We’re living in a time when the old are no longer much revered, but perhaps even perceived as a liability.

Changing social perceptions have spurred the ageing populations in affluent societies to adopt a new mantra – active ageing. And as their quest for “eternal youth” grows, so does the demand for aesthetic procedures that either slow down the ravages of time, or help recapture the vestiges of youth.

While fear and cost make plastic surgery prohibitive for many of us, non-invasive cosmetic procedures are lapped up more readily, as they are comparatively quick, painless and less expensive.

Some of the better known modern-day techniques to help minimise lines and wrinkles, and help a person look younger, are laser and Intense Pulsed Light therapies. Another technique, radio frequency therapy, is relatively new, so let’s find out what it is, and how it works.

Radio frequency therapy explained

Radio frequency (RF) is a form of electromagnetic energy that’s very similar to microwaves. An RF treatment involves conducting a high-frequency electric current into the dermis (inner skin layer) to heat up the tissues within, while the epidermis (skin surface) remains protected by cooling devices.

These treatments are designed to cause collagen to contract, and thereby elicit a wound-healing or remodelling response, thus stimulating the production of new collagen over a period of time.

Collagen is an important component of skin cells as it serves as “scaffolding” for the skin. As we age, collagen regeneration slows. As a result, skin cells shrink, become flaccid, and sag. By stimulating collagen production, RF treatments help to tighten the skin and make it look firmer.

RF treatments, often advertised as “instant facelifts”, are usually targeted at areas like the forehead, brows and cheeks, where signs of ageing are most prominent. Applications to these key areas help to lift the eyebrows and open up the eyes, thus making the face less tired-looking and more youthful.

RF therapies can also be administered on different parts of the body to “contour” the body’s shape by burning fat and cellulite deposits, or to enable detoxification through the stimulation of the body lymphatic drainage system.

Want to stop the clock?

If looking good and staying youthful-looking are your prerogatives, make sure you consult a doctor or professionally-trained aesthetician who can prescribe the resurfacing procedure that would yield the most effective results for the type and extent of problems you want treated, with as little risk as possible.