Ultrasonic skincare treatments—often referred to as the “new sonic beauty boom”—utilize the same sound wave technology as medical ultrasounds to deeply penetrate the skin and improve the appearance of sagging skin.
Adding ultrasonic treatments to your list of esthetics services is a great way to provide your clients with a trendy—and quite effective—method of improving their skin, muscle tone and complexion.
What are Ultrasonic Skincare Treatments?
An ultrasonic facial involves the use of non-invasive, high-level, sound wave technology to:
- Combat puffiness and swelling
- Encourage lymphatic drainage
- Improve skincare product penetration
- Increase blood circulation
- Promote cellular renewal and repair
- Tone muscles
The ultrasound energy travels below the surface of the skin to stimulate the creation of new collagen. Over time, ultrasonic treatments help lift and tone the skin, improving its firmness and elasticity. In an esthetics setting, ultrasonic skin treatments are used on the brow, the neck, and around the eyes.
Benefits of Ultrasonic Skincare Therapy
Unlike other treatments (microdermabrasion, lasers, etc.) that target the outer layers of the skin, ultrasonic skin treatments are able to deliver collagen-stimulating energy to the dermis layer of the skin in a non-invasive, painless fashion. There is no cutting, no stitches, no wounds, and no downtime.
Your clients with mild to moderate facial and neck skin sagging are good candidates for ultrasonic therapy treatments. You may also perform this procedure on your younger clients who want to use it as a preventive treatment.
How to Perform Ultrasonic Skincare Treatments
The ultrasonic skincare treatment machine is similar to a medical ultrasound machine, as it consists wand that is passed over the skin. The treatment process includes the following steps:
- Gently cleanse your client’s skin and pat dry.
- Apply the conductive ultrasound gel onto the skin.
- Adjust the treatment frequency rate based on the area to be treated. The ultrasound waves are measured in MHz, with different areas of the face and body requiring different treatment depths. In general, the lower the frequency rate setting, the deeper the sound waves will penetrate the skin. Therefore, general frequency rate settings include:
- Body: 1MHz
- Face (cheeks, forehead, chin): 3 MHz
- Delicate eye area: 5 MHz
- Pace the wand slowly over the area to be treated, allowing the wand to massage the skin and simulate the dermis.
What Patients Can Expect
Most patients will experience slight sensations as the ultrasonic energy is being delivered to the skin, although most patients will feel little to no discomfort.
After the treatment, clients may experience mild, temporary swelling, tingling, or redness for a few days.
Clients may see immediate effects from the treatment, although much of the toning and tightening effects will occur over a period of two to three months and several (2-3) procedures. Results often last up to a year.
Advanced Esthetician Training in Ultrasonic Skincare Therapy
If you want to add ultrasonic skincare treatments to your list of esthetician services, it is important to complete adequate training in the use of ultrasonic machines, the effects of ultrasound on the skin, and contraindications.
You will find that distributors of ultrasonic machines often provide on-site training in the use of these machines. Currently, Ultherapy is the only FDA-approved ultrasonic device for lifting and tightening the skin and improving lines and wrinkles.
As with any esthetics therapy, it is always imperative that you contact your state board to determine if you are allowed to legally perform ultrasonic procedures. In states where master estheticians are licensed, such as Washington State and Washington D.C., ultrasonic skin therapy can only be performed by master estheticians.
The use of ultrasonic skin treatments is not clear in most states, so it is important to contact your licensing agency.