Why Liftera duration is given as two numbers: one session and three sessions

Two questions come up again and again from people looking into Liftera: how long one session lasts, and how much it hurts.

Liftera is a procedure our clinic has performed more than 20,000 times. Watching it over that long, it became clear that people who had one session and people who had three in a row keep their results for quite different lengths of time.

One Liftera session lasts about 1–2 months. After three sessions, the result lasts about 6 months.

If you expect half a year from one session, you may feel the effect has gone after about two months. That is why the question about duration is never answered with one number; both numbers are given together.

Over years of using Liftera, there were cases where, apart from the change right after the procedure, the staying power was disappointing. There were also cases where it was hard to raise the output any further with Liftera, so this year the clinic added Coolsoniq, another pen-type HIFU.

When asked how much it hurts, the answer is about the same as Shurink. Liftera puts relatively little pain on the patient, so it can be placed precisely even on sensitive areas like around the eyes.

Even so, pain differs from person to person. The area, skin thickness, amount of fat, where nerves run and the settings all play a part. So before starting, several strengths are tested to ask how far you are comfortable going.

There is a reason to ask beforehand. If you struggle mid-procedure the output has to come down, and the session ends without delivering the planned amount. At the next session it tends to come down again at the same spot.

Two people can come in with the same sagging and one is recommended Liftera while the other is recommended Coolsoniq. For people whose sagging is mild and who come for upkeep, or who only want narrow areas like the eyes and mouth refined, Liftera is the easier choice. Is there any reason to bring out a stronger device?

People who tried Liftera and found the change underwhelming, and people whose skin and fat are thick, are looked at differently. When the layers are thick, weak energy spreads out before it reaches the target point, so stronger output is needed. For them Coolsoniq, a pen-type HIFU from the same maker with added cooling, is used.

Coolsoniq is not simply less painful. Compared with Liftera, it is clearly less painful at 1.5 mm and similar or less at 3.0 mm, but at 4.5 mm it tends to hurt somewhat more even with cooling.

One study followed for twelve months how the effect of a single HIFU session fades. A team at Jinan University in China gave 28 women aged 33 to 55 one session of microfocused ultrasound (MFU) and measured their faces again at 1 week, 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months (Aesthetic Plast Surg 2026 · PMID 40931143).

The face volume was reduced the most at 3 months, by an average of 3.37 ml. At 12 months the reduction was still there but had shrunk to 1.86 ml. The area under the chin held up longer than other areas.

This is a small study of 28 people who had a single session, done with a HIFU device other than Liftera. Each device makes dots of different size and spacing per shot, so these numbers are not carried over to Liftera as they are. Take from it only the shape: the effect of one session passes its peak and then fades.

When someone comes in who had HIFU on the same area not long ago, the first question is when. Adding more while the skin is still recovering makes it impossible to tell which procedure produced the improvement.

Even for three sessions in a row, the next date is not fixed in advance. The layer where the sagging started and the response to the first session differ from person to person, so the next date is decided after seeing how the first session has settled.

If you are visiting Korea for a single session, plan around the 1–2 month figure, since the timing of the second and third sessions is set only after the first one has settled.

Some people ask for more shots. At the same price, getting more looks like the better deal. But raising the energy does not simply raise the effect along with it. Too much can bring burns, fat loss or nerve irritation.

People whose cheeks have already thinned are looked at separately. When the main cause is lost volume rather than sagging, firing hard into the deep layer can sharpen the jawline but hollow the middle of the cheek and make the face look gaunter. So for people whose cheeks are already thin, the 4.5 mm output is not raised and volume is looked at first.

When stimulation is stacked again and again, the skin reacts too. There have been several cases that looked good at first and changed over time. So when it is judged unnecessary, the procedure is not done that day and the advice is to wait and see.