Decide
You have decided on Korea: what is left is the clinic and the process
Guides
In general, Ultherapy can make cheeks more hollow. With good treatment design and more careful technique, though, this can be avoided. I work to keep the face from hollowing, so there is little need to worry. If the hollow was already present together with jowls, I treat the hollow lacking volume separately from the sagging area that still has fat. If the hollow appeared only after Ultherapy, do not add more lifting or fat reduction first; gather the treatment date, treated areas and before-and-after photos, and return to the clinic that performed the treatment for an assessment.
ONDA microwave and Ultherapy can be done on the same day at our clinic, with no mandatory order. Both treatments work in part by raising skin temperature. Some additive effect may be expected when they are combined, but whether both are needed still depends on whether facial fullness and sagging are present together.
If your skin is dry, even one Rejuran session can show improvement relatively soon. Fine lines, elasticity and pores cannot be judged by the same answer, and the small injection-site bumps or swelling immediately afterward are not results.
To reduce the risk of problems at an aesthetic clinic in Korea, confirm in writing before payment who will perform the treatment, the treatment or product, specification and area, total cost, main risks and follow-up contact. If the practitioner, treatment or price changes on site, pause and get a new explanation and written details before deciding.
An Aptos thread lift is often expected to last about 1–2 years, but it does not suddenly stop working on a set date, and not everyone gets the full two years. You can see the tissue lifted immediately after treatment, and the contour usually looks more natural after about 1–2 weeks. The result then fades gradually based on your original degree of laxity, the weight of your facial fat, and ongoing aging. When the threads are absorbed, how much visible lift remains, and when treatment is worth repeating are three different questions.
To compare thread lift costs in Korea, first align the thread product, thread count, pricing unit and total including VAT. Our clinic lists Aptos separately from absorbable threads. Listed prices exclude VAT, and 10% is added at payment; anesthesia, sedation, after-treatment medication or accompanying injections count toward the total only when they are written into the quote.
Show allShow less
An assembly-line clinic is not an official category in Korea. The term usually describes a fast process in which booking, consultation, payment and treatment are handled by different people. Division of work is not inherently bad. What matters is who assesses your suitability, when the total cost is confirmed and who performs the treatment.
First mark the most important photo day of the trip, then decide whether you want a chance to be checked again before you fly home. If photos come first, you can book the treatment close to your departure day. If you don't mind temporary redness, needle marks or swelling, I usually suggest allowing 2–3 days before you leave Korea, so you can be seen again if needed.
In general, fat reduction with ONDA can leave the cheeks hollow. With good treatment design and more careful technique, though, this can be avoided, and I work to keep the face from hollowing, so there is little need to worry. One key to avoiding it is not treating the whole face as one zone. The area under the cheekbones is one of the places where hollowing tends to show earlier. If there is not much fat there, I avoid reducing it too much and focus on the jowls and double chin. I treat it actively only when there really is a lot of fat under the cheekbones.
For an ONDA double chin in Korea, look first at the amount and distribution of fat. With a moderate amount of fat and skin laxity, ONDA works well and can be done alone. With too much fat, ONDA alone loses effect, so I add fat-dissolving injections. When the rest of the face has little fat and the fullness is concentrated only in the double chin, InMode can focus the treatment on the chin, so I lean toward InMode.
One ONDA session can be enough; if there is more fat, I recommend repeating it up to 3 times. If you are already traveling to Korea, one ONDA session can fit into the trip. If you would fly in only for this treatment, I think that is too much to build a trip around. You can return to daily activities immediately afterward, but that only describes recovery. It does not mean that photos taken that day show the final contour.
For the whole face, I recommend 4 cc or more; 2 cc is the amount for focusing on the area you care about most. One syringe of Healer or HB is 2 cc, and the larger the area, the less 2 cc can go around.
With one RF microneedling session, you can expect your skin texture, firmness and tone to move in a better direction overall, and I think Virtue RF microneedling is worthwhile for that. Deep pitted scars or orange-peel pores, however, are hard to address in one session. Our pores mode is ₩440,000 per session (numbing cream included, VAT excluded), and the full course is designed as one session every 3–4 weeks, 3–5 sessions in total. Mild redness and small scabs may occur for 2–3 days. Avoid makeup for the first 24 hours, and allow 4–6 weeks for some changes to become gradually visible.
When looking for a Thermage clinic in Korea, don't rely on a list of names. Four things can be checked before you book — whether the device and tip can be verified through the official Solta Korea process, whether the tip is opened in front of you before treatment, whether prices are published so you can work out the total including VAT, and whether you can communicate in Chinese. Once those four are clear, ask the doctor at the consultation why the treatment suits your concern and how each area will be planned.
It does hurt. I have had Thermage myself, and the most painful areas were close to bone — the cheekbones, the back of the jaw and the jaw angle. Those spots hurt because they are close to bone, not because the effect is better there. For Thermage we apply numbing cream, which is not charged separately, and we do not use local anesthetic injections; if you are still worried, Airnox can be discussed in advance and is charged separately. If one spot hurts particularly during treatment, tell me where — I adjust the intensity and spread the energy area by area rather than lowering the energy across the whole face.
Thermage results mainly make the skin look firmer and smoother, with possible improvements in fine lines and contours. It does not replace lost volume or fully lift marked sagging. The manufacturer states that measurable changes gradually appear 2–6 months after one treatment for most people and may last 1–2 years, but this varies with the original skin condition and the rate of aging.
Ultherapy and Thermage can usually be performed together on the same day, and our clinic generally schedules them in the same visit. Not everyone needs both devices. They are combined only when downward contours and loose skin are both clear concerns and each device has its own goal. If there is only one main concern, start with the corresponding treatment. A short stay in Korea does not require a fixed interval; the director decides the timing, areas and energy after an in-person consultation.
