Why we don't offer RF microneedling at our London clinic

Why we don't do radiofrequency microneedling for skin tightening, cellulite

• Radiofrequency microneedling and adverse reactions

• RF microneedling has a 39% dissatisfaction rating, mainly due to adverse reactions

• What are the main adverse reactions with RF microneedling? How about using RF microneedling for fibrosis reduction?

• RF microneedling ruined my face (and neck and stomach and thighs and butt and…)

• Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the cellulite experts

• Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

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

Radiofrequency microneedling and adverse reactions

Radiofrequency microneedling has become extremely popular the last few years, for both skin tightening and cellulite removal - and even for fibrosis reduction after lipo.

We have tried RF microneedling around 2014, way before it became popular around 2019 and all the rage around 2022, and found it lacking, both in terms of effectiveness and especially safety.

In fact, we found the treatment quite horrid and gave back the machine after a few days of training (a doctor had to come from abroad specifically for us for the training) and after trying it with a few clients.

The best way to understand the reasoning against RF microneedling is real world evidence, consisting of feedback and reviews from real people in the real world, as opposed to the virtual reality of instagram, tiktok or even science papers.

(Many “science papers” in aesthetics are not worth the paper they are written on - they can prove that white is black and that black is white, even when your experience and common sense say otherwise.)

RF microneedling has a 39% dissatisfaction rating, mainly due to adverse reactions

Real world reviews of RF microneedling show an average of 39% dissatisfaction rating. This does not include the people who are “unsure” and who, if counted, would elevate the treatment dissatisfaction rating to around 60%.

• Example 1: 34% 👎

• Example 2: 35% 👎

• Example 3: 26% 👎

• Example 4: 25% 👎

• Example 5: 57% 👎

• Example 6: 55% 👎

• Example 7: 44% 👎

It is important to note that the 39% “not worth it” rating is mainly due to the adverse reactions - not even the lack of effectiveness, which is usually shown in the “unsure category”.

39% of adverse reactions is extremely high for such an expensive, overhyped and unsafe treatment. As we do not want 39% extremely unhappy / skin damaged clients, we do not offer RF microneedling at our clinic.

(At the clinic, with the combination of deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation that we use, we have higher than 99.5% safety rate - with the less than 0.5% being mild, temporary irritation; plus a 4.9/5 satisfaction rating.)

Sure, people who complain leave more reviews than those who are happy. But then again, many positive reviews are ‘plugged’ by the providers of the treatments. So, on balance, the 39% ‘mainly unhappy due to adverse reactions’ and the 60% ‘overall not happy for both safety and effectiveness’ ratings are broadly accurate.

(For example, at the clinic we had a client who had spent a total of £10,000 on three extremely painful, extremely expensive RF microneedling sessions on different body areas and have nothing to show for it, both in terms of cellulite reduction or skin tightening. At least she did not experience skin damage, and that’s something…)

Given the popularity of RF microneedling and the prices charged, we would be more than happy to offer it, IF it was not so unsafe and ineffective. But evidently, as you can also see below, sadly it is…

What are the main adverse reactions with RF microneedling? How about using RF microneedling for fibrosis reduction?

RF microneedling works by literally burning (they call it coagulating but it is mere burning) of tissues inside the skin at 60-90ºC. After the (not so well) “controlled” damage, the skin reacts by recruiting immune cells to clear the damage and then excessive scar tissue quality collagen production to repair the damage.

The result, if all goes well (i.e. If intensity is just the right amount and your skin reacts well), is a layer of fibrotic scar tissue inside the skin that passes as skin tightening, when in reality it is skin hardening.

(Given that RF microneedling causes (not so well) “controlled” fibrosis, it beggars belief that so many surgeons suggest it for fibrosis reduction after liposuction, vaser etc. Pure ignorance. It does not make any sense and neither, of course. it works…)

If things don’t go well (i.e. If intensity is too high and/or your skin does not react well) we have scar tissue bumps, swelling, inflammation, bruising, hyperpigmentation and superficial scars. And these are the results we see on the examples above.

If RF intensity is kept low and/or your skin reacts well, adverse reactions are avoided but the treatment doesn’t work.

RF microneedling ruined my face (and neck and stomach and thighs and butt and…)

Sure, all treatments carry a small risk of adverse reactions, usually mild. Furthermore, no medical, aesthetic or complementary treatment, of any kind, can be guaranteed 100% safe. Nothing biological can be guaranteed. Fair enough.

But these specific examples below are not rare exceptions, they are around 1/3 of reviews and they are significant, not mild.

These are real people, who suffer serious adverse reactions and who have to spend months of their life and thousands of pounds, dollars or euros to repair the damage:

• “Destroyed my smile, laugh is crooked & lip doesn't move like before”

• Under eyes - they look much worse than before

• Ruined my neck

• Ruined my life

• Made neck & jowls worse - skin less elastic with volume loss

• Ruined my skin

• Disaster

• Disastrous results

• Bad procedure for dark skinned individuals

• Made me Look like grated cheese

• Nightmare. HELP!

• Wasn’t sure if I'd make it through procedure due to profound pain

• Granulomas

• Do not do Morpheus8 - marked my face & left needle marks & hyperpigmentation

• Grid marks on stomach almost 6 months (now 18 months!!) later

• Swollen lymph nodes in neck, major swelling & welts within 24 hours

• Horrible results - my legs look terrible

• Waste of money

• Not worth the risk - it was extremely horrific and painful

• Caused permanent damage - left me with advanced premature aging

• Negative experience - the settings were too high for my skin type (the problem with RF microneedling is that it is impossible to know in advance how strong the treatment should be for each skin type, as with the numbing cream there is no client feedback, i.e. feeling of burning, pain etc - they are all numbed by the numbing cream and the therapist can only guess what is the right intensity; this does not happen with traditional, continuous movement radiofrequency provided without numbing cream)

• My neck and my jaw have burns and grid needle marks

• Can ruin your skin

• Research before having it

• Inflammatory Reaction and Hyperpigmentation

• Caused permanent damage (this is what happens when the body does not react to deep skin burning with more collagen but with, well, nothing; and it is impossible to know who will get the so-called “controlled damage” and who will get an uncontrolled one, i.e. thinner skin or, the opposite, scar tissue bumps)

Again, give how lucrative RF microneedling is, we would love to offer this technology at our clinic. Who doesn’t want to offer a “miracle” treatment and make lots of money in the process? But this technique is neither safe nor miraculous. So we don’t do it.

Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.

This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.

As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.

Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.

And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.

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

And our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.

We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

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

Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

At LipoTherapeia we are passionate about phototherapy (also known as photobiomodulation/PBM, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, blue light therapy, LED light therapy etc) and we use the most powerful equipment available today (up to 200mW/cm2), for best results and treatment of large body areas.

We use specialised therapy protocols for skin rejuvenation / anti-ageing, pigmentation / post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), moderate/severe acne, skin redness, sensitive/inflamed/irritated skin, wound healing, sports injuries / musculoskeletal pain and overall wellness / well-being.

Our LED phototherapy sessions are comfortable, deeply relaxing and super-safe and are great to enhance our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments for skin tightening / cellulite reduction.

On our booking page you can book stand-alone phototherapy sessions or combine them with our other treatments, as an add-on.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert LED phototherapy treatment at our London clinic.

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

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening?

Attend a half-day, 1-day, 2-day or 3-day one-to-one masterclass and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible.

Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.

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