How often can you do radiofrequency skin tightening on stomach, thighs or face?

TL;DR: Radiofrequency (RF) skin tightening, whether applied to the stomach, face, or thighs, demands a measured approach to treatment frequency. For effective, high-power treatments, a gap of one to two days between sessions is important, allowing the skin to recuperate - less intense options require a single day, while more aggressive ones necessitate two or more. Exceptionally harsh RF methods, which burn the skin internally in a dubious bid for rejuvenation, may demand three to six months’ pause, though their risks far outweigh their scant benefits; we advise against them. Daily RF, be it weak or potent, is unequivocally unwise - ineffective if too mild, injurious if too strong. Optimal intervals range from one to fifteen days, with longer gaps suited only to maintenance, not enhancement. Home RF devices, constrained by safety regulations, lack the potency for meaningful results, rendering them futile. For superior outcomes, seek professional care at a reputable clinic, spacing treatments sensibly.

RF skin tightening treatments: how often to have them?

How often can you have radiofrequency skin tightening on the stomach, thighs, face or any other body area?

With any strong, effective body treatment, it is good to leave one or more days between sessions in order to allow for the skin to recover.

So with a deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency treatment, you must leave at least one or two days between sessions, depending on how intense or safe the specific treatment is.

  • Less intense / more safe treatments require just one day between sessions

  • More intense or less safe treatments need two days

  • Some very unsafe (and still not that effective) treatments, that work by first burning the skin inside with the hope that it will later recover and be stronger, may require up to 3 months between sessions

Never do daily RF treatments

You should never do daily treatments:

  • If treatment is too weak/light to allow for daily sessions, it’s not effective either, so you are wasting time and or money. This is the case with low power machines at many salons and clinics - even at expensive clinics

  • If treatment is strong enough to be effective and you have daily sessions, you will end up with irritation, burn or injury. So don’t do it. For such treatments, leave a gap of 1 or more days between sessions.

You always need some time between sessions to allow the body to recover, adapt and rebuild itself. Not allowing at least one day off between sessions is exactly the same as having a “leg day” at the gym every single day. As every gym goer know, such a thing is just plain stupid.

So in all cases, with light or strong treatments, daily treatment frequency is pointless.

Radiofrequency: 1-15 days between sessions

So, in summary:

  • For a treatment that is worth having, ideally leave 1-7 days ideally between sessions

  • You can allow up to a maximum of 15 days between sessions

  • With treatment every 3, 4 or more weeks, efficacy decreases fast. Such treatment frequency is only suited to prevention or maintenance, not improvement.

Extremely high intensity RF

As discussed above, with destructive RF, i.e. RF that aims to burn your skin from inside to hopefully become tighter later (good luck with that…) and that requires the use of anaesthetic cream, you must allow 3-6 months between sessions.

However, such an approach is problematic as it produces frequent adverse reactions for the meagre results it produces, so we do not recommend such treatments at all.

How often can I do radio frequency on my face, stomach or thighs at home? Can I use portable RF everyday?

Home RF machines are by definition extremely weak, in order to protect the public from itself.

If a company sold a proper, strong RF machine to the general public, there would be injuries and burns within days from overzealous people who want to apply RF every day or for long treatment durations at maximum intensity, in order to achieve “faster results” (believe me, there are millions of obsessed people out there).

However, if one uses proper RF at too high intensity / too often, instead of faster results you will just have injury.

So government regulations do not allow for home use anything more than toy levels of RF power, making such “portable RF” or “home RF” machines almost useless.

Furthermore, even if such regulations did not exist, no company would risk lawsuits within weeks of putting such a product on the market, from overeager customers.

So there is no such thing as a good home-use RF machine.

In summary, using an RF machine (weak or strong, professional or home-use), every day, more than once a day or too intensively (e.g. on a small area of skin for a protracted period of time) is not advised, for both safety and effectiveness reasons.

The best advice is, go to a reputable therapist at a reputable clinic and have a professional treatment with a gap of 1-15 days between sessions. You will have much better results and you will not waste time money on useless gadgets.

How to reduce skin looseness and tighten skin

The most effective method to reduce skin looseness and tighten skin involves combining high-intensity, deep-acting radiofrequency with high-intensity LED phototherapy, administered by a highly skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced practitioner.

The efficacy and quality of these treatments differ significantly between clinics, even when using identical equipment, as most clinics provide only 4-6 hours of training on machine operation and no education on the science behind skin laxity or cellulite.

(Techniques such as HIFU, acoustic wave therapy (AWT), RF microneedling, mesotherapy, vacuum massage, etc., are either ineffective and/or pose safety risks.)

To prevent skin looseness, maximise treatment outcomes, and sustain results, it’s crucial to abandon lifestyle habits that originally caused skin laxity, ensuring skin does not loosen up again and undermine your progress.

In essence, this involves:

  • Frequent daily physical activity, beyond formal exercise

  • Exercising 3-5 days weekly (ideally with high intensity)

  • Nutritious eating (focused on balanced calorie intake, minimal refined carbs, low saturated fats, no trans fats, minimal frying, low sugar, abundant berries, plenty of vegetables and salads, and sufficient lean protein from pulses, lean meats, fish, seafood, nuts, chicken, eggs, etc.)

  • Minimal alcohol consumption

  • No smoking or vaping

  • Avoiding plastics or forever chemicals (PFAS) in contact with food or used in cooking

  • If feasible, avoiding hormonal contraception (consult your doctor first)

Additional practices to support cellulite reduction, skin tightening, and improved circulation/lymphatic drainage include:

  • Daily contrast showers targeting thighs and buttocks

  • Interval-based running, walking, swimming, rowing, or HIIT, 1-2 days weekly if possible (within your 3-5 exercise days)

  • Vegetable juices (excluding carrots, beetroot, apples, or pears)

  • Berry-only smoothies (no additional ingredients)

  • Hydrolysed collagen shakes (capsules are insufficient)

  • Vibration plate squats

  • 10-minute daily self-massage using your hands

  • Supplements like asiaticoside, escin, diosmin/hesperidin, pine bark extract, bilberry extract anthocyanidins, EGCG, curcumin, resveratrol, hyaluronic acid, cranberry extract proanthocyanidins, chlorogenic extract, quercetin, berberine, ascorbic acid, carnosine, EPA and DHA from fish oil, flaxseed oil, flaxseeds/chia seeds, and others (consult your doctor first)

Check our detailed guide with over 100+ tips, dos, and don’ts.

Experience expert skin tightening and cellulite treatments in London

At LipoTherapeia, we have focused exclusively on skin tightening and cellulite reduction for over 20 years, delivering more than 20,000 sessions.

This is our daily passion and expertise, having thoroughly researched and tested all major skin tightening technologies and their manufacturers.

As deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and ultrasound cavitation are the leading methods for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the world’s finest RF/ultrasound equipment.

(We continuously explore new advancements, and should a superior technology emerge, we’ll be the first to adopt it. However, we avoid trendy, ineffective fads promoted for marketing, especially if they’re unsafe or lack results.)

Over two decades, we have refined advanced RF and cavitation protocols to optimise our equipment for safe, natural, and maximum results.

For even quicker, enhanced outcomes, we now integrate our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared LED phototherapy.

Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED sessions are pain-free, comfortable, downtime-free, injection-free, 99.5%+ safe, and always non-invasive.

(We avoid unsafe or ineffective options like RF microneedling, HIFU, or low-power RF/cavitation, as well as safe but ineffective methods like acoustic wave therapy, superficial RF, electrical muscle stimulation, lymphatic massage, cupping, dry brushing, or gimmicky bum creams.)

We prioritise honest, science-driven treatments, delivered with professional care and a warm, friendly approach.

We’d be delighted to welcome you, evaluate your cellulite, skin laxity, or fibrosis, hear your needs, discuss your situation, and provide the most effective treatment possible.

Learn more, check prices and book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our London clinic.

The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening

Why choose The Cellulite School™?

We all know that training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening is pretty basic, typically a 4-6 hour session covering basic machine operation from manufacturers, filled with myths, inaccuracies - plus basic safety instructions.

Globally, there’s a lack of comprehensive training in the science of cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound, and related technologies.

Want to thoroughly understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite, and skin tightening?

Receive in-depth training grounded in 25 years of theoretical and practical expertise, informed by over 24,000 sessions and 4,200+ clients.

Join a half-day, 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day one-to-one masterclass to confidently deliver the safest, most powerful, and effective treatments to your clients.

Gain expert training in the science of cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound, phototherapy, and related fields at LipoTherapeia.

Available via Zoom or in-person at our central London practice.

Learn more or check prices and book training at our London clinic or via Zoom.