Start anew
Cashmore Clinic’s Leanne Cashmore on a treatment that can help you gain a firmer foundation.
photo Salina Galvan
At the Clinical Aesthetics Symposium I attended in Auckland recently, the talk was firmly focused on skin treatments. There wasn’t a single presentation on botulinum toxin and not much at all about dermal fillers.
So many new and exciting treatments and applications have arrived in New Zealand, making the Australian injectors very envious, as many of them are not yet available there.
Getting things across the line in Australia is more difficult than it is here, so we get to benefit from them a good couple of years before our trans-Tasman counterparts do.
I want to talk about the RF microneedling device that was a hot topic of discussion at the symposium. We’ve had such a device at the Cashmore Clinic for a couple of years now and it’d have to be one of our favourite skin treatments. ‘RF’ stands for ‘radio frequency’.
The treatment is designed to remodel collagen from the inside out and is used for scars, sun damage, wrinkles, stretch marks, pores and improving overall skin quality.
The radio frequency (heat) delivers controlled energy at various depths (via the needles) depending on what we’re treating, to tighten the skin and promote the production of collagen and elastin. It can penetrate deeply to give much better results than your standard needling, which treats only the superficial layers of the skin.
We recommend having RF needling in winter (because avoiding sun exposure is advised post-treatment) and scheduling a series of sessions for optimal results. The treatment takes around an hour. A strong anesthetic cream is applied to the skin and left to take effect, then the needling itself lasts for around 20 minutes. Your skin will be only mildly pink when you leave the clinic, and you can apply make-up and follow your normal routine the next day. Four weeks later, you’ll have a second treatment, then a third treatment a month after that. Three is the minimum we recommend; four to six is even better.
Before and after RF needling.
With RF needling, skin continues to improve for three months after your final treatment. You also have the option to have topical growth factors infused immediately afterwards, such as PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), where your own blood is separated into red blood cells and plasma, and the plasma (which is full of goodness that further enhances luminosity and improves skin texture) is infused into your skin.
The latest technology to infuse is exosomes. They pack even more of a punch than PRP and are more predictable. Extracted from young human adipose (fat) tissue, this is cutting-edge technology and a good option for hair restoration as well. They’re another whole topic, so I’ll go into it in more detail in a future issue.
People often want a quick fix, like that achieved by botulinum toxin and fillers, but remember, we also need a good canvas to work from. RF needling has limitations. It isn't a face lift, it’s a skin treatment. A full consultation will help us determine if it’s the right procedure for you.
