Thermage

Thermage in Seoul: Planning Your Visit

A visit-planning guide to Thermage FLX at RESUM in Gangnam: how long to set aside, what the day involves, and how the weeks and months after radiofrequency lifting usually go.

Plan a consultation

Published: 2026-10-15

Updated: 2026-10-15

At a glance

A session takes 60-90 minutes with numbing cream, and daily activities can resume right after.
Some tightening shows at once. New collagen then builds over about 4-6 months.
A full face is planned within 600-900 shots, and Dr. Jin-Young Kim sets the distribution in a 1:1 consultation.

What is Thermage?

Thermage FLX is a non-surgical firming treatment that uses monopolar radiofrequency at about 6.78MHz. It warms the whole dermis across a wide area while the skin surface is cooled, so nothing is cut.

It suits changes that are spread through the skin instead of sitting at one depth: a general loss of firmness, fine lines, a softer facial contour and pore texture. The tip vibrates and cools as it works (Comfort Pulse Technology), which helps with comfort during the session.

How long does Thermage take?

Allow 60-90 minutes for the session itself, plus time for the consultation and for the numbing cream to take effect. You can go straight back to your day afterwards, but saunas and hard exercise are limited for about 1 week, so tell us your travel dates and we will suggest where in your stay to place it.

Session	60-90 minutes
Numbing	Numbing cream
Back to daily activities	Right after the session
How long it lasts	About 12 months

What can Thermage not do?

Thermage does not lift deep sagging at the SMAS level. In that situation Ultherapy together with Thermage, a thread lift or facelift surgery is considered first, and the doctor will say so in the consultation instead of adding more shots.

It is also not a treatment for one large change. Firmness care is built up in steps, and the next treatment is usually discussed on a 1-2 year cycle.

Photo gallery

Purpose & suitability

Fine lines and a general loss of firmness have appeared together across the face.

Pore texture and a blurred facial contour bother you, and you would prefer not to have surgery.

You need to be back at work or out in the city right after treatment.

You are weighing Ultherapy for deeper sagging and want both planned in one consultation.

Treatment process

Consultation. The doctor checks where the sagging sits, how firm the dermis is, the state of pores and fine lines and what you have had done before, then tells you whether Thermage alone is enough.
Shot plan. A full face stays within 600-900 shots, or 900-1,200 when the neck and the area under the chin are included. More shots go where sagging is greater and fewer where the skin is thin.
Numbing and treatment. Once the numbing cream has worked, the Total Tip is passed over the face. Intensity follows your pain feedback and the way your skin responds, and is not left to the automatic setting of the device alone.
Before you leave. You are told how to protect the skin from the sun, what to hold back on during the first week and when a further treatment would make sense.

Time & recovery

Slight swelling and redness for about 1-3 days is a normal course. In rare cases mild swelling lasts up to 1-2 weeks, and no rest period is needed.

For about 1 week, cut back on saunas, hot compresses, strenuous exercise and alcohol, and keep up your sun protection.

Judge the result late, not early. Part of the tightening is visible right after the session and the collagen response keeps building for about 4-6 months, so much of the change arrives after you are home.

Limitations & precautions

Thermage is not used for anyone with an implanted electrical device such as a pacemaker, cochlear implant or implantable defibrillator. If you have a metal implant near the treatment area, its position is checked and the area is adjusted.

The main risks are burns, and a depression left by loss of fat under the skin. Both are linked to excessive intensity, so for slim patients and areas with little fat the intensity and the shot count are lowered.

Results differ with skin thickness and the pattern of ageing. A consultation with Dr. Jin-Young Kim comes before any treatment.

Frequently asked questions

Can I fit Thermage into a short stay in Seoul?

Yes, a short stay is usually enough for Thermage, because the session takes 60-90 minutes and daily activities resume right after. Expect slight swelling and redness for about 1-3 days, and plan to limit saunas, hot compresses, strenuous exercise and alcohol for about 1 week.

Is Thermage painful?

Numbing cream is applied before Thermage to reduce discomfort. The FLX tip also uses Comfort Pulse Technology, fine vibration with cooling, to disperse pain, and the doctor adjusts the intensity according to what you report during the session.

How is Thermage different from Ultherapy?

Thermage heats the whole dermis with radiofrequency, while Ultherapy is used for deeper sagging at the SMAS level. Firmness, fine lines and pore texture point to Thermage. Deep sagging points to Ultherapy, a thread lift or facelift surgery, and some people have Ultherapy and Thermage planned together.

I fly home a few days later. When will I see the result?

Some change is visible right after Thermage, and the rest develops over about 4-6 months as new collagen forms. Much of the change therefore appears after you are home, so assess it several months later and not in the first week.

Who decides how many shots I receive?

Dr. Jin-Young Kim decides the shot count, intensity and distribution in a 1:1 consultation and performs the treatment personally. A fixed package number is not applied: the standard full-face range of 600-900 shots is adjusted to your sagging, skin thickness and fat layer.