Sofwave's first US clearance, in 2019, was to improve facial lines and wrinkles. A full-face session of 30 to 45 minutes treats the forehead, the cheeks and the lower face together, and in our experience it also tightens skin that has started to loosen there. It is priced from our £799 starting price at Sofwave Clinic, 8 Devonshire Place, with the areas combined at a lower rate and the price in writing at a free consultation.
What it does
The Lift applicator heats the dermis, the living layer of the skin, across the face about 1.5 mm below the surface to 60 to 70 degrees for a few seconds per pulse, with the surface cooled, so the skin builds new collagen over three months. Fine lines and wrinkles soften, and in our experience the skin over the cheeks tightens and the folds from the nose to the mouth (smile lines) and at the corners of the mouth (marionette lines) ease; a 2023 study of 36 patients measured that change in the folds. Nothing goes through the skin and the fat layer is not reached, so the face is not hollowed.
What the studies measured
The clearance study for facial lines and wrinkles followed 59 patients for 12 weeks after one treatment: blinded reviewers picked the after photograph correctly in 78% of cases, 72% of patients noted improvement, and in its 2021 publication 86% of the 58 who completed improved by one to three points on the wrinkle scale. A 2023 study of 36 patients treated on the lower face found the folds from the nose to the mouth (nasolabial folds) and the lines from the corners of the mouth down (marionette lines) reduced in more than 60% at one month. A 2024 study of 34 full faces measured the skin contracting by about 2 mm at eight weeks and holding at 24 weeks. The clearance study for lines and wrinkles enrolled all six skin types, from very fair to very dark (Fitzpatrick I to VI).
Who it suits
Skin from the mid-thirties to the late sixties in our experience that has started to line and loosen: fine lines, early laxity, a softening midface, on any skin type. It does not add volume, so cheeks that have lost volume may need filler or EMface at our sister clinic at the same address, which works the lifting muscles; heavier laxity may need a second Sofwave session or Ultherapy at our sister clinic; the clinician says which at the free consultation.
Not sure you are suitable? Ask the clinician, it is free
The session and the result
Numbing cream for 45 to 60 minutes, then 30 to 45 minutes of treatment for the face, about an hour with the neck. You feel a few seconds of heat at each pulse; most patients in our clinic rate it 4 to 6 out of 10 with the numbing. Redness for one to three hours, mild swelling up to a day, makeup straight away. An early change at one to two weeks, the result building from six to eight weeks to its peak at three months, when we take the after photograph, and holding for around a year in our experience with a session a year keeping it. The results page sets out the timeline and the how it works page the treatment.
Price
The full face is priced from our £799 starting price with the areas combined at a lower rate, with the neck as a separate line, in writing at your free consultation, price match on any comparable written quote, 0% finance available. The prices page shows how a quote is built.
Book a free consultation
Call Sofwave Clinic on 0207 099 9640 or use the form below. The clinician looks at your face at rest and moving and tells you what the full-face treatment will do for it. The full Sofwave guide covers the rest.
