One of these breaks the skin and the other does not. FaceTite is a minimally invasive procedure: a thin tube called a cannula is passed under the skin through a small entry point, and radiofrequency energy flows between that internal tube and an electrode riding on the surface above it. Ultherapy sends focused ultrasound through skin that is never opened. Nothing is inserted.
That is why they ask completely different things of you. FaceTite belongs on the surgical side of aesthetics — the published case series of this technique describe it being performed under local anaesthesia. Ultherapy is a walk-in, walk-out appointment where the main patient complaint is discomfort during the treatment rather than recovery afterwards.
The regulatory gap is just as wide. Ultherapy holds a De Novo authorisation (DEN080006, granted 11 September 2009) and its clearance names real lifting claims: lift the eyebrow, lift lax tissue beneath the chin and on the neck, and improve lines and wrinkles of the décolleté (K180623, 2018). FaceTite is not the name on any FDA clearance. It is a handpiece sold under InMode's general "InMode RF System" clearances, whose wording is electrocoagulation and hemostasis — surgical language for sealing tissue and stopping bleeding — and, since July 2024, procedures where coagulation or contraction of soft tissue is needed. Skin tightening, jowls and body contouring appear in none of them.
Neither position is proof that a treatment works. A De Novo is a more demanding route than a 510(k), and Ultherapy's indications name both an effect and a body area, which FaceTite's do not. But both are marketing authorisations, not verdicts on results.
A cannula travels under the skin while an electrode rides on the surface.
Nothing penetrates the skin at any point.
The system tracks temperature and tissue resistance and adjusts energy as it goes. In the manufacturer-aligned technical account, the internal cut-off is 69 to 70 °C and the skin-surface cut-off 38 to 40 °C.
At that focus tissue reaches coagulation temperatures of roughly 60 to 70 °C and forms small columns of denatured collagen. The layers above the focus are spared, and the body remodels those points over two to six months.
No cannula length or gauge for FaceTite is published, so none is quoted.
At 4.5 mm the focus reaches the SMAS, the fibrous layer surgeons lift in a facelift.
Since a July 2024 clearance the wording also covers procedures where coagulation or contraction of soft tissue is needed (K240780). There is no 510(k) under the name FaceTite at all; it is a handpiece under InMode's general RF System clearances.
A February 2025 clearance (K243035) added the appearance of skin laxity on the abdomen and the front and back of the arms.
No published trial gives a recovery figure for FaceTite, so none is quoted here. What can be said is structural: there is an entry point, an anaesthetic and a procedure, which is a different order of event from a non-invasive treatment. Ask the clinic for their own figures.
That is the conventional clinical description, not a labelled claim. No recovery time or session count appears in the FDA wording for either treatment.
Thin on the FaceTite side. A PubMed search for BodyTite, FaceTite or AccuTite returns about 32 records, and no randomised controlled trial was identified. Most of it is case series and technique papers, several written by paid InMode consultants. A prospective safety and feasibility study published in 2010 treated 23 patients and reported no severe complications — but skin tightening was judged by the operating surgeon, who was not blinded, and the authors themselves said a larger sample was needed.
Ultherapy's strength here is regulatory rather than something a trial can settle. No published study compares the two treatments, so no result figures are given. What can be said is that its indications were reviewed by name, which is unusual in this field.
FaceTite's family: a 2020 case report documents deep skin burns after BodyTite, the body version of the same technology. A 2026 clinical observation paper describes fibrosis, fat loss and added surgical difficulty when a neck lift follows earlier non-surgical treatments — worth knowing if surgery is a possible later step.
Ultherapy's: rare but documented events include transient motor nerve injury, affecting the nerve branches to the lower lip or the forehead, and subcutaneous fat atrophy — loss of fat under the skin.
Neither list is long, and neither treatment has a published incidence rate for these events.
If you get cold sores, say so when you book — not on the day. Antiviral medicine is started in advance, so it has to be prescribed before the appointment. There is no published data on cold-sore reactivation after these treatments specifically; the precaution is carried over from laser resurfacing, where reactivation is well documented and prophylaxis is standard.
Also disclose a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator, and any metal implant near the treatment area. These are labelled contraindications for radiofrequency devices generally. They are precautionary rather than tested — no published study has treated patients with cardiac implants — so the people to advise you are your cardiology team, not the clinic's front desk.
Say too if you have an active skin infection in the area, a history of raised or thickened scarring, or any current or past skin cancer where you are being treated.
These are signs of an infection that is spreading, and they need urgent care rather than a wait-and-see appointment.