Thermage vs Ultherapy

Thermage or Ultherapy

Thermage or Ultherapy: which suits sagging skin?

The short answer

They heat different layers. Thermage FLX is a monopolar radiofrequency device that warms a volume of dermis under a cooled surface, contracting collagen and prompting new collagen to form; Rewind records firmer skin, lifting, softer fine lines and better texture among its effects. Ultherapy Prime focuses ultrasound on the deep fascial layer after imaging the tissue on screen, and Rewind records wrinkle improvement, firmness and a cleaner facial line. Laxity sitting mainly in the skin leans toward Thermage; laxity in the deeper supporting layer, along the jaw and neck, leans toward Ultherapy. Some faces need both, and some need neither.

Sources: Rewind's Korean device documentation and published price list. Both devices are held at Rewind Plastic Surgery in Apgujeong, so this compares two options on the same menu.

Asking which device is stronger tends to lead nowhere, because the two are aimed at different depths. The question that settles most plans is where the looseness sits. Skin that has thinned and crinkled responds to heat in the dermis. A jaw line that has softened because the layer beneath the skin has slackened responds to energy placed deeper.

This page covers the comparison alone. Each device has a page of its own: Thermage FLX and Ultherapy Prime.

Mechanism

How Thermage and Ultherapy heat different layers

Both devices work with heat, and both leave the surface closed. They part company over how the heat is made and where it gathers.

01Radiofrequency

Thermage heats a volume

Current flows from the tip toward a return pad, and the tissue's resistance turns it into heat spread through the dermis. Cooling at the surface lets the dermis warm while the outer skin stays intact.

02Ultrasound

Ultherapy heats points

Ultrasound is focused the way a lens focuses light, bringing small points in the deep fascial layer to coagulation temperature while the tissue above lets the energy pass.

03Imaging

Seeing the layers first

Ultherapy Prime shows the layers on screen before a line is delivered, so depth can be matched to the tissue in front of the transducer. Thermage FLX works without an imaging step; its heat follows the dermis beneath the tip.

04Evidence

What the head-to-head work shows

A 2015 histometric study compared the thermal changes each energy leaves in skin, and a 2019 randomized split-face trial treated one side of each face with each device. Both describe two energies working in different ways, so the choice follows the face.

Pricing

Thermage FLX and Ultherapy Prime prices at Rewind

The two devices are sold on different units, shots for one and lines for the other, so compare the plan you would actually have.

The three figures leave out value-added tax but already cover any anaesthetic used. Rewind publishes no combined Thermage and Ultherapy line, so a plan using both is priced from the separate lines after the examination.

After treatment

Aftercare after Thermage compared with Ultherapy

Rewind hands out a separate instruction sheet for each device. The Thermage sheet runs for a week; the Ultherapy sheet concentrates on the first days.

The reported risks differ with the energy. Monopolar radiofrequency has been associated with burns and blistering, prolonged redness, altered sensation and, uncommonly, fat loss under the skin. Focused ultrasound has been associated with redness, swelling, bruising, tenderness and numbness, and less often with nerve irritation, as a 2017 case series and review describes. Declare earlier filler, threads or energy treatments in the area.

Questions

Thermage vs Ultherapy: questions to settle before choosing