LDM Not Working After 2 or 3 Sessions?
When LDM seems to do nothing, check your goal and session count first. Acne results were judged after twice-weekly sessions, up to 12, while lifting was never measured. Here's what to compare, when to compare it and which reactions need a call.
Wi Young-jin
Chief Director, Myeongdong
If LDM hasn't seemed to do anything, check two things first: what you hoped it would fix and how many sessions you've had. LDM has mostly been used for inflammation-related concerns like acne, redness and swelling, and results for those were judged after a series of sessions given once or twice a week, not after 2 or 3 visits. If you were hoping it would lift sagging skin or fill hollow cheeks, adding more LDM isn't the fix; comparing other treatments is.
In this article, we'll cover what LDM is meant to change, how many sessions it takes before you can fairly judge it, what to compare for redness and acne, when lifting or volume treatments make more sense, which reactions are normal and how a series fits a trip to Korea.
Quick summary
- If LDM feels like it isn't working, check your original goal and your session count before booking more.
- Sessions: acne results were judged after twice-weekly LDM, with each person having up to 12 sessions.
- LDM has mainly been used for concerns tied to inflammation: acne, redness and swelling after surgery.
- If sagging or lost volume was your concern, compare heat-based lifting or volume treatments instead.
What Can LDM Realistically Change in Your Skin?
LDM fits concerns tied to inflammation: acne, flushed skin from rosacea (a condition where the cheeks and nose redden easily and small bumps can appear) and swelling or bruising after surgery. It has also been used for raised scars and slow-healing wounds. So if you started LDM for breakouts or redness, you were aiming in the right direction, and the real question is whether you've had enough sessions.
Here's how it works. LDM sends ultrasound into the skin at two or three frequencies, switching between them every 1 to 10 milliseconds. Lower frequencies reach deeper: the energy drops to half its strength at about 10 mm for 3 MHz, about 3 mm for 10 MHz and about 1.5 mm for 19 MHz.
That range covers the skin layers where acne and redness happen. It doesn't mean LDM tightens or lifts anything, though. None of the LDM records measured a lifting effect, which matters if firmness was what you were after.
How Many LDM Sessions Before You Can Judge the Result?
You can judge LDM for acne only after a full course, and in the main record that meant twice-weekly sessions, between 2 and 12 per person. That record followed 22 people at two centers. Their acne scores improved by an average of 73.69% by the last session and by 90.14% at a later follow-up visit.
Keep in mind that only 9 of the 22 came back for that follow-up, and the record looked back at past cases without a comparison group. Individual results vary, and these numbers describe a small group rather than what you should expect.
If you've had 2 or 3 sessions and see little change, you've had far fewer than many people in that group. Scores were also better at follow-up than on the last treatment day, so the fairest time to judge is a little after you finish the planned course, not partway through.
Spacing counts as well. The results above come from sessions given once or twice a week. If yours were spread several weeks apart, you've followed a different schedule from the one behind those numbers, so they don't tell you much about your own course.
Redness or Breakouts: What Should You Compare After LDM?
For redness, compare photos taken in the same lighting on your first day and about 2 weeks after your last session. In a study of a different dual-frequency ultrasound device (SONO STYLER, not LDM), 26 people with rosacea or acne had one session a week for 4 weeks. At week 6, two weeks after finishing, both redness and the amount of water escaping from their skin had gone down, though that study also had no comparison group.
For acne, count new breakouts and inflamed, pus-filled spots in photos taken from the same angle each time. Checking your skin in the mirror makes it easy to be swayed by one or two fresh pimples.
| What you hoped LDM would fix | What to compare | When to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Redness on the cheeks or nose | Front and side photos in the same lighting | About 2 weeks after finishing the plan |
| Acne | Number of new breakouts and pus-filled spots | At a check-up after your last session |
| Swelling after a procedure or surgery | The day swelling and bruising faded | Every day for the first few days |
Whichever row fits you, take the first photo before your next session if you don't already have one. Without a starting point, it's hard to tell a slow change from no change.
Hoping LDM Would Lift Sagging or Restore Volume?
If you wanted a firmer jawline or fuller cheeks, LDM isn't the treatment to keep adding sessions of. No LDM record measured lifting a sagging jawline or filling hollow cheeks, so more sessions don't move you toward that goal.
For sagging, it makes more sense to compare radiofrequency (RF) or ultrasound lifting treatments, which use heat to prompt your skin to make new collagen. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) explains that results from these treatments are modest and build over months, with ultrasound taking about 2 to 6 months and RF looking its best at around 6 months. How much you see depends on your skin.
Hollow cheeks are a separate issue because they come from lost volume, so that calls for comparing treatments that replace volume. If you have both redness and sagging, decide which one bothers you more. That makes it easier to split your plan instead of expecting one treatment to handle both.
LDM Side Effects: What Passes and When to Call
Brief redness right after treatment that settles within an hour is a normal, passing reaction. In the 22-person acne record, nothing beyond that short-lived redness was reported. That said, a group this small can't show how often rarer reactions happen.
Contact the clinic that treated you before your next session if you notice:
- Redness that's worse than it was before treatment
- A burning feeling that doesn't settle
- Itching on the treated area that keeps going
If any of these spread or get worse, contact your provider right away rather than waiting for your next appointment.
Fitting an LDM Series Into Your Travel Itinerary in Korea
Apart from a day when you've had sedation, there's no need to postpone your flight home because of an LDM session.
It also helps to know what one visit can do. Some treatments, like fillers, change your shape the same day. Most others, LDM included, don't change things dramatically in one go; they bring your skin gradually closer to how it used to be. And because LDM is planned as a series given once or twice a week, a single visit doesn't stand in for that series.
If your stay is short, ask before you start how many sessions fit into your dates. That tells you up front whether you'll have done enough to judge the result before you leave.
Once you're home, you can send photos through the consultation button on this page if you have questions about how your skin is doing. If a reaction looks serious, see a local doctor first rather than waiting for a reply.
The Bottom Line: Match Your Goal Before Booking More LDM
Write down how many LDM sessions you've had and how far apart they were, then set that next to twice a week for up to 12 sessions. If you're well short of that and your goal was acne or redness, it may simply be too early to judge. If your goal was sagging or volume, the session count matters less than choosing a different kind of treatment.
Before you decide, ask one question: is my main concern redness and breakouts, or sagging, and for that concern, how many sessions a week and how many in total? Beautystone is a clinic in Seoul's Hapjeong area, and you can reach us through the consultation button on this page. In your first message, include what you originally hoped LDM would fix, how many sessions you've had and how often, and photos from around your first and latest sessions if you have them.
Sources
- Records of 22 people who had LDM twice a week for acne — Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025
- Records of 20 women who had LDM for cellulite — Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2024
- LDM for swelling and bruising after nose surgery — Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
- A different dual-frequency ultrasound device for redness and skin hydration — Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2021
- When results from skin-tightening treatments show — American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is LDM used to bring down swelling after a nose job?
A. LDM has been used for swelling and bruising after nose surgery. In a record of 24 people who had LDM every day for 5 days starting the day after surgery, swelling lasted 1.9 days and bruising 2.8 days on average, compared with 4.5 and 7.4 days in 24 people who used only ice packs. It looked back at past cases, so plan anything right after surgery with your surgeon first.
Q. Can I have LDM while taking acne medication?
A. If you're taking acne medication, tell your provider the medicine's name and when you started it before LDM. The 22-person acne record left out anyone who'd used steroids, retinoids or anti-inflammatory drugs in the previous 3 months, and no one had other acne treatment during LDM. So it can't tell you how LDM works alongside medication.
Q. How long do LDM results last?
A. How long LDM results last isn't well known yet. In the acne record, the 9 people seen again after their last session hadn't gotten worse at checks 1 to 22 months later, and a cellulite record followed 20 women for 3 to 18 months. Neither had a comparison group, so don't read those numbers as a promise of how long your results will last.
Q. Is LDM used for cellulite?
A. LDM has been used for cellulite. In a record of 20 women aged 27 to 53 who had 8 to 10 sessions, once or twice a week, doctor-rated cellulite scores went down, and neither pain nor side effects were reported. It looked back at one clinic's past cases, so results will differ from person to person.
Q. Do LDM devices with different frequencies give different results?
A. In the acne record, LDM using 1, 3 and 10 MHz and LDM using 3, 10 and 19 MHz showed no difference in results. The frequency mix changes how deep the energy reaches, but acne scores improved by a similar amount. Checking the number of sessions and the spacing for your concern is more useful than comparing device names.
Q. Should I keep going if I've finished 12 LDM sessions and see no change?
A. If you've finished 12 LDM sessions for acne or redness and your photos show no change, adding more isn't the obvious next step. Twelve is the upper end of the course in the acne record, so it's a good point to recheck your goal with your provider and compare other treatments for that concern.
