Learn to deliver HIFU lifting and tightening to the face, neck and body safely and honestly. This blended CPD course is taught on the Smasfocus X 20D and focuses on the safety rules, the settings and the honest explanations that protect your clients and your business.
CPD accreditation applied for
CPD accreditation for this course has been applied for. The CPD credits and activity reference will be added once The CPD Group has approved the course. Skintastic Aesthetic Lasers Ltd is an approved CPD provider (#777800). This is a CPD course: it is not a regulated qualification and carries no qualification level.
What this course covers
- Regulations, legislation, health and safety, insurance and records
- The skin, the SMAS, the facial nerves and how the face ages
- The science of focused ultrasound and what the published evidence does and does not show
- The Smasfocus X 20D: handles, cartridges, maintenance and settings
- Consultation, contraindications, waiting periods and the restricted zones
- Face and neck protocol, body protocol, aftercare, results and session planning
How it works
The course is 8 hours, blended: 1 hour of home study with this online course and your workbook, then 7 hours on the training day in Southampton, including 4 hours of supervised practical on three models. You are assessed by multiple choice questions, written activities and three observed treatments. Results vary from person to person, and HIFU is a non-surgical cosmetic treatment designed to lift and tighten, not a facelift.
Student support group
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Course at a glance
| Total study time | 8 hours |
|---|---|
| Home study | 1 hours |
| Practical | 4 hours |
| Lessons | 13 lessons, 91 topics |
| Certificate | Issued when you pass |
Who can take this course
Level 3 Anatomy and Physiology and a recognised Core of Knowledge certificate (Recognition of Prior Learning may be accepted against these two requirements, never for the practical or the written assessment). A Level 3 beauty therapy qualification is preferred, not essential. Insurance naming HIFU is essential before you treat clients, and you need three training models for the practical.
What you will learn
- Explain why regulation and records protect you when a complaint arises
- State what the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 require
- Explain why HIFU makes anatomy a practical safety skill
- Recall the nominal depth of each facial cartridge and the layer it reaches
- Explain what ultrasound is and how focused ultrasound differs from diagnostic ultrasound
- Use the magnifying glass analogy to explain why the surface is not harmed
- Identify each part of the machine and say what it does
- State what to check on each part before every client
- Carry out a HIFU consultation in the correct order of seven stages
- Explain why consent comes after everything else
- Carry out the seven pre-treatment checks in order
- Explain why gel thickness is not optional
- Explain what body HIFU targets and how it differs from the face
- State honestly what body HIFU is and is not
- Give correct pre-treatment advice and the reason for each instruction
- State the sun, skincare and injectable rules
- Name the bodies that regulate parts of a HIFU business
- Say what each one covers
- List the forms in the order they are completed
- Explain why the medical history comes before consent
Course structure
Lesson 1: Start here: your course guide (6 topics)
- What this course covers, and what it does not
- What you will be able to do: the course learning outcomes
- Your eight hours and the training day programme
- Entry requirements, prior learning and before you treat a paying client
- How the course is delivered and assessed
- Your trainer and accessibility
Lesson 2: Regulations, legislation and health and safety (9 topics)
- Why the paperwork comes first, and consumer law
- Advertising HIFU honestly: what to say and what never to say
- Health and safety legislation for a HIFU business
- Why the optical radiation regulations do not apply to HIFU
- Your device in law, Core of Knowledge and medical claims
- Licensing: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Insurance and what your insurer will ask to see
- Risk assessment, hygiene and waste
- Emergencies, ethical conduct, records and data protection
Lesson 3: The skin, the SMAS and how the face ages (8 topics)
- Why anatomy is the most practical lesson in the course
- The three layers of the skin
- The SMAS: why it is the target for lifting
- The facial muscles that matter for HIFU
- The facial nerve and its five branches
- The lymphatic system and why face and body aftercare differ
- How the face ages in three dimensions
- Putting anatomy to work: matching depth to tissue
Lesson 4: The science, and what the evidence shows (8 topics)
- Sound as energy, and how focusing protects the skin
- The thermal coagulation point
- The healing cascade: why the lift is the healing
- How HIFU differs from radiofrequency, laser and IPL
- What the evidence shows for skin tightening
- What the evidence shows in tissue and in the body
- Safety in the published record
- How to answer a client honestly, and what the evidence does not support
Lesson 5: Your device: the Smasfocus X 20D (7 topics)
- Meeting the Smasfocus X 20D: the parts of the machine
- The three treatment handles: 3D, 7D and V-Max
- Every cartridge, by handle and depth
- Fixed point against sliding
- Contact, gel and setting up the treatment room
- Maintenance: before, after, every 20 sessions, weekly and annually
- Cartridge shot counts and your machine log
Lesson 6: Consultation, contraindications and the restricted zones (10 topics)
- The consultation in seven stages
- Absolute contraindications: when you do not treat
- GP clearance, postponing and the three kinds of answer
- Waiting periods after injectables, threads, surgery and other devices
- Dental work, metal in the mouth and sensitive teeth
- The restricted zones on the face, neck and body
- Nerve effects and what to do
- Skin type and pigment change
- Normal side effects and how long they last
- Not normal: complications and what you do
Lesson 7: Face and neck protocol (8 topics)
- Before you start: the seven checks
- Mapping the grid and marking the restricted zones
- Never overlap: line spacing and energy accumulation
- Depth order: deep to shallow
- Parameters for the 3D handle on the face and neck
- Parameters for the 7D and V-Max handles
- During the treatment: technique, feedback and monitoring
- Finishing the treatment
Lesson 8: Body protocol (5 topics)
- Body HIFU: same machine, different purpose
- The rule that decides everything: the fat must be deeper than the cartridge
- What can and cannot be treated on the body
- Body parameters for the 3D handle
- Delivering a body treatment safely
Lesson 9: Aftercare, results and session planning (7 topics)
- Before treatment: advice to give in writing
- Aftercare: what she does and for how long
- Massage: why HIFU aftercare says the opposite
- First aid for a burn or blister
- The results timeline and managing expectations
- How often can HIFU be repeated, and planning the year
- When the client should contact you: normal or ring the clinic
Lesson 10: Legislation and regulatory requirements (6 topics)
- Who regulates what, and the six groups of law
- Health and safety at work in detail, and the hazards this device creates
- Your device in law: medical device or cosmetic equipment
- Adverse incidents: what to do with the device and who to tell
- Premises licensing across the four nations
- Clients, records, advertising and the compliance checklist
Lesson 11: Records and forms (6 topics)
- The order of the forms, and why the medical history comes first
- The skin typing form
- The medical history and medication form
- The therapist action guide
- The consultation record, consent and model disclaimer
- The treatment record, incident report, aftercare sheet and completion pages
Lesson 12: Your final assessment (5 topics)
- How your final assessment works
- Part A: multiple choice, and how to prepare
- Part B: written activities, and how to answer well
- Part C: what the practical observation tests
- Scenario answers and how you will be judged
Lesson 13: Your practical day and trainer sign-off (6 topics)
- Your practical day: programme and what to bring
- The trainer demonstration: face, neck and body
- Checklist items 1 to 11: preparation, consultation and the model
- Checklist items 12 to 24: mapping, set-up and treatment
- Checklist items 25 to 31: finishing, aftercare, records and hygiene
- Model sets, sign-off, your certificate and after the course
How you are assessed
Each teaching lesson ends with a short multiple choice quiz. Your final assessment combines multiple choice questions with written answers marked by your trainer, and your supervised practical is signed off by your trainer. Your certificate is issued when you pass.
