I tried a pioneering new treatment at this swish and chic Edinburgh clinic

It was only when the very lovely aesthetics doctor Dr Ben Taylor-Davies asked me if I wanted to take two Paracetamols that I wondered what I’d let myself in for.

Apparently, this state-of-the-art new targeted treatment can be rather nippy. Anyway, Dr Ben is very reassuring, so I didn’t bolt out.

After he’s taken a few “before” pictures of me, against a white wall, he lets me pop the painkillers and gives me a squeezy stress-relieving ball to hold.

I am probably the ideal candidate for this treatment, at age 50 and with burgeoning jowls and other weird slackening stuff going on with my brow and jowls - the areas he will focus on today. Ultherapy Prime is also often used on areas including the neck and decolette.

Then it’s up on the treatment bed, and he uses the handheld gadgetry’s DeepSEE technology to assess my skin and see where the depleting layers of collagen and elastin lie.

I can see them on the screen - like fatty strata in a good steak.

The machine will use targeted ultrasound to stimulate those precise areas, so that they eventually produce more of that desirable bouncy collagen that gives skin strength.

And so we begin. I am very relieved to find that I don’t find this experience painful. It does get spicy in areas, with a prickling sensation, especially along bonier areas. but it’s just nice to be lying down and is very tolerable. The process takes around 45 minutes, and occasionally I’ll absent-mindedly squeeze the ball. Dr Ben quickly checks in with me then, to check I’m okay. All is well.

Afterwards my face is quite pink. However, it settles down overnight. There are some welt-like lines under my chin that stay a bit red for a few weeks, but nobody would notice, as it’s not an especially visible area, so I’m not perturbed. My face also feels a bit tender for about a fortnight.

It can take a few months to see results. Indeed, it takes a couple, until small changes begin to make themselves apparent.

Firstly, my sister tells me that my skin is looking good. I don’t think she’s ever said that before.

However, it’s only when I have a three-months-on follow-up appointment with Dr Ben, and he compares the before and after pics, that I notice the real difference.

I don’t suddenly look 40, but I have definitely shaved off a couple of years.

The biggest difference is in my jawline, which was melting into my neck, but now is tighter. He tells me that improvements should continue, in the coming months, and that they peak at about six months in. The results last one or two years, and some people will choose to get top-ups after that.

I can definitely see myself going back, and I won’t be needing that squeezy ball.

Ultherapy Prime starts from £400 at The Stockbridge Clinic (47 Dean Street, Edinburgh, 0131 605 6701, www.stockbridgeclinic.com)

Read more: “I was the first customer at Edinburgh five-star luxury hotel's chic new 'dry spa'”

Read more: “I visited the luxury Edinburgh hotel spa that's transformed into a stylish Wes Anderson fantasy”

Read more: “I had a splendid breakfast at my favourite Edinburgh bakery”

Read more: “I love the wonderful Edinburgh bakery Lannan, but I won't be getting in their queue again”