What Are the Benefits of RF Facial Skin Tightening?
The two most visible benefits provided by this treatment are tighter skin and a smoother surface – meaning fewer wrinkles. But RF therapy is versatile, so you can also expect an improvement in sun damage. Studies show that after three months of RF treatment, patients saw clinically significant improvements in mild to moderate signs of sun damage.
This is great news for those with photoaged skin; treating dark spots, sagging, and other effects of the sun is notoriously hard to do. Most people think aging is the only culprit behind collagen degradation, but the sun is even more vicious. The ability to reverse UV damage is, therefore, nothing less than revolutionary, and RF technology does precisely this.
Facial Contouring
Before we get further into this subject, let’s take a look at how skin ages. Below the surface, in those depths invisible to the eye, a collagen and elastin scaffolding supports the dermis and epidermis. This structure keeps your skin supple, bouncy, and firm. From age 25 on, however, we lose between 1 and 2% of our natural collagen each year. This is an effect of the body’s processes gradually slowing. In turn, the scaffolding grows weaker and crumbles.
To make matters worse, the cells on our skin’s surface (the epidermis) don’t renew as quickly as in our youth. The results are dullness, sagging, wrinkles, and textural issues. Radiofrequency comes to the rescue, not only tightening skin, as mentioned earlier, but also restoring contours to create toned, firm, youthful-looking skin. This firming action makes RF especially well-suited to the chin, neck, and jawline. It can also be used to tighten:
- Sags between the nose and mouth
- Bags and wrinkles under and above the eyes
- Drooping brow lines
Gradual Improvements to Your Face
RF treatments work to produce new collagen and elastin in the body. With these effects, old and damaged skin is replaced by that which is new and healthy. These cells are also naturally firmer and tighter, but they don’t develop overnight. You won’t look one way on Thursday and look completely different by Friday or Saturday.
Most patients desire gradual improvements because they want to look like themselves, but better. They’re looking for subtle improvements over dramatic changes, and RF delivers these exact results.
Softens Fine Lines
Treatment also softens fine lines that are just pesky enough to add years to your face. Each subsequent session builds upon the last so that as you move forward in your treatment plan, you’ll look progressively younger.
Long-Lasting Results
Thanks to increased collagen and elastin production, the improvements to your skin will be long-lasting. Some facial treatments only stimulate facial muscles or temporarily plump tissues; RF, on the other hand, triggers the skin’s internal healing processes, and collagen is inherently made to last. Your results can therefore continue up to two years.
Increases Hyaluronic Acid (HA)
HA is the unsung hero of skincare. It also works in tandem with collagen and elastin, so where those two fibers increase, HA is sure to follow. This means that with RF treatments, you can enjoy softer, silkier, and better-moisturized skin.
HA molecules naturally attract and bind to water molecules. It’s therefore a key component of your skin’s natural moisture barrier, and ramping up levels can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, soothe redness, and help skin look plumper.
Relaxing and Pain-Free
One of the most appealing aspects of RF therapy is its non-invasive and gentle nature. While the energy heats and ultimately tightens tissues, it does so without damaging your skin’s top layer. And for patients who hate needles, RF omits them as well as other scary-looking tools for a treatment that is very non-threatening.
Patients describe sessions as relaxing and enjoyable, comparing them to a hot stone massage for the face. Some even fall asleep. Likewise, no downtime is required so you can get straight back to your day; you don’t need to hide your skin or go home to recover.
What Is RF Therapy?
This is a two-part answer; first, therapy is electromagnetic radiation delivered at a specific frequency range, also known as radio waves. Electromagnetic radiation surrounds us, coming from such sources as lightning, the stars, the sun, and our bodies. They span quite a range of frequencies and wavelengths. Frequency relates to the number of cycles formed in one second and is measured in Hertz; a wavelength describes the distance between two wave peaks.
Second, we divide radio frequency into bands ranging from low to high. Low frequencies, such as those used for sending data and voice communications, travel longer distances. High frequencies, on the other hand, transmit just a short distance. Higher frequencies are those used to treat the human body in both medicine and aesthetics.
RF Currents and Your Body
RF currents flow through cells and tissues without shocking the body, unlike other electrical currents. Our nerves maintain electrical charges of their own. Any outside electrical source affects them, which is why an electric shock induces pain and makes our muscles twitch.
An RF current travels too rapidly to produce these effects. It moves at the speed of light, meaning muscles and nerves don’t even register it. But our cells conduct RF currents and use them as part of their own electrical circuits. RF therefore moves freely through tissues, and any sources of resistance generate heat. The amount of heat created depends on the specific tissue reached.
The Effects of Treatment
During treatment, RF stimulates structures under the skin, and the heat produced causes targeted, controlled damage. Heating skin to around 152 degrees F prompts the best results, and in turn, collagen and elastin both undergo degradation. This is a complex way of saying they unravel and immediately cause the collagen matrix to shrink and contract. The skin then lifts and tightens to deliver a more youthful appearance.
Meanwhile, your body enters a healing mode just as it would after suffering a skin cut or other wound. Fibroblast cells found in the skin’s deepest layers produce brand new collagen and elastin fibers. This increase is known as dermal remodeling and works to:
- Improve skin’s elasticity
- Erase lines and wrinkles
- Tighten and firm tissues
- Improve skin’s overall texture and volume
Added Bonuses
The heat generated during treatment also increases cell metabolism and helps detoxify tissues. At the heat temperatures we achieve, blood vessels widen to increase blood flow and feed cells with more oxygen and nutrients. All that fresh, healthy blood flowing into your face also removes waste products like carbon dioxide. The effect is hard-working cells that provide an energy boost for dermal remodeling – and overall healthier skin.
