HIFU reaches the same deep layer a surgeon would tighten in a facelift, using focused ultrasound to trigger your skin's own collagen to firm and lift over the following months.
£225
per area · single session
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course & multi-area pricing
~1 year
results last
New client · free · no obligation
HIFU delivers focused ultrasound energy to precise depths beneath the skin — including the SMAS layer that surgeons tighten during a facelift. The energy creates tiny, controlled points of stimulation that prompt your body to produce fresh collagen, lifting and firming gradually and naturally.
The treatment takes around 45–90 minutes depending on the area. You'll feel warmth and occasional pinpricks of energy as it's delivered — most people find it very manageable. There's no downtime: you can return to your day straight away, with at most mild redness or tenderness that settles quickly.
Results build over 8–12 weeks as new collagen forms, and continue improving for up to six months. Most people have one treatment a year to maintain the effect.
HIFU suits skin with mild to moderate laxity — it lifts and firms what's already there. If skin is very loose, it may not be the right tool, and I'll tell you honestly in your consultation rather than sell you a treatment that won't deliver.
HIFU isn't a fashion — it's one of the most-studied skin-tightening technologies in aesthetic medicine. A 2023 systematic review of microfocused ultrasound (the technology behind HIFU) in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concluded that MFU treatment is effective in tightening mildly to moderately lax facial skin. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in Lasers in Medical Science reached the same conclusion on both safety and efficacy. The biology is well understood: the ultrasound energy creates tiny, precise injury points in the deeper skin layers (including the SMAS layer that surgery tightens), triggering immediate collagen contraction followed by new collagen and elastin production that continues for over a year. What the research is honest about: results are measured as meaningful tightening, not a surgical lift, and most studies focus on mild-to-moderate laxity — which is exactly the case we make at consultation.
Mild tenderness or a deep-warming sensation can linger for a day or two. Small areas of redness settle within hours. Results build over the following weeks as collagen rebuilds — nothing to do, just let it work.
See more before & after results
HIFU starts from £225, with the price depending on the area treated. Most people have one session a year to maintain results — Anne will give you a clear recommendation at consultation.
You'll feel heat and small bursts of energy, especially over bonier areas. It's brief and most people tolerate it well without anaesthetic.
A subtle tightening can appear early, but the real lift develops over 8–12 weeks as collagen rebuilds, peaking around six months.
Results typically last around a year. An annual treatment keeps the effect topped up.
Still weighing it up? Read HIFU in Basingstoke — does it actually work? or the HIFU & RF aftercare guide for what to expect afterwards.
Wondering if HIFU is right for your concern? See sagging skin & laxity, read why your skin sags — and what you can do, or why your skin makes less collagen — and what HIFU can do. Read the non-surgical facelift guide for the full lift-and-firm picture, or compare HIFU with RF microneedling for skin firming, see full face rejuvenation for the combined-treatment picture, or how RF handles loose body skin where HIFU's lifting role is less relevant, or find HIFU as the firming stage of the Menopause Skin Plan.
A consultation is the honest way to find out. We'll look at your skin together and I'll tell you what's realistically achievable.
Book a free consultation