Does Radio Frequency Treatment Need Combined with Ultrasound Lipo Cavitation for it to Work?

Question

i was told that lipo cavitation only works if combined with the Radio frequency treatment,is it true or can you just have either one/ Which is better for the face and which for the body?

Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS · Answer

Each treatment should be able to stand alone as appropriate, and there are indeed some technologies that are appropriately "additive" in their effects. But to "require" a patient to do both treatments in order to "promise" effectiveness is disingenuous at best, and unethical at worst. And just what is ultrasonic lipo "cavitation"? Why not call it ultrasonic lipo "emulsification"? (This is just another hype or "marketing" word--there is a fine line between being descriptive and using certain words to denote or imply "exclusivity" or something that is "proprietary" to a certain surgeon, as in "You can only get it HERE!")

	Facial liposuction of any kind is almost always best avoided (the same is true for buccal fat pad excision), though I will do limited facial fat "sculpting" under direct vision at the time of facelift and/or necklift. "Blind" liposuction (any variety) of the face and neck has too many possible risks to recommend this treatment.

	RF treatments in general "work so minimally that they are very close to the "worthless" category, which is why your doctor may be promoting the combination of both. If he/she is offering the RF treatment  at no additional charge to the facial liposuction, then it might be of "very slight" additive value, but I suggest that the "combination" tends to "prove" that one of the two cannot "stand" on its own--and the one that does (liposuction)--shouldn't!

	Caveat emptor!

Ron Shelton, MD · Answer

Ultrasonic liposuction needs the aspiration, or removal of fat, involved with the liposuction done at the same time of the ultrasonic energy, but one does not need to provide any other energy, whether radiofrequency, or laser to assist liposuction.

Does Radio Frequency Treatment Need Combined with Ultrasound Lipo Cavitation for it to Work?

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Does Radio Frequency Treatment Need Combined with Ultrasound Lipo Cavitation for it to Work?

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