The lines that have begun to form around Robin Bliss' mouth might be an occupational hazard.
As a flight attendant for US Airways, she smiles a lot.
Bliss last week entrusted her appearance to a new nonsurgical skin-rejuvenation procedure that some say might be a less-expensive alternative to the traditional facelift.
Ultherapy uses focused-ultrasound waves that create heat energy below the skin's surface. It doesn't scald but gets hot enough to trigger the body's natural collagen-building process, and tightens the skin.
That means no knives, no needles, no anesthetic and, perhaps, most significantly no major down time afterward.
It also can mean immediate, though most times subtle results.
"With my schedule, there's no way I can take two or three weeks off to recover from a surgery," says Bliss, 48, of Imperial.
Americans spent almost $10.7 billion on 18 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures in 2010, a 9 percent increase from the year before, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Surgical procedures, including invasive facelifts, accounted for 17 percent of the number of procedures that year.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says ultherapy, often called the "lunch-hour facelift," is so new to the game that it will take time to see if it catches on with patients.
A computer console beeps and buzzes just inches from Bliss' face, but she doesn't flinch as Dr. Paul Leong, one of only a handful of physicians who perform ultherapy in the Pittsburgh area, sweeps a hand-held ultrasound device across her neck and cheeks. It feels like light pricking against the skin, but does not leave a mark.
"Many patients are saying they want the improvement but don't want to entertain anything surgical or that's going to have them out of action for a long time," says Leong, a facial plastic surgeon with Ideal Facial Plastic & Laser Surgery, which has offices in Sewickley, Ligonier and the South Side Works.
Many ultherapy procedures often take about 45 minutes. Recovery is less than an hour in many cases.
Some improvements take days before they are visible, but can last almost six months, Leong says.
Although doctors in Europe have been using ultherapy for a little more than four years, the procedure was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2009.
Dr. Joe Gryskiewicz, of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, says the procedure might work for most patients, but that it likely never will replace more-invasive facelift surgeries for the best results.
"If you want a little bit, you'll get a little bit from ultherapy," says Gryskiewicz, a member of the society's committee that examines and follows emerging trends in the industry. "When you use this device, there's a percentage of people who can't see the results or aren't pleased with the result. But it does work, and may be helpful for a lot of people who want small touch ups."
Ultherapy procedures done on smaller facial areas, such as just around the mouth and jowls, can cost around $1,100, while work on the neck and cheeks can run about $2,500. Doing the entire face, including the brow, costs about $3,500. By contrast, a traditional face lift can run as much as $15,000. Ultherapy work isn't covered by insurance companies.
Bliss has mulled getting a facelift in the past, but not for "about two or three years or so" if her ultherapy treatments prove successful.
"I know I'm not going to look 20 again, but I just want to look fresher," Bliss says. "If this gives me the look I want, I'm going to stick with it."
