The jawline and the area under the chin present two problems at once, which is why single mechanism treatments underperform there. Skin loosens and fullness accumulates, and tightening skin over persistent fullness or reducing fullness beneath loose skin each leaves half the job undone. Relift addresses both in the same treatment.
Sam Assassa, MD has directed hundreds of hands-on training courses for physicians and nurses across more than 15 countries and three continents. He founded Beverly Hills Aesthetics in 1995, is board certified in Internal Medicine, and is a member of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.
“The lower face is where non-surgical treatment either earns its keep or wastes your money. Tightening skin over fullness that is still there does not produce a jawline. You have to deal with both.” — Sam Assassa, MD
How Relift Combines Radiofrequency With Vacuum
Radiofrequency energy heats tissue, which contracts existing collagen and stimulates new collagen production over the following months. That much it shares with other radiofrequency treatments.
What Relift adds is vacuum suction. The applicator draws a fold of tissue into it, which lets the radiofrequency energy reach deeper than surface application allows, into the subcutaneous fat rather than only the dermis. Heating that layer reduces the volume of the treated fat cells and improves circulation through the area, while the dermal heating tightens the skin above it.
So the effect is layered. Skin firms, fullness reduces modestly, and both changes accumulate across a treatment series.
Relift Compared With Viora VST Skin Tightening
These are related and they are chosen for different situations.
Viora VST skin tightening is dermal tightening, applied across the face, neck, décolleté, and body wherever skin has lost firmness. It is the broader tool.
Relift is specific to the lower face and neck, and the vacuum component makes it the choice where the problem includes fullness along the jaw or under the chin rather than laxity alone. Where there is only laxity, VST is generally the right treatment.
What Relift Treats
- Jawline Definition: Firming skin along the jaw and reducing the fullness that blurs the line.
- Submental Fullness: Modestly reducing fat volume beneath the chin.
- Early Jowling: Improving the appearance of jowls in their earlier stages.
- Neck Laxity: Tightening mild to moderate loosening of neck skin.
- Skin Texture: General improvement in firmness and quality across the treated area.
What Relift Cannot Do
Radiofrequency with vacuum reduces the volume of fat cells in the treated area. It does not remove them, and the reduction is modest compared with what an actual fat removal procedure achieves. A patient with significant submental fat will see a change and will still have the fullness.
It also does not lift descended tissue or remove excess skin. A neck that hangs and a jaw with established jowling need surgery, or in the case of submental fat, laser assisted lipolysis, which removes fat rather than shrinking it.
The honest positioning is early to moderate change, in a patient who wants improvement without downtime and understands that the ceiling is real.
What to Expect From Treatment
A session takes roughly thirty to forty-five minutes. Patients describe warmth and a suction sensation, which is generally comfortable and requires no anesthesia.
There is no downtime. Mild redness or a temporary suction mark may last a short time. Patients return to normal activity immediately.
Results build across a series rather than appearing at one appointment, with sessions typically spaced a few weeks apart and the full effect developing over the following months as collagen remodels. Maintenance sessions preserve the result.
Relift Risks and Safety
This is a lower risk treatment and it is not risk free.
Expected effects include temporary redness, warmth, and occasionally a transient mark from the suction. Risks include burns and blistering where energy is delivered excessively, bruising from the vacuum component, and pigment changes, which are more likely where settings are not matched to the skin being treated.
Radiofrequency treatment is generally avoided over active infection, and patients with pacemakers or other implanted electronic devices, and patients who are pregnant, should discuss this before scheduling.
Individual results vary and no outcome can be guaranteed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Relift
Does Relift actually melt fat?
Not in the sense the phrase suggests, and the wording oversells what happens. Radiofrequency heating reduces the volume of fat cells in the treated area and improves circulation through it, producing a modest reduction in fullness. It does not destroy or remove fat cells the way liposuction or an actual fat destruction treatment does. Patients with significant submental fat will notice a change and will still have the fullness, and for them laser assisted lipolysis is the treatment that removes it.
How many Relift sessions will I need?
A series rather than a single session, typically spaced a few weeks apart, because the collagen response accumulates rather than appearing at once. The full effect develops over the months following the series as remodeling completes. Maintenance sessions periodically thereafter preserve the result, since aging continues regardless. Your specific number is set at consultation based on what your lower face is actually doing.
Is Relift as good as a lower facelift?
No, and the distinction matters for how you decide. A surgical lower facelift removes excess skin and repositions tissue, producing a change no energy treatment approaches, at the cost of surgery and weeks of recovery. Relift firms skin and modestly reduces fullness with no downtime at all. For early to moderate change it is a reasonable choice. For established jowling and genuinely loose skin it will not close the gap, and you should be told that before booking a series.
Does Relift hurt?
Most patients find it comfortable and describe warmth with a pulling or suction sensation as the applicator moves across the treatment area. No anesthesia is used. Tell the person treating you if the heat becomes uncomfortable, since that feedback keeps the treatment in the effective range without going past it.
Can Relift treat a double chin?
It can improve one modestly, which is a different claim from resolving one. Fullness under the chin caused by fat responds partially to radiofrequency with vacuum, since the treated fat cells reduce in volume, and skin above it firms at the same time. Where the fat is substantial, this is not the treatment that removes it. Many patients with a genuine double chin get further with laser assisted lipolysis, and that assessment happens at consultation.
How much does Relift cost in Beverly Hills?
Cost depends on the number of sessions in your plan, and treatments are frequently priced as a series rather than individually. Pricing is confirmed at consultation and current figures are published on the fees page. Cosmetic treatment is generally not covered by insurance and several payment options are available.
BEFORE & AFTER
Why Patients Choose Beverly Hills Aesthetics for Relift
- Two Problems At Once: Laxity and fullness addressed in the same treatment rather than sequentially.
- Physician Directed: Settings and depth set by Dr. Assassa rather than a standard protocol.
- Honest Candidacy Assessment: Patients needing surgery or fat removal are told so.
- Both RF Options Available: Relift and Viora VST offered, so the recommendation fits the concern.
- No Downtime: Treatment that fits into a working day.
Schedule a Relift Consultation in Beverly Hills
If your jawline has softened and there is fullness beneath it, the question is how much of each you have, since that determines whether an energy treatment will do enough. Dr. Assassa will assess your skin and your submental volume and tell you plainly what a Relift series can deliver. Beverly Hills Aesthetics serves patients from Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, and Century City. Request a consultation or schedule your appointment online.