Ultherapy Aftercare —
Gentle Days, Patient Months

Redness and slight swelling are expected and usually settle within hours. How the treatment is planned is on the Ultherapy treatment page.

Do

• Wash with lukewarm water and a gentle cleanser, without scrubbing, then use a plain moisturiser and sunscreen.
• Ease any swelling with a cool compress, ten minutes at a time.
• Take paracetamol if you need something for tenderness; it is usually enough.
• Carry on with your ordinary day.

Avoid

• Anti-inflammatory painkillers, if you bruise easily, until the clinic has agreed them.
• Rubbing the treated areas.
• Alcohol.
• Saunas, steam rooms and hot yoga.

Tenderness along the jawline and cheeks, often noticed when you chew, yawn or touch the area, is the main thing you will feel. It can last several days, and occasionally longer, easing gradually.

• For a night or two, an extra pillow under your head helps if the face feels puffy.
• Choose softer food over hard chewing on a sore side, and avoid pressing on tender points.
• Leave heat-based facials, and any energy device over the treated areas, for the first few days.
• You may see a small bruise or raised lines where the rows were placed, or feel tingling or a numb patch near the jaw; these fade over days to weeks.

Unsure whether a mark is expected? Send a photograph to the clinic on WhatsApp and ask.

Sunscreen goes on from the first day, alongside a gentle cleanser and a plain moisturiser. Retinoids and exfoliating acids can usually return after two or three days, or once the redness has settled.

Keep up daily sun protection through the following months while the collagen response develops.

Exercise. Light exercise is usually fine on the same day or the next, as far as is comfortable. Hot yoga, saunas and steam rooms wait a few days.

Make-up. Usually fine from the next day, unless the skin is still marked or tender.

Flights. Most people can fly the next day.

Combined plans. If your plan pairs Ultherapy with another treatment, it sets the order and the gap between them; book nothing outside it.

The months after. The collagen response builds over 8–12 weeks and is assessed at about three months, with improvement developing over three to six months.