Earlier in the year I held a webinar where I spoke about Morpheus 8, the skin tightening device which hit the headlines last year, when its manufacturer released Judy Murray’s before-and-afters.

Her skin looked noticeably tighter – in fact, she looked years younger. It’s not surprising that patients ask me “When am I going to bring Morpheus 8 to Riverbanks?”

My answer is “I’m not!”

The reason is that Morpheus 8 is a relatively painful treatment according to many patients I have spoken with. Other doctors keep on telling me that their patients can’t finish the course, which rather defeats the purpose. Plus, if you read the fine print, it seems that Judy Murray didn’t have Morpheus 8 by itself but combined it with several other treatments. So the pictures were not a true representation of what the device is capable of.

But that’s not the end of the story.

If you were on that webinar, you also heard me say I was looking into alternatives to this treatment. Because there is high demand amongst Riverbanks’ patients for non-surgical skin tightening treatments, and I wanted to bring you the best. This is why I recently brought the Secret RF treatment to the clinic – our first new treatment since the beginning of the pandemic!

You may have read from some other recent blogs that Secret RF works in a similar way to Morpheus 8, to lift lax skin and soften fine lines and wrinkles. (It’s also fantastic for acne scars and even stretch marks.)

But after heavy research, I’ve concluded that Secret RF is a much better treatment and that you’ll like it a lot more. The main reason is that it’s much more comfortable.

Secret RF can feel warm (because of the radiofrequency) and not everyone loves needles, even though they’re very fine and we use numbing cream. But altogether, it’s a much smoother treatment and it’s very tolerable. You won’t have a problem completing the course – and that’s critical to help you achieve the results you want.

Secret RF is also more effective.

The device has more tips, and we have lots of control over how deep the needles go – so we can personalise your treatment to a huge extent. And that leads to better results.

What about other skin lifting and tightening options?

My preferred one is always The Infinite-Thread Lift – that’s our flagship, minimally invasive facelift here at Riverbanks. It’s extremely effective and long-lasting. But it’s a more advanced, more medical procedure, for people whose sagging is slightly more advanced and who are looking for results which are more similar to a full surgical facelift.

Not everyone is ready for that or needs that. Secret RF is a good alternative if you’re looking for more of a “starter facelift.” (By the way, we can also combine the two for even better results! Because they use completely different modalities, they complement each other really nicely. If you’re an existing Infinite-Thread Lift patient, watch out for an email from me about this, soon.)

Then there are other energy-based devices like Exilis, Ultherapy, Pelleve and Accent. These were all great for skin tightening – in their time. But technology moves fast in aesthetics and treatments such as Secret RF takes things to the next level.

With all those treatments, the device sits on the surface of your skin, so you have to heat the tissue quite significantly to get the energy into the dermis.

This makes them (again) more painful than a treatment like Secret RF, where we puncture the skin with microneedling to help the radiofrequency get directly into your skin. Although very fine needles are involved, it’s actually a lot more comfortable because your skin stays cooler.

Secret RF is also more effective than all those treatments, which rely on energy alone to stimulate your collagen. The addition of microneedling helps stimulate even more collagen and gets the energy deeper into your skin!

Here at Riverbanks, we still offer Exilis and Ultherapy, but I anticipate that Secret RF will replace both of them except in rare circumstances.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for skin tightening but you’re not interested in injectables and you’re not ready for Infinite-Thread Lift, Secret RF is the best option available today.

Here’s an example of the kinds of results you can achieve with Secret RF.

In the “before” picture on the left, you can see this patient has quite significant marionette lines – those are the lines coming down from her mouth, which give her a “hangdog” look. She also has jowling and deep nasolabial lines – the deep creases between her nose and mouth. All of these together pull her face downwards, making her look not only older but also a little sad.

In the “after” picture on the right, you can see that her marionette lines are almost gone. The nasolabial lines are improved. And her jowling is reduced. She already looks younger and less severe. And all of that will continue to improve, because she’s only had two treatments, compared to the 3-4 we normally recommend. She’s only halfway through her course!

If you’d like to know more, visit our Secret RF treatment page and book a free online consultation with me through our app.

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