Key facts
- Energy
- Monopolar radiofrequency at 6.78 MHz: current passes from the treatment tip through tissue to a return pad
- Heating pattern
- Volumetric: an entire treatment zone is heated through the dermis and subdermal fibrous septa
- Surface protection
- Continuous water cooling of the skin surface during delivery
- Protocol built on it
- VF Lift – Vertical Facelift, planned zone by zone along vertical vectors with Lift, Reduce and Restore aims
- Not
- Focused ultrasound; it places no discrete coagulation points and does not reach the SMAS the way HIFU does
- Reasons not to treat
- Pacemaker or other implanted electronic device, metal implants in the field, pregnancy, active infection in the area
What does Volnewmer do to the skin?
Volnewmer delivers monopolar radiofrequency: an alternating electrical current at 6.78 MHz flows from a single treatment tip, through the tissue beneath it, to a return pad placed elsewhere on the body. Tissue resists the current, and resistance generates heat within the dermis and the fibrous septa that run down into the fat beneath it. Because the current must pass through the whole depth of tissue under the tip, the heat is produced as a volume rather than at a point, and the entire treatment zone warms together. Water cooling runs continuously across the skin surface so the epidermis stays protected while the layer beneath is heated. It is the platform on which the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift is built.
Heated collagen fibres contract, and fibroblasts then respond by laying down new collagen, which is the remodelling monopolar radiofrequency relies on. The glossary entry on monopolar radiofrequency explains the circuit and the terms; the point for a patient is that this is bulk conditioning of the dermal envelope, not a lift of a deeper structural layer.
How does Volnewmer differ from Thermage?
Volnewmer and Thermage FLX belong to the same family: both are monopolar radiofrequency at 6.78 MHz, both heat the dermis and septa volumetrically, both use a return pad, and both protect the surface with cooling. They differ in generation, in how the surface is cooled, with Volnewmer using continuous water cooling and Thermage FLX using bursts of cryogen before, during and after each pulse, and in how the energy is delivered and tuned across a zone. The Thermage page describes how that device is planned and who it suits.
The practical difference for a patient is less the badge than the protocol around it. On Volnewmer the treatment here is the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift: zones are heated along vertical vectors, with the energy in each calibrated toward one of three aims, Lift for laxity, Reduce for excess puffiness and Restore where the face is deflating, so that a slim face is not treated the way a fuller one is. The ultherapy, VF Lift and Time Freeze comparison explains why facial shape decides which energy helps and which can hollow.
“HIFU or radiofrequency is the wrong question. They do not do the same job.”
Dr Sin YongOn the commonest comparison request
How does Volnewmer differ from HIFU?
Volnewmer and HIFU use different energy placed in different ways. High-intensity focused ultrasound converges sound energy to small focal points at set depths, including the SMAS layer at around 4.5 mm that a surgical facelift tightens, and leaves the tissue between those points largely unheated. Monopolar radiofrequency heats the dermis and the fibrous septa broadly, as a volume, and does not place points at the SMAS. Dr Sin Yong uses the Ultraformer MPT for focused ultrasound, and the HIFU page sets out how cartridge depths are mapped to each zone.
They are not rivals for the same job, which is why the comparison of Thermage, HIFU and Volnewmer on this site names no winner. Laxity concentrated at the structural layer argues for focused ultrasound; dermal thinning, crepey or loosely draped skin argues for volumetric radiofrequency; many faces show both and are planned in stages. Where both appear in a plan they are separate treatments on separate days, and the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift itself never uses focused ultrasound or the Ultraformer.
Volnewmer, Thermage FLX and HIFU compared by mechanism| Feature | Volnewmer | Thermage FLX | HIFU (Ultraformer MPT) |
|---|
| Energy | Monopolar radiofrequency, 6.78 MHz | Monopolar radiofrequency, 6.78 MHz | Micro-pulsed focused ultrasound |
| Heating pattern | Volumetric: whole zone heated through dermis and septa | Volumetric: bulk dermal heating pulse by pulse | Discrete coagulation points at set depths |
| Layer reached | Dermis and subdermal fibrous septa | Dermis and subdermal fibrous septa | Superficial dermis, dermis or SMAS by cartridge |
| Surface protection | Continuous water cooling | Cryogen cooling before, during and after each pulse | Surface not heated; energy converges below it |
| Protocol here | VF Lift – Vertical Facelift, zone by zone along vertical vectors | Thermage FLX treatment with face, eye or body tips | HIFU programme mapped cartridge by cartridge; kept separate from the VF Lift |
| Not for | Implanted electronic devices, metal in the field, pregnancy | Implanted electronic devices, metal in the field, pregnancy | Pregnancy, infection, and zones over nerves, thyroid or orbital rim |
Who suits Volnewmer, and who should not have it?
Volnewmer suits skin whose problem is distributed through the dermal layer: early to moderate laxity of the cheeks, jawline and neck, crepey or thinning skin, softening of the lower face where the deeper structures are not yet markedly descended, and faces in which heating tissue carelessly would spend volume that cannot be spared, since the Restore arm of the VF Lift is calibrated for exactly that case. Assessment palpates the thickness of skin and fat in each zone before any energy is planned.
It is not used in anyone with a cardiac pacemaker, implantable defibrillator or other implanted electronic device, because the current passes through the body to a return pad, and metal implants in or near the treatment field change the plan. It is postponed in pregnancy and over skin that is infected, broken or inflamed, including an active cold sore or an eczema flare. A face whose real problem is volume loss is not helped by heating it harder, and established descent with skin excess is a surgical problem referred to a plastic surgery specialist.
What are the risks, and what determines the fee?
The common effects are redness and warmth as the skin cools, and mild swelling or tenderness that settles. Less commonly, too much heat in one spot can cause a blister, a crust or a small burn, a patch of altered sensation, or a dent where fat beneath thin skin has been over-heated, and in darker skin any surface injury can be followed by temporary pigment change. Zone-by-zone mapping, surface cooling and energy calibrated to tissue thickness reduce these risks without removing them. Contact the clinic for a blister, increasing pain, or numbness or weakness in the face; the complication care page explains what to do.
Singapore's rules prevent clinics from advertising prices, so this page gives the factors. The fee depends on the area treated, such as full face, lower face or neck, on what the assessment finds the laxity and volume to be, on whether radiofrequency alone or a staged combination is indicated, and on the single-use components involved. A written quote is given after consultation, as the fee page explains.
