“In the last 14 years I have extensively studied the physics of radiofrequency for skin tightening and cellulite reduction and have provided more than 13,000 treatments, always focusing on what is best for the client. And the best for the client, effectiveness and safety wise, is deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency provided twice a week, once a week or every two weeks. Anything else (treatment every day, treatment once a month, superficial RF, very deep RF, low-power RF, extreme intensity RF etc) is is counterproductive and/or unsafe.”
RF skin tightening treatments: how often to have them?
How often to have RF treatment | In summary
How often can you have radiofrequency skin tightening on the stomach, face or any other body area?
Never do daily RF treatments
Radiofrequency: 1-15 days between sessions
Extremely high intensity RF
How often can I do radio frequency on my face, stomach or thighs at home? Can I use portable RF everyday?
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How often to have RF treatment | In summary
Radiofrequency (RF) treatments for skin tightening and cellulite removal need careful spacing to allow the skin time to recover. For effective, high-power treatments, it’s important to leave at least one or two days between sessions, depending on how strong or safe the treatment is.
Milder treatments usually need just one day, while more intense ones require two. Some risky treatments that burn the skin from the inside can need up to three months between sessions, but these aren’t recommended because they often cause side effects and don’t work well. Daily treatments should be avoided—if the treatment is too weak to do daily, it won’t be effective, and if it’s strong, daily sessions can cause irritation or injury.
Ideally, sessions should be spaced between one and seven days, with up to 15 days still okay, but longer gaps reduce the benefits and are only good for maintenance.
Home RF devices are very weak by design, so they don’t work well. Using RF devices too often or at high intensity risks harm, so it’s best to have professional treatments at a trusted clinic with proper breaks between sessions.
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.
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.
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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?
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Gain expert training in the science of cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound, phototherapy, and related fields at LipoTherapeia.
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