Radio-Frequency Facial treatment is a technology that is used for non-surgical Skin tightening of the early signs of loose or sagging skin; ideal for those people who don’t want to have a surgical procedure. Radio-Frequency Treatment alone is mainly used to treat skin laxity by facial tightening and is best suited to patients with mild to moderate sagging of facial tissues, usually those in their mid ages 30s to 50s, with any skin color. It is commonly used to treat the forehead, under the eyes, cheeks, mid-face, jawline, and neck.

Process

You may be required to wash your face with soap and warm water prior to your treatment, in order to remove any makeup and skin oils which could interfere with the application of the RF treatment.

A topical anaesthetic cream may then be applied to your skin a short time prior to treatment, to help numb the skin slightly; this will normally be removed using alcohol cleansers immediately before your clinician commences the procedure.

Depending on the device being used and your practitioner, a “treatment grid” ink transfer may then be applied over your face to assist the practitioner in navigating your face whilst delivering the RF energy; helping to assure an even application of the RF and to prevent inadvertent overlapping of treatment.

Again, depending on the device being used you may be fitted with a single-use, self-adhesive return pad attached to your stomach or back to ground you; normally with monopolar devices.

A coupling gel may then also be applied over your face which acts as an additional barrier between the surface layers of your skin and the handpiece of the device.

Your clinician will then commence the RF treatment working across your face. Once completed a soothing gel or lotion may be applied to your skin.

Devices Used in Radio Frequency Facial Treatment

1 – Thermage

2 – Accent

3 – Tripollar

Who should not go for Radio Frequency Facial Treatment

As long as you are generally healthy and don’t have any skin diseases or infections in the area treated, there are few medical reasons why patients should not undergo this treatment.

People with sensory disturbance to the skin may not be considered good candidates as this could make the reporting of discomfort during the procedure unreliable, leading to potential harm.

Although there is no evidence that this treatment is harmful to pregnant women, you would generally be advised to wait until after you have given birth before embarking upon a course of treatment.

More importantly, people with electrical devices e.g., pacemakers, or metal implants e.g., artificial metal hip joints, heart valves, or dental plates, cannot be treated because RF current flowing through the body may interfere with these devices or heat up metal implants, which could be dangerous.