How painful is Potenza? Some say it is too painful? How to alleviate the pain is also explained.

The contents of this column, "Potenza," are not handled by the hospital at this time, but we ask that you use it as a source of information.

Hello, this is Smart Skin Clinic.

Do you have these questions about Potenza?

From a cosmetic dermatologist's point of view, I think Potenza is an excellent procedure, but on the other hand, I often hear people talk about "pain.

Therefore, from the standpoint of a physician, I will provide an easy-to-understand explanation based on a medical perspective plus my own experience with the procedure.

How painful is Potenza?

The assumption is that pain is subjective, so it is difficult to objectively indicate how much it hurts.

However, I dare say,The "quite painful" categoryI think it will be

I am sure there are other procedures that are painful in terms of pain from one shot alone. One of the characteristics of Potenza is that the pain intensifies over the second and third rounds.

Velvet Skin and other procedures that introduce a peeling agent after the dermapen are also known to be "too painful". These treatments take 5~10 minutes at most to introduce the solution. On the other hand, Potenza takes about 20~40 minutes for the entire treatment, and some people may not like the fact that it lasts for a long time.

Why does Potenza hurt?

So why does potenza hurt so much?

This is easy to understand when you consider how Potenza works. Potenza is easy to understand,2-step treatment: (1) needle insertion (2) RF wave emissionThe first two are the following.

It is similar to a dermapen if you just stick a needle in (1).

The RF waves in (2) are the key point.RF waves apply "heat" to the inside of the skin.This may be a bit of a bad image, but a simple analogy might be to imagine a stun gun.

So the needle emits a chirping RF wave and heat is applied. This is what causes Potenza to be sometimes referred to as "too painful.

So it is quite painful, because once the heat is applied to the area, a second or third round of treatment may be performed.

But it's not all bad; the mechanism by which these RF waves apply heat not only makes them highly effective, but also greatly reduces downtime. For more information, please read this article.

Which hurts more, dermapen or potenza?

Conclusions,potenzaIt is.

As explained earlier, the system works roughly as follows.

Dermapen = needle stick

Potenza = needle stick + RF waves

It is important to recognize that RF wave minute potenzas are more painful.

However, if an introductory solution is used after the dermapen, especially when introducing a peeling agent such as Velvet Skin or PQage, the pain intensity may be dermapen > potenza.

Comparison of pain between Potenza and other treatments

Other procedures that might compare favorably in terms of pain would be photofacials, medical hair removal, and fractional lasers.

Even when compared to these, the pain of potenza seems to be the most intense.

As for medical hair removal, it is possible that medical hair removal > potenza in terms of instantaneous pain intensity. Also, the type of pain? The way you feel varies from person to person, so there may be some types of pain that you are not comfortable with.

This is just subjective, but I have received all of them, and Potenza was the most painful (laughs).

How to Relieve Potenza Pain

Now that we know the potenza hurts, is there anything we can do to make it a little less painful?"


I will try to respond to the voice of "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

*As a prerequisite, I think most clinics basically use anesthetics during the Potenza procedure.

The following are some of the options to consider outside of anesthetics

(1) Shallow needle depth
(2) Reduce the number of joules (≈strength) of the RF wave
(3) Reduce the number of shots

These will be adjusted by the nurse while checking your pain at most clinics. So, please do not be too patient and consult with us.

If Potenza is too painful, dermapen and fractional laser are options.

How have you liked it so far?

I still fear the pain of potenza..."

I took one, but I can't take a second..."

Is there anyone who would like to do this?

I actually felt this way myself (laughs).

Probably the majority of people who undergo Potenza do so because they want to improve their skin luster, pores, or acne scars.

Dermapen and fractional laser are good options for such concerns.

Both of these treatments increase collagen and elastin by acting on the deeper layers of the skin (dermis layer).

In addition, the dermapen can be used to introduce a variety of induction solutions after the needle is punctured. In particular, the introduction of exosomes may reduce downtime.

Smart Skin Clinic offers dermapen and various induction solutions, so please feel free to contact us if you are interested.