Radiofrequency is like weight training, but for your skin
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, provided at intensity just under the pain threshold, is the most effective SAFE skin tightening and cellulite reduction treatment available today (superficial or low-power RF doesn’t work).
Radiofrequency works by stimulating:
Collagen contraction
Collagen cell proliferation
Collagen and elastin synthesis
Lipolysis (fat release)
Adipocyte apoptosis (fat cell reduction)
Circulation and lymphatic drainage
The end result of those physiological changes is tighter skin with less cellulite.
As the overall quality and structure of the skin gradually improves after every single session, it can be said that radiofrequency is for the skin what resistance exercise (weight training) is for the muscles.
Just like after every resistance exercise session at the gym your muscles become a bit stronger, a bit more functional and a bit bigger, your skin also becomes a bit more toned and a bit smoother after each radiofrequency session.
In fact, there are quite a few similarities, together with some differences, between resistance exercise and radiofrequency treatment, as we will see below.
Just like your muscles need repeated training sessions to become stronger and more toned…
…your skin also needs repeated treatments to become smoother and more toned.
Did a personal trainer ever promise you big, toned muscles in one very expensive, extreme intensity, “miracle” training session that is so painful that you need anaesthesia to go through it?
Exactly, it never happened. And there is good reason for that.
Because for good results with muscle growth and strength you need something like 12-24 intensive sessions - and of course the more the better.
Furthermore, attempting to go, as an example, from 30kg biceps curls at 1 rep max to 60kg at 1 rep max will only lead to injury, most probably a muscle tear or a tendon tear. There is no way to force muscles to grow to twice their strength and twice the results with just one training session, no matter how “smart” that training method is.
Likewise, for some good results with skin tightening / cellulite reduction, you need something like 6-12 intensive sessions (luckily RF works a bit faster than weights)
And just like resistance training, the more RF sessions you have, the more you improve. There is no way to force natural, functional, safe skin tightening or cellulite reduction with just one treatment, no matter how expensive and hyped-up that treatment is.
No personal trainer claims miracle muscle growth with 1 training session…
…yet many clinics claim instant skin tightening and cellulite reduction with 1 treatment.
Sadly - and in contrast to the honesty of the exercise industry - claims of:
“instant” and “amazing” results…
…with one, very expensive, extreme intensity session…
…of a “revolutionary” RF (or other) treatment…
…that is so painful, it requires anaesthesia to mask the pain…
…are quite common in the aesthetics industry.
However, the reality is that in most cases these miracle RF (or other) treatments result in no improvement - and quite often in skin injury, such as…
internal scar tissue / fibrosis
visible scars
post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation
skin thinner than before
other complications
…or in skin hardening at best.
It is important to note here that there is a big difference between ‘skin tightening’ and ‘skin hardening. One is nice, firm, elastic and functional and the other is hard to the touch and dysfunctional.
Both skin and muscles need regular sessions to improve
In both cases, the fact of the matter is that you cannot force nature to do what you want it to do, overnight. Your body cannot grow in minutes, hours or even days after a miracle session.
In both cases you need to provide repeated stimulation several times AND at regular intervals for good results:
Weight training twice a month or having a top-up RF treatment once a month is great to maintain your gains
But for improvement you need to train 1-3 times a week and have RF treatment regularly every 2-15 days
Skin and muscles also need time to improve
Furthermore, even if you provide regular stimulation multiple times, you also need to allow nature some time to do its job.
You cannot intensively train the exact same muscles every day at the gym for faster results
Neither can you have intensive RF treatments every day on the same area for faster results
You need to allow time for physiological changes in the muscles and skin (respectively) to occur and result in visible changes. These do not take minutes or hours, they take days and weeks.
There are no instant results with either skin training (radiofrequency) or muscle training (resistance exercise).
Your muscles may have been unfit for years. Likewise, your skin may have been loose and have cellulite for years:
In both cases results will not come about in hours or days
In both cases allow several weeks for nature to work its magic, after you provide your stimulation for change, with weights for your muscles and radiofrequency for your skin
Indeed, deep tissue radiofrequency is training for the skin
So, as we can see, both resistance exercise and deep tissue radiofrequency help achieve functional improvement on the muscles and skin, respectively.
Both work in a stimulative fashion helping set-off favourable physiological adaptations:
Resistance exercise leads to myocyte hypertrophy (stronger and bigger muscle cells) and myocyte hyperplasia (more muscle cells), plus new capillarisation, to feed the new muscle growth
Deep acting, high-power radiofrequency leads to collagen/elastin synthesis in fibroblasts (new collagen and elastin), fibroblast proliferation (more collagen cells), collagen contraction, adipolysis (less fat cells) and lipolysis (less fat in fat cells).
Both need REGULAR, REPEATED, INTENSIVE - but SAFE - stimulation, as well as TIME, to confer full results.
The good thing about the exercise industry is that there are no miracle claims about results with one gym session, while in the aesthetic industry such claims are rife.
Plus in the exercise industry, no-one will tell you to force your muscles to lift double the weight you can lift, with the aid of some painkillers/anaesthesia.
In the aesthetic industry using numbing creams/anaesthetic injections to create “controlled damage” to the skin, with the wishful thinking that the resulting scar tissue will “tighten the skin” and/or replace cellulite, is very common.
Think of your radiofrequency therapist as your skin’s personal trainer
A highly trained, educated and experienced personal trainer can help you achieve maximum results, safely, Yes, indeed, some personal trainers are not that great, but these days there are many, many good trainers - just choose wisely.
With radiofrequency, a well-trained, experienced and knowledgable therapist will also help you achieve maximum results, safely. Unfortunately, most radiofrequency therapists only receive one day's training, just to operate the machine, and zero training in the science of cellulite. So good RF therapists are less abundant than personal trainers, so again, choose wisely.