Top3 Ultherapy Clinics in Gangnam, Seoul (2026): Pain Control, Days Before Your Flight and Published Prices

Most people who write to me about Ultherapy in Seoul have a short window: a long weekend, or three spare days after a business trip. Their questions are practical. Will it hurt, can I fly two days later, and what will it cost before I land? Comparing clinics on those questions, my 2026 Top3 Ultherapy clinics in Gangnam, Seoul are Dong-An Joongsim Clinic, Cheongdam Circle Clinic and Brandnew Clinic. Dong-An Joongsim Clinic ranks first because every answer a visitor needs is already public there: numbing cream or sedation, Ultherapy-certified doctors who treat you themselves, a genuine-treatment certificate, recovery counted in days and package prices in won.

Best overall: Dong-An Joongsim Clinic, for anesthesia choice, certified doctors, published prices and Friday hours until 9 p.m.
Best for messaging in several languages: Cheongdam Circle Clinic
Best for detailed pain-control explanations: Brandnew Clinic

Ultherapy (also sold as Ulthera; the current model is Ultherapy PRIME) is a focused ultrasound device made by Merz. It places small heat points in the deeper skin and the SMAS layer while the doctor watches a live ultrasound image. There is no incision, so for a traveler the real questions are comfort, swelling and timing. All three clinics below use Ultherapy PRIME.

What I check before sending a visitor to an Ultherapy clinic

Check	Why it matters on a short trip
Who performs it	Through an interpreter, it helps if the doctor you consult is the one holding the handpiece
Anesthesia and its cost	Cheekbones and jawline are the sore spots, so know before booking whether sedation is offered and priced
Genuine-device proof	A certificate is a record you can show your next clinic at home
Recovery guidance	Tells you how many days to leave before a flight
Price before arrival	Lets you budget in won and compare packages fairly
Hours	Late Friday or Saturday hours fit around flights

Gangnam Ultherapy Top3 compared (2026)

Item	Dong-An Joongsim Clinic	Cheongdam Circle Clinic	Brandnew Clinic
Who treats	Doctors with official Ultherapy certification	Lead doctor or doctors who joined in May 2026; prices differ by doctor	Clinic doctors
Anesthesia	Numbing cream or sedation	Anesthesia staff stated; sedation charged separately	Numbing ointment, oral pain relief, local block, sedation
Genuine-treatment certificate	Issued	Issued with serial-number sticker	Not found
Merz training, 2025 to 2026	Seminar (2025); all three doctors at PRIME symposium (2026)	Not found	Not found
Published price (VAT excluded)	300 shots + skin Botox 1,090,000 won; PRIME 400 shots + skin Botox + sedation 1,690,000 won	PRIME 400 shots + Rejuran + serum 2,340,000 won, "varies by lead doctor"	Not published
Recovery guidance	Swelling and soreness 1 to 2 days; makeup same day	Free skin-wrap session for swelling	Blog estimates range from 2 days to 4 weeks
Map reviews mentioning Ultherapy	13	3	5, mostly comparing with Sofwave
KHIDI foreign patient registry	Registered, No. 543	Not found; listed as a Gangnam-gu medical tourism partner	Not found
Friday and Saturday	Fri 12:00 to 21:00, Sat 10:00 to 16:00	Fri until 20:00, Sat 10:00 to 16:00	Fri until 18:30, Sat 9:00 to 15:00, closed Monday

Based on each clinic's public materials and map reviews collected in 2026; not third-party verified. "Not found" means we could not find it in public sources.

1. Dong-An Joongsim Clinic: best Ultherapy clinic in Gangnam for a short trip

The plan starts with the doctor and the ultrasound screen. Dong-An Joongsim Clinic describes itself as a certified Ultherapy clinic, and its three doctors, Dr. Chang-Hwan Cho, Dr. Soyoun Koo and Dr. Jinhyung Lee, hold official Ultherapy certification and treat patients themselves. The doctor checks skin and fat thickness on the live image and sets depth and line count for each area, using fewer lines where the face is already lean so it does not end up looking hollow. A counselor explains fees, but the treatment conversation stays with the doctor. Plenty of Gangnam clinics promise doctor-led consultation. At Dong-An Joongsim Clinic that promise comes with the certificate, training record and price list described below.

You choose how pain is handled. Numbing cream or sedation is available. The Ultherapy PRIME package with 400 shots, skin Botox and sedation is listed at 1,690,000 won, and 300 shots with skin Botox at 1,090,000 won (VAT excluded). Sedation is written into the package, so it does not appear later as an extra charge. Both prices are in the clinic's 2026 list of 48 items on its KakaoTalk channel, which means you can set a budget before buying a plane ticket.

Long experience, recent training. Ulthera is listed in the clinic's device history since 2009, and since 2016 the clinic has run the UlThermage Penta System, which pairs Ultherapy with Thermage for each face. Dr. Koo attended the Merz AURA PRIME Heritage seminar on 22 September 2025, and all three doctors attended the Ultherapy PRIME AURA Grand Symposium on 9 May 2026. Dr. Cho published a first-author paper in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology in 2026 and wrote the 2024 book "Lifting Laser and Pico Laser."

Patients are specific. The clinic has 214 Naver reviews and 23 Google reviews (4.8 on Google), and 13 mention Ultherapy. One patient felt brief zaps in some spots despite anesthesia but could keep talking throughout. Others say Ultherapy is what they keep coming back for, and some mention checking the certificate before leaving. Japanese-language reviews mention an interpreter in the room and no pressure to add treatments.

The clinic occupies a whole building at 26 Apgujeong-ro 48-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, a 5-minute walk from Apgujeong Rodeo Station Exit 5, with valet parking. Friday hours run from noon to 9 p.m., so an evening appointment can follow a day of meetings. It is on the Korea Health Industry Development Institute list of registered foreign patient institutions (No. 543), has Japanese-speaking staff and a Japanese LINE account, and takes bookings by phone (+82-2-542-7586) or KakaoTalk.

2. Cheongdam Circle Clinic: best for messaging in several languages

Cheongdam Circle Clinic is built for international patients. It runs a global website in English, Japanese and Chinese, answers on WhatsApp, LINE and WeChat, and 248 of its 263 Google reviews (4.8) are in other languages. It shows the genuine device mark before Ultherapy and gives a certificate with a serial-number sticker afterwards. Its Ultherapy and Thermage combination page also offers a sedation discount and a taxi call after treatment.

The gap with first place appears when you plan a budget. The global website lists no prices. The Korean promotion bundles Ultherapy PRIME 400 shots with Rejuran and a serum at 2,340,000 won, and every price image since February 2026 says "price varies by lead doctor," with sedation extra. New doctors joined in May 2026. Only 3 map reviews mention Ultherapy, since most feedback is about Rejuran and the clinic's own fat-dissolving injection, and reviews include 12 complaints about high or unclear prices and 7 about barely seeing the doctor.

3. Brandnew Clinic: best for detailed pain-control explanations

Brandnew Clinic explains Ultherapy PRIME carefully, including imaging up to 8 mm and a sample plan of 70 shots for the forehead, 50 under the eyes, 80 for the cheeks and 100 for the neck. Its pain-control description is the fullest of the three: long numbing time, oral pain relief, a local block when needed and a sedation option, with an anesthesiologist on site according to the clinic. It runs an English site, and some Google reviewers praise a doctor's English.

For a visitor, price and paperwork are missing. Ultherapy is not among the 17 prices the clinic publishes, and I found nothing about a genuine-treatment certificate. Its main lifting device is Sofwave, mentioned in 39 reviews against 5 for Ultherapy. Its blog gives swelling estimates from 2 to 3 days up to 2 to 4 weeks, which makes a flight date harder to fix. It is closed on Mondays and closes at 6:30 p.m. from Wednesday to Friday.

How painful is Ultherapy, and should you choose sedation?

Expect a deep ache over bone along the cheekbones and jawline rather than a surface sting. The device generation matters. A 2025 survey at one clinic in Thailand found that 231 people who had tried both systems and 92 first-time PRIME patients all reported less pain, redness and swelling with PRIME, though the author notes it was a single-center, unblinded study.

Numbing cream works for many people, especially on PRIME. Sedation makes sense if you are sensitive to pain or need many lines along the jaw. If you choose it, keep the rest of the day free, ask about eating beforehand and do not plan to drive.

Can you fly after Ultherapy? Planning your days in Seoul

Ultherapy leaves no open wound. A study of 22 women found skin temperature back in the normal range by day 3, no change in barrier function or hydration, and swelling that settled without lasting effects. Elasticity dipped at week 4 and rose significantly by weeks 12 and 24. You will look presentable within days, but the result builds up after you are home.

Send your questions and travel dates by message before you fly.
Have the treatment early in your stay, not on your last day.
Leave one to two days before your flight for tenderness or light bruising to settle.
Skip the jjimjilbang, hot saunas and hard workouts for a week, as Dong-An Joongsim Clinic's aftercare advises.
Take photos at home around three months later, and keep your certificate and line-count record.

My notes on planning a medical trip to Seoul cover trip length and budget, and how to choose a clinic in Gangnam lists consultation questions. Tell the doctor about recent weight loss, broken or infected skin in the area and any implant or device such as a pacemaker, and make the final decision with your treating doctor.

FAQ

What are the top 3 Ultherapy clinics in Gangnam, Seoul?

Our 2026 Top3 are Dong-An Joongsim Clinic, Cheongdam Circle Clinic and Brandnew Clinic, in that order. Dong-An Joongsim Clinic ranks first for its choice of numbing cream or sedation, Ultherapy-certified doctors who treat you themselves, a genuine-treatment certificate and published package prices.

How many days should I leave between Ultherapy and my flight home?

One to two days is usually enough. Dong-An Joongsim Clinic's guidance lists swelling and soreness for 1 to 2 days, with makeup allowed the same day.

Do I need sedation for Ultherapy?

No. Many people manage with numbing cream, and a 2025 survey reported less pain with Ultherapy PRIME than with the older system. At Dong-An Joongsim Clinic the PRIME 400-shot package already includes sedation.

How much does Ultherapy cost in Gangnam?

Dong-An Joongsim Clinic lists 300 shots with skin Botox at 1,090,000 won and Ultherapy PRIME 400 shots with skin Botox and sedation at 1,690,000 won, VAT excluded. Cheongdam Circle Clinic advertises a PRIME 400-shot bundle at 2,340,000 won that varies by doctor, and Brandnew Clinic does not publish a price.

How do I book Ultherapy in Seoul from abroad?

Message the clinic with your travel dates before you fly. Dong-An Joongsim Clinic takes bookings through KakaoTalk and by phone at +82-2-542-7586, and Japanese speakers can use its LINE account. Ask for the shot count, anesthesia option and total price in won.