XERF

XERF has the lightest pre-treatment requirements on the menu. No numbing, no needles, and nothing to stop beforehand.

Tell us before your appointment

• Any metal implants, surgical hardware, pacemaker or implanted electronic device. Radiofrequency energy cannot be used over or near these.
• Any filler or implants in the area, so treatment can be mapped around them.
• If you are pregnant or breastfeeding. This treatment is not performed during pregnancy.
• Any active skin infection, open wound or significant rash on the area.
• Recent significant weight loss, including on GLP-1 medication. It changes what to expect.
• Any previous radiofrequency, ultrasound tightening or surgical lifting.

Hydration

Radiofrequency heats the skin by driving current through the water in your tissue, so how hydrated you are changes how evenly that energy spreads. Arriving well hydrated rather than dry is worth the attention.

• Drink normally and steadily over the days before, rather than loading up on the morning of. Tissue hydration builds over days, and a glass on the way in does not undo a dry week.
• Skip alcohol the night before. It is the most common reason skin arrives dry.
• Heavy caffeine the morning of has a similar effect. Your usual coffee is fine.
• If you have been given a fluid restriction, follow it. Tell us and we will work around it. Heart, kidney and liver conditions are the common reasons, and the restriction takes priority over anything on this page.

The day itself

• Clean skin on the area, no thick creams, oils or makeup.
• Loose comfortable clothing, particularly for body treatment.

• Mild redness and warmth immediately afterwards is expected and settles within a few hours.
• Avoid intense heat for the rest of the day: saunas, steam rooms, very hot showers.
• Avoid vigorous exercise for the rest of the day.
• Gentle fragrance-free moisturizer. SPF 50 if you are going outside.
• Normal skincare is fine from that evening. There are no restrictions on retinoids or actives after XERF.

• Skin should look and feel close to normal by day one or two, though some warmth and slight sensitivity can persist.
• Some people notice a subtle tightening sensation in the first week. That is the initial collagen response beginning.
• Resume all normal activity, including exercise, from day two.
• Continue daily SPF 50. It protects collagen and sustains the result.
• No conflict with other treatments. XERF has no post-treatment window that rules out other services.

• Results build gradually as new collagen is produced and existing collagen contracts.
• Most people notice tightening and firmness at four to eight weeks.
• Full results from a series of three to four sessions are typically visible at three to six months.
• Continue daily SPF 50 throughout. Ultraviolet damage degrades collagen and undermines the result over time.
• Annual maintenance sustains it as aging continues.

Body areas

• Mild redness and warmth for a few hours.
• Loose clothing for the rest of the day.
• Normal exercise from day two.
• Firmness and texture improvement at four to eight weeks, full results at three to six months.

XERF is among the most skin-tone-agnostic treatments available. Radiofrequency energy is not absorbed by melanin, so there is no mechanism here equivalent to the pigmentation risk that exists with laser and peel treatments.

• No extended pre-conditioning is required specifically for XERF, at any Fitzpatrick type.
• If you are also in a laser or microneedling series, the preparation protocol for those treatments still applies. XERF does not affect or override it.