From Consulting Room
RF machines are safe
The common machines used are Pelleve, Accent Thermage, and Tripolar. They are generally recommending for patients with laxity in their skin from 30 to 50 years old with mild to moderate results.
RF has a long history in the field of medicine (almost 70 years) after electricity was discovered. It is used in optic, cosmetic, surgical procedures., cardiologoy and neuro surgery. RF is the lowest frequency among EMF and light frequencies. RF in surgery uses a wave of electrons to cause heat to ablate, excise, ablate or coagulate the targetted tissues. The use of RF with cryogenics can greatly improve deep heating treatment to induce growth of collagen without damaging the outer tissues
RF is the ninth biggest # of procedures in cosmetics with about 293,000 done in the US. (Non invasive treatment)
RF surgery
The house electricity: 220 v, 60 hz, say 10 amperes can be used to cut through tissues but can cause serious tissue damage (burns and scarring) However, if electric frequency can be increased into a high level, then it does not cause damage as normal 60 hz electricity would
What are the risks?
There could be redness, blisters, or swelling from the treated areas, but generally disappear after a few days.
There could be pain and discomfort from too much exposure. Thus you need ointments, and masks to lessen the RF side effect. But the most common side effect would be depression - a sunken face appearance that comes from the application of heat. However this generally happens when the level recommended by manufacturer is exceeded.
BUT RF DEVICES ARE GENERALLY SAFE IF USED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDATION.
