skin to get to the layer beneath that is experiencing depletion in vital elements keeping your skin tight. Ultherapy heats pockets of tissue to 60-70 degrees Celsius (this will not burn you) and this has two important effects on the decolletage; immediate tissue contraction – at the same level as experienced in traditional facelifts; and collagen stimulation as the regrowth of collagen can occur only when the skin is heated to these temperatures.
In the months after treatment, you will notice the restoration of fresher looking skin, as the stimulated collagen begins to restore itself, thus filling and plumping any areas that may be sagging. The rejuvenation of the cells that make your skin tight will result in smoother, more lifted skin and kinder contours above the breasts, thanks to Ultherapy in London. Some patients have noted subtle immediate results as well stating that skin feels tighter and more lifted, these results only improve over time as it goes on working and the best part is, you will only need one treatment to see it. With Ultherapy one treatment will last between 12-18 months depending on age and lifestyle factors. We would recommend a maintenance treatment yearly to maintain the effects. Ultherapy can be used as preventative treatment to ageing too.
