Microneedling Before and After: RF Treatment Results

The microneedling before and after results we see at Jade Clinics come from Secret RF. The number of treatments it takes to reach the change you want depends on how much collagen and elasticity your skin has lost, along with your overall health and skin health.

How RF Microneedling Changes Aging Skin

Firmer skin, softer wrinkles and smoother texture all come from rebuilding collagen and elasticity, the support that skin loses as it ages. RF microneedling works on that structure from the inside out: fine needles release controlled radiofrequency heat into the deeper layer of the skin, which tightens the collagen already there and prompts new collagen and elastin.

We deliver RF microneedling with Secret RF by Cutera, which adjusts needle depth and energy to suit each client’s skin and goals. The changes cover:

• Skin tightening: firms eyelids, jawline, jowls and a loose neck.
• Wrinkles: improves lines such as the 11s between the eyebrows, crow’s feet and smile lines.
• Texture: redefines rough texture and enlarged pores.
• Tone and age spots: uneven tone becomes more even, and brown spots from sun damage can get smaller.

In before-and-after photos, look at the jawline or neck for skin tightening, and at the surface of the skin for texture and tone changes. People respond differently to RF microneedling. How your skin responds depends on your age, how much damage your skin already has, your overall health and your lifestyle.

Microneedling Before and After One Treatment

One RF microneedling treatment can make brown age spots smaller and skin tone more even. The photos show a client’s back before and after the first of her two treatments, and the brown spots are smaller in the after photo. The most noticeable spot sits just left of a cherry angioma, a small red spot, and it is much harder to see after treatment. You can use the cherry angioma to find the same place in both photos. We treated only her back, not her arms.

What We See in the Clinic: A client in her mid-to-late 50s came in to have a skin tag removed. Jennifer noticed brown age spots from sun damage across her back and suggested RF microneedling for age spots. After one treatment, some of the spots were no longer visible, and her back was firmer. She had booked the treatment for the spots, so the firmer skin was a happy surprise.

Loose Skin and Stretch Marks on the Body

We see RF microneedling tighten loose skin in clients who have lost a significant amount of weight. The same collagen rebuilding that firms aging skin on the face works on the body.

Stretch marks are another concern RF microneedling treats, and there are very few options for correcting them. The goal is to make the marks less visible, not to erase them, and how much they improve varies. Stretch marks can be treated once they have settled, which usually means they are older than about six months and no longer changing colour.

How Results Build Across a Treatment Plan

RF microneedling results keep improving for up to three months after each session as collagen production continues.

Three initial treatments at one-month intervals is our clinic average. Some clients need more or fewer, depending on where their skin is now and how far they want to take it.

Someone around 40 who wants preventive treatment might have one treatment and another about four months later. Someone starting later, with more loss of firmness, can still see change; what differs is the number of sessions and the length of the plan to get the desired result.

After the initial treatment plan, we usually recommend about three sessions a year to keep collagen remodelling going. Your skin, age and lifestyle affect how long microneedling lasts, and your practitioner uses those factors to plan maintenance.

What Does Your Skin Look Like After RF Microneedling?

The radiofrequency heat that builds new collagen also leaves your skin red for a short time after treatment. Most clients return to normal activities the same day.

Redness varies from person to person, and your practitioner raises or lowers the needle depth and energy over time as they learn how your skin reacts.

Jennifer’s insight: Expect about four hours of redness, like a sunburn. By the next morning, nobody can tell you had a treatment.

That timing applies to the face, neck and chest. We treat the body more intensively, so treated skin on the body takes a few days to a week to heal.

If you expected weeks of downtime, you may be thinking of traditional microneedling, which uses needles alone and could mean about two weeks of scabbing afterward. Recovery is one of the differences in microneedling vs RF microneedling, along with how deep each treatment reaches.

Laser resurfacing and chemical peels, two other anti-aging treatments, both involve a recovery period. Healing after laser resurfacing that removes the outer layer of skin can take up to two weeks, and the trade-offs of RF microneedling vs laser resurfacing come down to downtime and how each treatment performs across skin tones. RF microneedling gives anti-aging results without that recovery period.

Can RF Microneedling Cause Facial Fat Loss?

Yes, if too much heat or depth is used on the face. RF microneedling can reduce a small amount of fat, which helps sculpt the neck and body. On the face, that same effect can remove fat you want to keep and leave the face looking gaunt, with a thinner, more hollow look than before.

RF microneedling fat loss is a risk with any RF microneedling device, not only Secret RF. Our practitioners are trained to set heat and depth for facial treatments with this risk in mind.

Training and careful settings are how we manage this risk, and they cannot rule it out. Fat loss is one of the potential risks of certain uses of RF microneedling that Canadian healthcare professionals are asked to watch for. Reports of problems so far are limited.

Next Step

A free consultation is where a practitioner assesses your skin and tells you what your own microneedling before and after could look like, including how many treatments to plan for. Book at a Jade Clinics location that offers microneedling.

Common Questions About Microneedling Before and After

Does RF Microneedling Hurt?

A numbing cream is applied before treatment. During treatment, you feel mild heat and pressure rather than pain, and sensitivity varies by person and area.

How Long Does an RF Microneedling Session Take?

A full-face session runs about 20 to 30 minutes once the numbing cream has had time to work.

How Can I Protect My Results?

Use sunscreen every day and follow the aftercare instructions your practitioner gives you. Daily sunscreen protects your skin from the sun damage behind brown age spots and helps maintain your results.

Does Very Loose Skin Rule Out Treatment?

No. We have not turned a client away because their skin was too loose to treat, and we have had good results on heavy upper lids that clients expected would need surgery. Looser skin changes the number of sessions and the length of your treatment plan.

How Does the Downtime Compare With a Chemical Peel?

RF microneedling leaves about four hours of redness, while a chemical peel involves a recovery period that grows with its depth. A light peel brings days of redness and flaking, and a deep peel takes two to three weeks to heal. The choice between microneedling vs chemical peels also depends on whether the change you want is at the surface of your skin or in the deeper layer.