“TL;DR: Radiofrequency (RF) treatment, commonly used for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, is often misunderstood as a standardised, machine-dependent procedure. In reality, its effectiveness varies greatly depending on the clinic, therapist, and machine used. Even with identical equipment, treatment quality differs due to therapist technique, clinic protocols, and training levels. Much like massage, RF is a highly individualised service where practitioner skill and knowledge significantly impact results. While many people focus on finding the “best” RF machine, this approach is flawed. Most practitioners – including cosmetic surgeons – lack a deep understanding of RF technology and often rely on sales pitches rather than scientific criteria when they buy a machine. Moreover, training is generally basic, whether offered by equipment manufacturers or specialist schools. Thus, researching machines is only a small part of the picture; the more critical task is evaluating the clinic and therapist. Important factors to look for include treatment duration, equipment servicing, therapist experience, and safety practices. Prospective clients should avoid clinics promising miracle results in few sessions, using excessive marketing, or making pseudoscientific claims. Instead, they should ask precise technical questions about RF frequency, output power, and machine type (monopolar vs. bipolar), and assess the professionalism of the clinic. Ultimately, results depend less on the machine and more on the expertise, ethics, and skill of the individual providing the treatment.”
Radiofrequency treatment is like massage: everyone does it differently, even when the exact same machine is used
What is the best radiofrequency machine?
How RF treatments differ between different machines, clinics and individual therapists
Stop “researching” machines and start researching clinics and practitioners - what questions to ask
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What is the best radiofrequency machine?
This is the wrong question to ask when choosing a treatment for yourself.
The fact is that radiofrequency treatment effectiveness can range from amazing to poor, even with the same RF machine, so you should be looking for a good clinic not a good machine. Let me explain.
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency is the best and safest non-surgical skin tightening treatment and the joint best/safest cellulite reduction treatment, together with deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation).
Properly applied deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency is far more effective and safe than the ridiculously hyped-up HIFU and RF microneedling.
Because radiofrequency treatment is provided with a machine, most people think that all treatments with a specific machine are provided identically. As a result many people embark on “researching” what is the best RF machine on the web - and even on such trusted sources of information as instagram and tiktok 😂.
However, given that even 99% of practitioners - including cosmetic surgeons - do not know have a clue how to choose an RF machine based on specifications (they just buy according to sales pitch) and do not understand RF science, such research by members of the public is doomed to fail - especially among the rampant misinformation of shallow social media, such as instagram and tiktok.
(Furthermore, there is so much marketing disinformation regarding different machines, unless you are very specialised and highly trained it is impossible to know which of this information is real and which is not.)
But most importantly, even if one discovers the ideal RF machine for their needs - and find a clinic that offers it - this still means nothing.
Contrary to popular belief, RF, cavitation, HIFU and other technology-based treatments are not McDonalds burgers, i.e. the same everywhere they are offered. Instead, they vary wildly between clinics which own the exact same machine and even between individual therapists at the same clinic with the same machine*.
So looking for the best machine in the swamp of online misinformation and then comparing prices between clinics that offer the same machine means literally nothing. Treatment durations, treatment settings, treatment protocols, treatment application technique and safety procedures for the same body area vary wildly between clinics.
* How do I know that? I talk to machine manufacturers, distributors, trainers, colleagues and fellow practitioners all the time. I talk to clients who have been to other clinics that use the exact same machines that we use and the differences are wild. And I know how basic the training provided by RF distributors is, because I had it from four - no less - different RF equipment companies over the years (in addition, of course, to advanced training elsewhere, my intensive, 14-year long personal study of radiofrequency and my Physics background).
How RF treatments differ between different machines, clinics and individual therapists
In that respect, we can say that radiofrequency treatment is like massage, in the sense that each therapist provides a different treatment as compared to another one, even if it is the same type of massage (massage is a highly individualised treatment).
In fact, with RF you have four variables, not just the therapist: machine, clinic, training and therapist:
Different RF machines vary wildly in terms of treatment depth, treatment strength and safety
According to their business model, different clinics may offer a proper treatment at a reasonable price while others may cut corners, pay a ton of money on marketing and then inflate prices for a short, stripped down, ineffective but highly profitable treatment
Training in RF is either provided by the equipment manufacturer typically in 6 hours and it’s pretty basic or by specialist training schools and it’s also pretty basic (no difference here). It is from very rare to almost impossible to find a training school that goes deep into RF science and cellulite/skin tightening science.
Individual therapists also provide a different treatment, depending on training, equipment, clinic business model and, of course, their experience and personal knowledge they may have accumulated over the days, weeks, months or years of practising radiofrequency treatment.
Other factors also come into play in regard to RF treatment quality, such as the clinic properly and regularly servicing their equipment (more important than you think) or a clinic’s/therapist’s attitude to safety, which ranges all the way from lackadaisical to responsible.
Stop “researching” machines and start researching clinics and practitioners - what questions to ask
If researching for machines is only 25% of the picture, how can a member of the public find what is the best RF treatment? It’s simple, by researching clinics/therapists, not just machines.
And how can one do that? Again, it’s simple: use your common sense and ask some key questions:
Does a clinic promise miracle results with 1-4 sessions, as opposed to realistic claims for results over 6-12 sessions?
Do they charge an arm and a leg for a small area, as opposed to moderate prices?
Do they display unbelievable before and after pictures?
Is their website filled with marketing blurb, as opposed to serious articles?
Do they spend a lot of money on influencers, search ads and social media advertising? Remember, you pay for all that waste of money.
Do they post selfie tiktok videos with trashy music and sing and dance while performing treatments? That’s a serious red flag.
When you call them and ask questions, do they talk about toxins, “bringing the cellulite to the surface”, “breaking down the fat which is then removed by the kidneys” and other such nonsense? No matter what machine they have, treatment will be bad there.
Do they do hard sales? Not a good sign.
For a given body area, do they offer really short treatments (cutting corners to maximise profit) or really long treatments (the machine is so weak it needs forever to do the job)?
Ask them if they use monopolar (and unipolar) or bipolar (and tripolar, tetrapolar, octipolar) RF? The former is almost always better than latter.
Ask them what is the RF frequency they use and why they use it. Silence - or the opposite, endless blurb - will almost certainly mean ignorance. BTW, different frequencies can work equally well.
Ask them what is the output power of their monopolar machine. Silence - or the opposite, endless blurb - will almost certainly mean ignorance. BTW, anything below 250W for the body and 150W for the face is probably pointless.
And finally, check out their customer service and, if possible talk, to the therapist who will provide your treatments (if an army of different therapists provide your course of treatments, avoid that clinic)
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.
(Of course, we keep looking for new technologies every day and if/when a better technology materialises we will be the first to provide it. However, we will never follow the latest ineffective gimmick, just because it’s good marketing to offer the latest hyped up - yet ineffective and/or unsafe treatment.)
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, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.
(No unsafe and ineffective RF microneedling or HIFU and no safe but ineffective acoustic wave therapy, superficial RF (bipolar/tripolar/multipolar etc), low power RF/cavitation, electrical muscle stimulation, lymphatic massage, cupping, dry brushing and no ridiculous bum bum creams.)
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.
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Why train with The Cellulite School™?
We all know that training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening is as basic as it gets. It is typically a 4-6 hour training, involving only basic instruction from the manufacturer on how operators can use the machine; lots of myths, erroneous information and misconceptions; and some basic health and safety on how to use the machine.
There is no proper, real training in the science or cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound and all related technologies is non-existent - worldwide.
Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening?
Get proper training based on 25-year theory and practical application of cellulite reduction and valuable insights from 24,000+ sessions and 4,200+ clients.
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.
Get properly trained in the science of cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound, phototherapy and all related technologies, at LipoTherapeia.
Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.
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