Cosmetic ultrasound is the use of high-resolution diagnostic imaging to look at the structures beneath the skin, the layers of the face, the vessels running through them, and the tissue planes that separate them, before, during and after a cosmetic procedure.
At Image Domain, care begins with a consultation and assessment led by Dr Ryan Shannan (MBBS, FRACGP). Ultrasound is part of that assessment. It is not a treatment in itself. It is how we understand what we are working with.
Textbook anatomy describes an average. Individual patients depart from that average in ways that matter clinically. Vessels can take different courses on the left and right sides of the same face. Tissue depths vary with age. Previous procedures can leave changes that are neither visible nor palpable from the surface.
Imaging makes those differences visible, so that a plan is built around the anatomy actually present rather than around an assumption. Where a patient has been treated elsewhere, ultrasound can also help clarify what is already there before anything further is considered.
Some regions of the face carry more risk than others because of the vessels running through them: the temples, the nose, the region around the eyes, the area between the brows. Mapping that anatomy beforehand lets a practitioner plan around it, and lets them make an informed judgement about whether a procedure is appropriate at all.
Imaging does not remove risk. No procedure is risk-free, and any practitioner who suggests otherwise is overstating what is possible. What imaging does is reduce uncertainty. It replaces assumption with information, and it gives the treating doctor a way to check anatomy in real time rather than relying on surface landmarks alone.
Ultrasound is also a diagnostic tool. Where a patient has swelling, firmness, asymmetry or discomfort following a procedure, performed here or elsewhere, imaging can help establish what is under the skin and where it sits. That information shapes the clinical response.
Dr Ryan accepts referrals from other practitioners for ultrasound assessment and provides a written report before the patient returns to their referring practitioner's care.
An ultrasound assessment is non-invasive and painless. A water-based gel is applied to the skin and a small probe is moved across the area being examined. Nothing enters the skin. A focused assessment usually takes 15 to 30 minutes depending on how many regions are examined, and the images are reviewed with you on screen as they are taken.
The consultation covers your history, any previous procedures, your medications and the concern that brought you in. The imaging findings are discussed alongside that. Dr Ryan will then explain what he has found, what the options are, what each one involves, and what the risks and limitations are.
Suitability for any treatment is determined at consultation. There are appointments where the recommendation is that no procedure is appropriate, and that is a legitimate outcome of an assessment.
The clinical case for imaging in aesthetic practice, and the questions it answers before a plan is made.
Dr Ryan's teaching work, collaboration with colleagues, and the referral pathway for ultrasound assessment and complication management.
Consultations are by appointment at Shop 6, 111-139 Darlinghurst Road, Potts Point NSW 2011. Phone 0481 820 755.
Image Domain · Shop 6, 111-139 Darlinghurst Road, Potts Point NSW 2011, Australia · Phone: 0481 820 755 · Email: info@imagedomain.com.au
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