01The real split is ultrasound versus radiofrequency
Four names, two technologies. Ultherapy and Ultraformer are focused ultrasound platforms.
Thermage and Oligio are monopolar radiofrequency platforms. Everything else about how they feel, how long they take and what they are aimed at follows from that one fact.
Focused ultrasound behaves like a lens. Energy passes through the surface without depositing there and converges at a set depth, creating small, discrete coagulation points.
The depth is chosen by the transducer — commonly 1.5 mm, 3.0 mm and 4.5 mm. The deepest of those reaches the SMAS, the fibromuscular layer a surgeon repositions in a facelift.
That is why ultrasound devices are described in terms of lift.
Radiofrequency behaves like a bulk heater. Current meets resistance in the tissue and warms a volume of dermis fairly evenly across the area under the tip, rather than at one chosen plane.
Collagen contracts in response and remodels over the following weeks. That is why radiofrequency is described in terms of tightening and skin quality rather than repositioning.
Neither mechanism is a better one. They answer different questions, and the useful question is not which device wins but which layer your own concern lives in.
02The ultrasound pair — Ultherapy and Ultraformer
Both deliver micro-focused ultrasound to set depths including the SMAS. They differ in platform, coverage and price rather than in principle.
- Program Ulthera SPT — from ฿18,000 · 45–60 minutes · mild redness for a few hours. Micro-focused ultrasound at three depths, bypassing the skin surface.
- Program Ulthera Prime — from ฿45,000 · about 60 minutes · mild redness. Newer generation, broader coverage at SMAS depth, for patients seeking a more pronounced lifting effect.
- Program Ultraformer III — from ฿25,000 · 45 minutes face, 60 minutes body · no downtime. CLASSYS HIFU platform working at 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 mm, and the one of the four that also treats body areas.
- Program Ultraformer MPT — from ฿14,999 · 30–50 minutes · no downtime. Micro Pulsed Technology fractionates each shot into rapid micro-pulses, which shortens the session and is generally more comfortable.
03The radiofrequency pair — Thermage and Oligio
Both are monopolar radiofrequency, heating a volume of dermis rather than a chosen plane. The practical difference is track record versus newer engineering.
- Program Thermage FLX — from ฿28,000 · 60–90 minutes · no downtime. A long-established monopolar RF protocol; the option for patients who weight length of clinical track record heavily.
- Program Oligio X — from ฿40,000 · 45 minutes · no downtime. Korean monopolar RF from Daeyang Medical with dual-mode operation: G-mode for upper-dermal stimulation, X-mode reaching deeper. Skin-contact cooling runs 2.25× cooler than the previous generation.
04Matching the device to the concern
Read this as a starting point for the consultation, not as a prescription. Two people with the same photograph can need different plans, because skin thickness, fat distribution and bone support differ.
- Jawline and jowl definition, a lower face that has begun to descend — the SMAS is involved, which points to the ultrasound family first.
- Crepey texture, fine lines, skin that reads slack rather than fallen — a dermal question, which points to radiofrequency.
- Both at once, which is common after the mid-forties — a combined plan usually makes more sense than choosing one.
- Body areas as well as face — Ultraformer is the platform among these four that covers both.
- Comfort or a tight schedule as the deciding factor — the MPT platform runs shorter sessions than the others here.
05Why they are often combined rather than compared
Because ultrasound and radiofrequency deposit energy at different depths, they are not mutually exclusive, and treating them as rivals is what makes the choice feel harder than it is. A common approach is to address the deeper structural layer with focused ultrasound and the dermal layer with radiofrequency, spaced rather than stacked on the same day.
Sequencing is a clinical decision, not a package. It depends on which layer is doing more of the work in your face, what you have had before, and how much recovery time you actually have.
Collagen remodelling after either family is gradual — the response builds over roughly two to three months, and how much builds differs between individuals.
06What none of these devices will do
This is the part most comparison articles leave out, and it is the part worth reading twice.
None of these devices removes skin. Where laxity is significant enough that there is true excess, an energy device tightens what is there without addressing the surplus, and the result disappoints in a way no number of sessions fixes.
That is a surgical question, and if that is what we see at consultation we will tell you rather than sell you a course of treatment.
None of them is a one-off. Collagen stimulation is a response your own tissue produces, it fades on the same biological schedule as everything else, and maintenance is part of the plan rather than a failure of the first treatment.
None of them works the same way on every face. Age, skin thickness, degree of laxity and prior treatments all move the result, which is why any specific outcome quoted for someone else is not a forecast for you.
Ready to talk to our doctor?
Send a photo or describe your concern on LINE — we'll suggest a treatment plan and price range before you visit.