How long should a radiofrequency / cavitation session last to be effective with cellulite / skin tightening?
What is the ideal duration of a cavitation / radiofrequency session?
Radiofrequency/cavitation treatment duration depends on:
Each square centimetre of tissue needs a minimum of 15 minutes of strong treatment for good results
10 minutes per area simply won’t cut it
Trying to reduce treatment time with extremely high intensity RF or ultrasound
What is the ideal duration of a cavitation / radiofrequency session?
Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency is the strongest SAFE treatment for cellulite reduction and skin tightening, if provided by an experienced, well-trained and knowledgable therapist (unfortunately most RF treatment operators only receive one day's training - and zero training in the science of cellulite).
Ultrasound cavitation treatment is a close second for cellulite (but not that effective for skin tightening).
However, even with the best treatment in the world, a protracted amount of time is needed to provide sufficient stimulation and effect change in the tissues.
So treatment duration for a high quality, strong RF/cavitation treatment is 15-40 minutes per side, per area.
(With cheap, low-power radiofrequency/ultrasound machines, treatment time may have to be double, triple or even longer.)
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Cavitation/radiofrequency treatment duration depends on:
The area itself. For example, treatment of the stomach for 15-40 minutes is enough, while treatment of the back of thighs or front of thighs may take a total of 30-80 minutes for both legs (2x15 minutes up to 2x40 minutes in total). With low power equipment we may have to spend hours on large areas, which does not make sense.
Body size. Obviously very petite people need shorter treatment for a specific area (a minimum of 15 minutes per side, per area), while more taller/curvy people usually need longer treatment (up to 40 minutes per side, per area). Again, with less strong equipment treatment time may have to last hours, otherwise it will be ineffective.
How strong and/or targeted the treatment is. Even slightly lower power equipment, or a treatment that focuses too deeply or too superficially, will necessitate much more time to provide the same targeted tissue heating, and thereby the same results, on the dermis/hypodermis. With less focused and powerful equipment we are talking about treatment hours per area, or just ineffective treatment.
Individual variability: Depending on the tissue structure of each individual, treatment duration and intensity has to be adjusted, again from 15 to 40 minutes per side, per area.
Each square centimetre of tissue needs a minimum of 15 minutes of strong treatment for good results
I mentioned above that treatment should be 15-40 minutes per side, per area with the best equipment possible.
This is because for radiofrequency and ultrasound to work well, those treatments need to saturate every inch of skin for a minimum of about 15-40 minutes.
This means that even the smallest area, e.g. the top of the knees, which can be heated very quickly, will still need to be treated for 15 minutes - each.
A weak machine will just about manage the knees in 15-40 minutes but it may not be able to manage larger areas, such as the back of the thighs and buttocks, even in 80 minutes.
10 minutes per area simply won’t cut it
15 minutes per area is the absolute minimum treatment required for some good results, with a good machine and an optimised protocol.
You cannot treat an area for 10 minutes because you put the machine on max or because the area is small. Treatment time is as essential as treatment intensity and 15+ minutes must be spent even on small areas.
Sometimes clients ask whether each area can be treated for ten minutes, so that the entire thighs and buttocks (back and front) are covered in 40 minutes.
Even worse, from time to time clients report that at other clinics they have the entire body (back and front of thighs, butt, arms, stomach, waist) treated in 90 minutes, which if it wasn’t a total rip-off it would be a practical joke.
And at those places they are usually told that “4 sessions is all you need” (we honestly recommend 6-12 sessions per area, even with the best equipment and protocols in the world). Unsurprisingly, these clients report no results with 4x 10 minutes per side per area.
My reply to these comments is that I wished this could be done, but it doesn’t work that way. Treating each area for just 10 minutes, even with the best equipment in the world, will be a waste of money.
Lying to clients that you can treat their entire body in 90 minutes just to get their business, is unethical, to say the least.a
Money shouldn’t be the first priority of ANY business. Providing an excellent treatment, honest consultation and caring customer service should be the first priorities, and then money would automatically come afterwards.
Trying to reduce treatment time with extremely high intensity RF or ultrasound
This approach of profit maximisation, i.e. treating an area at extremely high intensities, in order to minimise treatment time, will just lead to a burn and not much else.
Still some doctors/aesthetic therapists do this with the aid of anaesthetic creams or injections, as it sounds very impressive, “medical” and “instant”.
But most importantly, short, extreme-intensity, painful treatments allow these practitioners to charge 5-10x more money per hour - regardless of the dangers, side effects and ineffectiveness.
This is a huge difference in profitability, unfortunately at the expense of safety and effectiveness.
The body needs both time and regular, repeated treatment to change.
Biology doesn’t care if someone is busy or rich or if the owner of clinic wants to get rich quick: the human body has limits in general. Plus each individual body has its own limits. Surpassing them, for an (imagined) quick result or for a quick buck, is very unwise.
Having a course of 6-12 strong RF or cavitation treatments for 15-40 minutes per side per area, offered skilfully and responsibly over a period of several weeks is what is best for both client and clinic.
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