How does Sofwave lift the skin?

Hello. I'm Dr. Cho Young-min.

In my practice, there is a question I hear a lot these days.

“Doctor, I hear Sofwave is that good?”

Then, without fail, I ask them one thing in return.

“Do you happen to know why it’s good?”

Most people respond with a smile,

“I came because I heard it’s good.”

they say.

Honestly, that is quite understandable.

After all, not many people who buy a phone know even the structure of its CPU.

Skin treatments, however, are a little different.

Because once you understand the principle, you can also understand whether it is a treatment your skin truly needs.

Today, I would like to explain how Sofwave works as simply as I can.

Lifting, in the end, is a technology for creating ‘heat’.

Ulthera, Thermage, Sofwave.

The names are all different, but they have one thing in common.

They are, in the end, devices that create the right amount of heat at the desired location inside the skin.

“How can applying heat to the skin make it better?”

Our body is more diligent than you might think.

When it receives a suitable stimulus, it tries to recover on its own.

When you exercise, your muscles grow,

when you get a wound, new flesh grows in,

and skin, too, starts making new collagen when it receives suitable heat stimulation.

So what matters in lifting is

not how hot it gets, but where and how the heat is created.

The key to Sofwave is the ‘Thermal Column’.

Sofwave is a device that uses ultrasound.

However, it differs a little from systems like Ulthera, which focus ultrasound onto a single point.

Sofwave delivers several parallel ultrasound beams into the skin at the same time.

Each ultrasound beam has little effect as it passes through the skin, but

At a set depth, the energy overlaps and forms a slender Thermal Column.

This may feel a little difficult, so let me give an analogy.

When you turn on a shower, the water comes out in several streams, doesn’t it?

A single stream of water is gentle,

but when several streams strike the same spot at once, the pressure feels much stronger.

Sofwave is a little similar.

Each ultrasound beam is quiet on its own, but

when several of them join forces at the same depth, the thermal column needed for treatment is created right there.

Ultrasound is quiet on its own, too.

When many join forces, they do quite a good job.

It’s the same with people, isn’t it?

Why the dermis?

The thermal column that Sofwave creates mainly targets the mid-dermis.

This area is rich in collagen and elastin.

When a thermal column forms, our body concludes,

“This area will need a bit of reinforcement.”

and begins making new collagen.

As time passes, the skin gradually becomes a little firmer,

elasticity is restored,

and fine lines and skin texture improve together as well.

In other words,
Sofwave is not a device that pulls the skin upward, but rather

a device that helps the skin regain the strength to hold up again.

“So is it the same as Ulthera 1.5TD?”

I get asked this question often, too.

That’s a good question.

They do have one thing in common: both treat the dermis.

But the way they create heat is different.

Ulthera 1.5TD uses focused ultrasound (MFU-V) to create tiny thermal coagulation points at the target location.

Sofwave, on the other hand, is designed so that parallel ultrasound beams overlap at a set depth and form a thermal column.

In other words,
even if both treat the same dermis,

they differ in how they deliver energy to the tissue.

So, rather than seeing the two devices as rivals,

it is more important to understand the strengths of each and choose accordingly.

In the case of Sofwave,

unlike Ulthera, it has a cooling system, so

please remember that it has the advantage of being able to stimulate the dermis without causing thermal damage to the epidermis!

When do the effects start to appear?

Collagen is a pretty diligent friend.

However, its temperament is a little laid-back.

Having a treatment today doesn’t mean the results will show up for work tomorrow.

because time is needed for new collagen to form and rearrange,

most people begin to notice changes from about 1–2 months,

and satisfaction often rises once about 2–3 months have passed.

Gravity, on the other hand...

it has no weekends,

and no public holidays either.

Very diligent indeed, but... it is not on our skin’s side.

New devices keep coming out.

But the structure of the skin does not change much.

So, rather than the name of the device,

I think it is important to first understand ‘which layer of the skin this device delivers heat to, and in what way’.

Once you understand the principle,

the way you look at devices changes too.

And from then on,

Not the ‘most famous device,’ but

you will be able to choose ‘the device that suits my skin best’.

We’ll help you with your online consultation here

Cheongdam ANZ Dermatology ClinicCheongdam ANZ Dermatology Clinic, always caring with sincerity♥pf.kakao.com

#CheongdamANZDermatology #DrChoYoungmin #CheongdamdongGuy #DrKwonYoungsin #DrLeeJinhyung #ApgujeongDermatology #CheongdamDermatology