What is RF Microneedling?

The latest technology to emerge onto the beauty scene is RF Microneedling. This stands for Radiofrequency Microneedling. It also sometimes gets referred to as Fractional Radiofrequency. But what is RF Microneedling? Does it work? Is it worth it?

I own a chain of salons, and carry out treatments every day including the most advanced skin treatments on the market. It’s so easy to get confused by all the different treatments out there – so I’m going to give you a simple explanation.

What is RF Microneedling?

This treatment is actually 2 treatments in 1! It’s Radiofrequency and Miconeedling performed at the same time.  It’s delivered into your skin simultaneously from one handpiece.

Let me first give you a brief description of the 2 separate technologies.

Radiofrequency – is a method of non surgical skin tightening. It uses a type of energy (radio wave) which is safe and painless. The energy penetrates to a deep layer of your skin and makes your skin produce more collagen to make it tighter.

Microneedling – is a treatment which uses sharp sterilised needles to cause tiny puncture wounds in the surface of the skin. This make the skin heal itself to improve the texture, including fine lines, open pores, and scarring. It’s a great overhaul for your skin.

How does RF Microneedling work?

RF Microneedling is the combination of the 2 technologies I’ve just described. It cleverly uses a handpiece with a series of needles in the top. As the needles are ‘shot’ into the skin they also produce a radio frequency wave at the same time – which travels down further than the needles themselves.

Before I carried out this treatment I wasn’t sure I’d be as impressed as carrying out the 2 separate treatments – but I was wrong! It’s actually a very impressive treatment, with not as much downtime as an aggressive Microneedling treatment on its own.

Plus although you can feel it, it’s not as painful as I thought it would be. As well as being good for the face, it can also be carried out on the body.

What is RF Microneedling good for?

Here are a couple of photos to show you results on anti-ageing

This treatment is good for lifting and tightening the skin, as well as to make the skin smoother and more even.

• Great for tightening jowls, and under the chin and neck.
• To soften lines and wrinkles.
• Improve scarring, smoker’s lines and generally make your skin smoother.
• Can be used for lax skin eg. on stomach.
• To reduce scarring from acne and surgical scars.

Which RF Microneedling treatment should your choose?

Like most technologies there are many brands offering similar versions of the same treatment. Morpheus8 recently became very well known thanks to publicity from Judy Murray who had the treatment. There’s also Focus Dual and DuaLift which offer virtually the same RF Microneedling – but they also do HIFU as well. (I’ve written articles about HIFU separately – read one here). Plus other brands such as Dermaforce and Secret RF.

I don’t like to promote a particular brand – as then I’d become biased, and I just want to give you an honest overview of what it is and how it works. But if you’re going to try and choose one – I’d choose the salon or clinic based on experience, and professionalism. Go and have a consultation and ask to see their photos. (Real before and afters, not stock/brand photos)

How many sessions will you need?

Most of the time you’ll need a course of 3 sessions. They’ll be spaced around 4-6 weeks apart. After that you should see a good improvement and will not need another treatment for around 8-12 months. (Unless you have a more severe problem and then you may have more treatments).

You can however still have other treatments to complement RF Microneedling. For example you could opt for HIFU which is a non surgical face lifting procedure. Or you can continue with Radiofrequency on its own to keep your collagen content high. This will complement RF Microneedling.

Is it worth it?

This is a hard one to answer – because it partly depends on how much you pay! Generally Morpheus8 tends to be much more expensive than the other brands (largely down to the name) at approx £600-£1000 per treatment.

Focus Dual, DuaLift, Secret RF you’ll find around the £300-£600.

However it’s sometimes hard to find prices. For the life of me I don’t know why clinics don’t publish the price! I would much rather see prices there to give people an idea of what to expect. (I know how much these treatments cost because I carry them out and have tested many – but for a client it must be very annoying).

In general the results with RF Microneedling are excellent, but it’s all about what you expect in the first place. So again ask to see photos of what’s realistic wherever you go.

I hope this has helped you understand more about RF Microneedling –  and if you want any more advice then feel free to email me at rach@radiantliving.co.uk.

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