Infrared/RF therapy effective for facial skin laxity

Hong Kong - New research at the University of Hong Kong’s Division of Dermatology suggests that combination therapy using infrared and radiofrequency waves produces mild to moderate improvements in facial skin laxity with few complications, HealthDay News reports.

Results of the study, reported recently in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, show that 19 volunteer Chinese women with Fitzpatrick skin types III to V were treated with a combination of infrared and radiofrequency irradiation three times at three-week intervals, after which blinded assessors and patients were asked to rate improvements.

At three months, assessors noted statistically significant, mild to moderate improvement in the cheek (47.3 percent improvement), jowl (36.8 percent) and nasolabial fold areas (26.3 percent). Patient responses were more positive, with 89.5 percent noting moderate to significant improvement in laxity of the cheek, jowl, periorbital area and upper neck, and 78.9 percent in the nasolabial fold.

These improvements were seen after the first treatment; no significant additional improvement was noted after the second or third treatments. Fifteen subjects reported mild pain following treatment, and three reported moderate pain. No post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation was noted in any patient.

“The combination of broadband infrared light and bipolar radiofrequency produces mild improvement of facial laxity in Asians with no serious adverse sequelae,” the study authors conclude.