I Got Ultherapy Instead of a Face-lift

For most of my life, I have been pretty happy with my looks. I’m six-foot-two, so I’m used to getting noticed. My mother always said there’s nothing worse than a tall girl who slouches, so I never did. I’m athletic and have good posture and a pretty face. It wasn’t until my 40s that things changed. When I was 47, I found out my daughter was getting married. And as I thought about the wedding and all those people looking at me, I realized I wasn’t happy with how I looked or how I felt.

I had put on weight over the course of the past ten years, but I figured as long as my face looked good, I would feel better about myself. I work in school administration and live on Long Island in a community where the women are no strangers to getting work done. So I asked everybody on Facebook what they were doing and decided to get Botox a few months before the wedding.

I liked how it smoothed my lines, but I still didn’t feel like myself. I had been having some medical issues, and the weight really bothered me. My general practitioner said that’s what happens after 40, but I’m active and eat healthy. I was convinced it had to be something medical. So, in the lead-up to the wedding, I went to a new doctor. They examined me, noticed I had swollen lymph nodes, and decided to do some tests. Turns out I had a rare complication from having gotten breast implants years ago. There had been a micro-leakage, and a small amount of silicone had built up in my thyroid. They recommended I have the implants and half of my thyroid removed as soon as possible. In the summer of 2023, right after my daughter’s wedding, I had the surgery and started taking thyroid medication. I felt better almost immediately, and over the course of the following year, the weight came off, slowly but surely.

During that year, I got Botox a few times from Jennifer Levine, M.D., a plastic surgeon in the city. When I went in for the Botox, we would talk about my face, and I realized after I lost the weight that the lower half of my face did not look the same. My neck and jawline looked saggier. I knew about face-lifts and that a good one can cost up to $70,000. Plus, face-lifts are invasive, and I didn’t want to take time off to recuperate. It felt so extreme to be in my 40s and have a face-lift. Dr. Levine and I discussed all of that and she understood, so she suggested I try Ultherapy.

Ultherapy is a nonsurgical tightening treatment that uses ultrasound energy to boost collagen and tighten the skin. Dr. Levine said results can really vary. But she knew about my medical issues and weight loss, and she thought I was a good candidate, so I decided to go ahead with it. It got it done in May 2024 — with the new Ultherapy Prime device — and the procedure cost about $6,800.

I was at Dr. Levine’s office for two hours. First, I underwent a numbing procedure, and I also had nitrous oxide, so I was awake but zoned out. I’m an athlete, and I went into that mind-set of no pain, no gain; I’m just going to get through this. The actual procedure took about 45 minutes, and every time the machine fired, it felt sort of like a rubber band snapping. Dr. Levine explained that she was constantly adjusting the energy levels to customize the tightening effect based on the different areas of my face. Afterward, I was surprised that I felt completely fine. I even stopped at Starbucks on the way home for a caramel macchiato. My skin was a bit red, like a light sunburn, but I went to the office the next day and nobody said anything.

Dr. Levine had said I wouldn’t see results for about three months, but a few weeks later, I was doing my makeup and thought, Something is going on. You know how you don’t always look your best in the morning? Well, I would wake up and go to wash my face and be surprised that I looked so refreshed. The texture of my skin seemed smoother. At first, I thought it was in my head and that I was seeing things. But then it kept improving, and I realized my neck didn’t seem to be pulling down my face as much. By then, I was off work for the summer. But four months later, when I went back to work for the school year, people were like, “What did you do? You are aging backwards!” I was open about it. I said, “Go see Dr. Levine. She’s amazing.”
At that point, I knew I was happy with how I looked, but it wasn’t until the six-month mark that I realized how different I felt — how much happier and more confident I was. I was at the doctor’s office, and they showed me the photos of what I looked like before and six months after the Ultherapy, and I didn’t even recognize the person in the “before” photo. That was not me. But I looked at the other photo, and I was like, It’s me! I’m back. Ultherapy returned me to the version of myself that I feel good about and that I recognize. I’m sure the weight loss was part of that as well, but by the time I got the Ultherapy, I had already lost about 50 pounds. So that’s not the difference in the photos. The difference is in my skin quality and a kind of lightness — I don’t look as dragged down. It made me realize that it is possible to feel like yourself again, to transform back to who you were when you were a bit younger.

I turn 50 this month, and it’s been about a year since the Ultherapy. I’m still so happy with how I look. Dr. Levine suggests getting the procedure every year or so for the best results, so I’ll probably do it again in the future. It’s not cheap, but getting it done with Dr. Levine is worth it. I say she’s my fountain of youth. I’m not just paying for the treatment. I’m paying for a relationship with a doctor who I really trust, who is so professional and who made me feel part of this whole journey back to myself.