Non-Surgical · Radiofrequency Microneedling

RF Microneedling

Needle depth from 0.3 mm to 4.0 mm, set against the condition

Gangnam, Seoul | Board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Jonghwan Choi
KHIDI-registered for international patients · Apgujeong Rewind

Sylfirm X Sylfirm X Sylfirm X Sylfirm X Sylfirm X Sylfirm X 
Define

RF microneedling

RF microneedling at Rewind: one platform, and the depth is the decision

The short answer

RF microneedling drives fine needles through the skin surface and releases radiofrequency thermal energy from their tips at a chosen depth. Rewind runs it on Sylfirm X, and the clinic's own device record describes that system in exactly those terms: a medical device combining radiofrequency with microneedling, carrying needles adjustable from 0.3 mm to 4.0 mm, so the intended skin layer can be targeted according to the condition and the symptoms in front of the doctor. The four aims recorded against it there are melasma, facial redness, pore appearance and firmness, addressed together.

Source: Rewind's own equipment documentation. How many appointments a plan runs to, how far apart they sit, what numbing arrangement applies and how long a visit takes are all absent from that record, so none of those figures are stated anywhere on this page. They belong to the examination.

The category name confuses people, and it helps to separate its two halves. Microneedling on its own makes controlled channels through the surface. Radiofrequency on its own heats tissue from outside the skin and is limited by everything it has to pass through first. Put the current at the tip of the needle and the heating starts where the needle stops, which turns an adjustable needle into an adjustable treatment depth.

That single sentence is the whole argument for the device class, and it is also the reason this page keeps returning to millimetres. A 0.3 mm setting and a 4.0 mm setting deliver the same class of energy to entirely different tissue. Two patients can leave the same room, treated on the same console, having received treatments with almost nothing in common.

Rewind holds one radiofrequency microneedling platform. Other manufacturers build consoles in this category, and you will find English-language pages ranking them against each other; that contest is not run here. What follows describes the machine that is actually in this clinic and the four things the clinic's record asks of it.

Skin assessment at the consultation desk, Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong
Fig. 01 — Which layer is treated is settled here, before a needle depth is dialled in
Aims

What the platform is pointed at

Four complaints recorded against RF microneedling at this clinic

Rewind's equipment record names four targets for this system and describes them as being addressed in the same session. The order below is the order patients tend to raise them in at the desk, and each one implies a different working depth, which is the point of owning an adjustable needle at all.

aim 01
Melasma
Diffuse brown patching, named first in the clinic's record. Treated conservatively here, for reasons set out further down this page.
aim 02
Facial redness
Persistent flushing and visible vessels across the cheeks and nose, where the working depth sits shallower than it does for scarring.
aim 03
Pore appearance
Coarse openings across the nose, inner cheeks and forehead. The aim with the clearest published support in this device category.
aim 04
Firmness
Slackness in the skin itself, worked at the deeper end of the needle range, separate from tissue that has descended and needs lifting.

Two boundaries are worth drawing now. Flat sun-driven pigment as the leading complaint is usually a light problem before it is a needle problem, and the route for that is a pico laser toning course on a different platform. Structural descent — a jaw line that has dropped, a mid-face that has lost its position — is not a skin-quality complaint at all, and no needle depth on this console answers it. Being told which of the three you actually have is the most useful thing a consultation produces.

Depth

Mechanism

How an RF microneedling pass reaches a layer that surface energy cannot

Four steps describe what happens between the handpiece touching down and the plan for your next appointment being written. The third is where the device earns its place, and the fourth is where most disappointment originates.

01Entry

Needles cross the barrier the skin exists to maintain

The outer layer is built to keep things out, and it is very good at it. A stamped array of fine needles passes through it in a controlled pattern, creating discrete channels at a set spacing. Nothing therapeutic has happened yet; this step only puts the working end of the device where the current can be delivered.

02Depth

0.3 mm to 4.0 mm, and the number is a clinical decision

Rewind's device record states the adjustable range plainly, and describes the purpose of that range as targeting the intended skin layer according to condition and symptom. Shallow settings sit in the upper dermis where redness and surface texture live. The deeper end of the range reaches tissue associated with firmness. One console, several treatments.

03Heat

Thermal energy released at the tip, not across the surface

The clinic's description is that radiofrequency thermal energy is delivered into the skin at the depth the needle has reached. Because the current enters from the needle itself, the layers above it are spared the heating load that an external applicator would impose on them. That sparing is why an aggressive dermal treatment can be done with a short visible recovery.

04Sequence

Remodelling is slow, and the calendar belongs to the doctor

Thermal injury at a controlled depth starts a repair process that runs for weeks after you have gone home. A single appointment is a step in a plan. Rewind publishes no session count and no interval for this platform, so this page states neither; both are set at the examination and revised against what the previous appointment actually produced.

Handpiece work during a device session at Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong
Fig. 02 — Depth, density and coverage are dialled per region, per appointment
Rewind

Judgement

Three positions Rewind holds on RF microneedling

This is a device that can be sold in ten-session blocks to almost anybody, and the published record supports some of its uses far better than others. These are the positions that keep a plan proportionate.

01Evidence

The literature is thickest where the marketing is quietest

Peer-reviewed work on fractional microneedle radiofrequency clusters around acne, atrophic acne scarring and enlarged pores; a real-world series in 75 patients, a meta-analysis, split-face trials and a study of selective sebaceous gland electrothermolysis all sit at the foot of this page. Melasma and redness appear in this clinic's four stated aims, and they carry thinner published support in this device category. You are told which of your complaints sits on which side of that line.

02Restraint

One platform here, and no contest between brand names

Rewind holds a single radiofrequency microneedling console. A page that ranks consoles against each other is selling a purchase decision the clinic cannot honour, since only one of those machines is in the building. What is discussed at the consultation is depth, coverage and whether energy is the right answer at all.

03Authorship

Settings are chosen by the surgeon who will review them

Dr. Jonghwan Choi assesses the skin, sets the depth and sees the same face at the following appointment. A board-certified plastic surgeon spends most of a working week deciding when tissue should be cut and when it should be left alone, and that reflex transfers usefully to a device whose main failure mode is being run too hard.

Consultation room at Rewind Plastic Surgery, Richro Building, Apgujeong
Fig. 03 — The plan is revised in this room, appointment by appointment
Floor

On the day

What an RF microneedling appointment involves on the treatment floor

Treatment room at Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong

Fig. 04 — A treatment room on the clinic floor

Recovery area at Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong

Fig. 05 — Where redness is given time to settle before you leave

Makeup comes off, the skin is cleansed and the regions being treated are marked against what was agreed at the consultation. Depth is set per region: the nose and inner cheeks rarely want the same setting as the jaw line. Patients describe the pass itself as a firm tapping with heat arriving a beat later. Work happens on the fourth and fifth floors of the Richro Building in Gangnam, Seoul, by appointment, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 to 19:00 and on Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00.

Radiofrequency combined with microneedling
Needle depth adjustable 0.3–4.0 mm
Layer chosen against condition and symptom
Thermal energy released at needle depth
Settings set by Dr. Jonghwan Choi
Plan reviewed against the previous appointment

Numbing arrangements and appointment length are not published by Rewind for this platform, so this page does not state them; a website that guesses at clinical detail is manufacturing it. Sessions are sometimes assembled with an injectable step, and the price sheet below carries a separate combined rate for that reason. Whether that pairing suits your skin is a question for the examination and not for a booking form.

Record

Case photography

RF microneedling photographs: why these frames are still blank

Rewind has not released a consented case series for this platform, and the cards below stay empty until it does. Skin-quality photography is also the category where published pairs deserve the most scepticism: a change of angle, a harder flash and a bare face against a made-up one can manufacture most of the apparent difference without any treatment occurring at all.

RF microneedling — case pairs

BEFORE PHOTO
AFTER PHOTO
BEFOREAFTER
case — skin quality plan
RF microneedling
Individual results may vary.
BEFORE PHOTO
AFTER PHOTO
BEFOREAFTER
case — skin quality plan
RF microneedling
Individual results may vary.
BEFORE PHOTO
AFTER PHOTO
BEFOREAFTER
case — skin quality plan
RF microneedling
Individual results may vary.
BEFORE PHOTO
AFTER PHOTO
BEFOREAFTER
case — skin quality plan
RF microneedling
Individual results may vary.

When pairs for this platform are published they will carry the details that let a reader check them: matched camera distance and matched lighting on both dates, a bare face in both frames, the needle depths used, the number of appointments completed and the interval since the last one. Written consent will be on file for every pair. No specific outcome can be promised from another patient's skin, and individual results may vary.

Rates

Pricing

What RF microneedling costs per appointment in Gangnam, Seoul

Two published rates, and the gap between them is structural. The first is what this platform costs when it is the whole appointment. The second applies when the pass is assembled inside a larger session alongside another step, where part of the room time and preparation is already being paid for once.

Sylfirm X — standalone appointmentThe RF microneedling pass as the entire visit
₩350,000
Sylfirm X — combined rateThe same pass run as one step within a larger session
₩250,000

VAT is charged on top of both figures, so the receipt sits above the sheet, while numbing preparation is already counted inside them. Combination pricing exists because combinations are commonly proposed here; it is not an argument for booking one. Nothing resembling a course total is quoted before the examination, because the count of appointments is the only term in that sum that moves, and it moves according to what your skin turns out to need.

Fit

Suitability

Who RF microneedling suits here, and when the doctor says no

Usually a reasonable plan

  • Coarse pore openings across the central face in skin that is otherwise intact
  • Indented scarring left behind once acne has settled, with no inflamed lesions in the treatment field
  • Persistent facial redness in someone who understands this is managed across appointments
  • Skin that has softened in quality while still sitting where it belongs on the face
  • Travellers who can start a plan here and continue it under a clinician at home

Reasons the doctor declines or defers

  • Active inflamed or infected skin over the intended field, which is treated first and needled later
  • A recent tan or sunburn, or a beach holiday booked immediately afterwards
  • A history of keloid or heavily hypertrophic scarring, where controlled injury is a poor trade
  • Recent isotretinoin, or medication affecting healing and bleeding, until that has been reviewed
  • Descent of the mid-face or jaw line presented as a skin complaint — energy at any depth is the wrong tool for it
  • An expectation of clearance from one appointment, or of a result that holds without maintenance
After

Recovery

The days after an RF microneedling pass, and what they ask of you

Rewind's aftercare for its device treatments is short, specific and written for people who are about to go back outside. The four cards below follow that clinic instruction; the paragraph beneath them names what can go wrong.

Straight after
Back to ordinary activity
The clinic's record states that normal daily life resumes immediately after a device session. Expect to look treated for a while; expect to be functional throughout.
Same day
No sauna, no hard exercise, no alcohol
All three are ruled out for the day of treatment on the clinic's own instruction. Each of them drives blood into skin that has just been heated on purpose.
One to two days
Nothing rubbed, nothing pressed
Rewind asks that the treated area is not rubbed or compressed for one to two days. Sleeping position and a heavy cleansing routine both count as pressure.
Onward
Moisture and sun protection, thoroughly
Diligent moisturising and sun protection are the two standing instructions. Channels made through the barrier are a reason to take both of them seriously.

Naming the risks properly matters more here than anywhere else on this page. Rewind's own record states that bruising or swelling may occur after a device session and generally subsides within a few days. Beyond that, the recognised list for needle-based radiofrequency includes pinpoint bleeding and grid-pattern marking at the entry points, prolonged redness, temporary darkening in skin prone to it, small crusts where the needles entered, infection if the barrier is disturbed while it is open, and scarring where energy has been pushed too hard for the tissue. Sensation over a treated field can be altered for a period. Any area that darkens instead of settling, any tenderness building past the first few days, and any discharge or spreading warmth are reasons to contact the clinic before the next appointment rather than after it. On duration, the clinic's record for its device treatments says only that effects may last six months to a year or more depending on the skin and the treatment; that is the figure Rewind publishes and this page does not improve on it.

Doctor

Professional

At Rewind, one board-certified plastic surgeon carries every case — from the first consultation to the final follow-up. Because a face is a story, and a story deserves a single author.

Dr. Jonghwan Choi, board-certified plastic surgeonRewind,
Dr. Jonghwan Choi presenting at an academic session
Fig. 06 — Academic presentation

Rewind's Doctor

Dr. Jonghwan Choi Medical Director

One surgeon, from the first
consultation to the last follow-up.

A board-certified plastic surgeon devoted to anti-aging lifting — with the precision and restraint built through years of craniofacial practice.

Board-certified plastic surgeon (Plastic Surgery)
10 peer-reviewed publications
Medical Director, Rewind Plastic Surgery
Korean Society of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons
Former chief director, Apgujeong Y&T Plastic Surgery
Korean Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
J Craniofac Surg · JKMS · Arch Craniofac Surg
Korean Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association
Voices

Google Reviews

What our patients say.

G 5.0 ★★★★★ 12 Google reviews · Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong — live-synced from Google Business Profile

"Sample review card — at launch this section pulls the clinic's real Google reviews automatically, shown verbatim with the reviewer's initial and posting date."

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"Sample review card — reviews are never written or edited by the clinic; only what patients posted on Google appears here."

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Ask

Questions

RF microneedling questions asked at the Gangnam consultation desk

What does RF microneedling actually do to the skin?
Fine needles create channels through the surface and release radiofrequency thermal energy from their tips at a chosen depth. Rewind's record for Sylfirm X describes needles adjustable from 0.3 mm to 4.0 mm so the intended layer is targeted according to the condition. The heating triggers a repair response over the following weeks.
Why does needle depth matter so much on this platform?
Because the depth decides which tissue is treated. Shallow settings reach the upper dermis where redness and surface texture sit; the deeper end of the range reaches tissue associated with firmness. The same console, run at two different depths, delivers two clinically different treatments to two different patients.
Which of my complaints does the clinic's own record cover?
Four are named against this system at Rewind: melasma, facial redness, pore appearance and firmness, addressed in the same session. Anything outside that set is discussed on its merits at the examination and is not claimed here on the strength of marketing material alone.
How many appointments will I need, and how far apart?
Rewind publishes neither figure for this platform, so neither appears on this page. Remodelling after controlled thermal injury runs for weeks, which makes this a planned sequence. The count and the spacing are set at the examination and revised against what the previous appointment produced.
Is this better for acne scarring or for pores?
The published record in this device category is substantial for both. A real-world series in 75 patients examined enlarged facial pores, while split-face trials, a meta-analysis and work in Asian skin examined atrophic acne scarring. Those papers are listed at the foot of this page, and which aim leads your plan is decided from your skin.
Does it help melasma?
Melasma is one of the four aims in Rewind's record for this system, but the published support for needle-based radiofrequency in melasma is thinner than it is for acne scarring and pores. Expect a cautious plan, a conservative depth and a frank conversation about what light-based routes offer for the same complaint.
How does this compare with radiofrequency applied from outside the skin?
An external applicator has to push energy through every layer above the target, which limits how hard it can be run. Needles place the current where they stop, sparing the surface above. Both approaches exist at Rewind and they are proposed for different complaints, sometimes in the same overall plan.
What does one appointment cost?
Two rates are published in the pricing section above: one for the pass as a standalone appointment, one for the same pass run inside a larger combined session. VAT is charged separately on top of both, and numbing preparation is already counted inside them.
Why is the combined rate lower than the standalone rate?
Because a combined session pays for room time, preparation and review once and then carries two steps through it. The lower figure reflects that shared overhead. It is a pricing structure and carries no clinical opinion about whether a combination suits you.
What is the downtime, and when can I wear makeup?
Rewind's record states that ordinary daily life resumes immediately after a device session. For that day, sauna, hard exercise and alcohol are out. For one to two days the area is not rubbed or compressed, and moisturising and sun protection are the standing instructions thereafter.
What can go wrong?
The clinic's record notes bruising or swelling settling within a few days. The wider recognised list includes pinpoint bleeding, grid-pattern marking at the entry points, prolonged redness, temporary darkening in skin prone to it, small crusts, infection through open channels, altered sensation and scarring where energy has been pushed too far.
Is the pass usually combined with something injected?
It often is, and a combined rate exists on the sheet for that reason. Open channels are a route for a preparation applied over the treated field, and the option most frequently paired here is set out on the exosome therapy page. Whether it is added is decided at the examination.
Booking

Reservation

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Scientific evidence

Fractional microneedle radiofrequency: what the trials report

These five papers map the ground this device category stands on: a real-world series in enlarged pores, a meta-analysis pooling fractional radiofrequency work in acne and acne scarring, a trial in Asian skin with atrophic scarring, a split-face comparison against a fractional laser, and a controlled study of selective sebaceous gland electrothermolysis. They describe the class of technology, not this clinic's console specifically, and none of them was carried out at Rewind Plastic Surgery. None of them predicts what your own skin will do either, which is the reason the plan is written in a room and reviewed appointment by appointment.