For the comparison with another Thermage-class device, see VF Lift vs Oligio.
Who suits the radiofrequency protocol, and who should wait, is on VF Lift suitability.
Published 28 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
VF Lift vs Thermage compares a protocol with a device. Both use monopolar radiofrequency at 6.78 MHz to heat the dermis as a volume. Thermage FLX tightens the skin envelope through single-use tips. The VF Lift – Vertical Facelift is Dr Sin Yong's protocol on Volnewmer, planned along vertical vectors with three modes, Lift, Sculpt and Restore, set zone by zone.
Short answerChoose by the face, not the device. Where laxity sits in the skin envelope of a face that has kept its volume, Thermage FLX fits. Where laxity comes with puffiness or hollowing, in a lean face, or on the neck, Dr Sin Yong leads with the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift. Neither adds product, removes skin or places focal heat in the SMAS.
VF Lift vs Thermage: what is the same, and what is not
VF Lift vs Thermage starts with what the two share. Both deliver monopolar radiofrequency at 6.78 MHz. Current passes from a tip on the skin to a return pad on the body, and the tissue's resistance turns it into heat in the deep dermis and the fibrous septa beneath it. Neither is focused ultrasound.
Illustrative image — not a patient.
The platforms differ in cooling: Thermage FLX, made by Solta Medical, uses cryogen spray with each pulse, and Volnewmer, made by CLASSYS, uses continuous water cooling. The device-level comparison is on Thermage FLX vs Volnewmer.
This page compares a device used for one job with a protocol built on a device. Thermage FLX tightens the skin envelope, with a tip chosen for the face, eyes or body. The VF Lift – Vertical Facelift is how Dr Sin Yong uses Volnewmer: the face is mapped first, then each zone is set for one of three aims.
What the VF Lift adds: vertical vectors and three modes
The VF Lift is planned along vertical vectors, the direction in which the face descended. Each zone is set to one of three modes.
Lift tightens loose skin along those vectors, directed at the jawline, the nasolabial folds, a double chin and the overall shape of the face.
Sculpt flattens areas that pouch or bulge, such as a puffy lower face or the fullness beside the nasolabial fold. It does not affect facial hair.
Restore is customised to hollow areas and is used to stimulate the patient's own fat to regenerate: the temples, the forehead including a central forehead hollow, under the eyes, the lateral cheeks and the prejowl sulcus in front of the jowl.
Thermage FLX has one action, deep dermal heating applied evenly under the tip. That suits a face whose problem is a loose skin envelope and nothing else.
Nothing is injected with either, so there is no product to overfill, migrate or form lumps. Any change from Restore builds gradually from the patient's own tissue and varies between people and with age.
“Thermage and Volnewmer share a frequency. What changes the plan is whether a face needs tightening alone, or lifting, sculpting and restoring in different zones.”
Dr Sin YongOn radiofrequency protocols
VF Lift or Thermage: which suits which face
The examination decides, and Dr Sin Yong performs both. For most lifting he leads with the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift and Time Freeze Laser LCLR® where they suit; Thermage FLX, HIFU on the Ultraformer MPT and Ultherapy remain part of the plan where the finding points to them.
Option
What it does
Suits
Not for
Page
VF Lift – Vertical Facelift
Volnewmer monopolar radiofrequency along vertical vectors, with Lift, Sculpt and Restore set zone by zone
Laxity with puffiness or hollowing; lean faces; the neck
An implanted electronic device; heavy redundant skin
Neither is a facelift. Neither cuts, repositions the SMAS or removes skin, and heavy redundant skin is referred to a plastic surgery specialist.
Thermage FLX cannot address puffiness, sagged fat or hollowing, because even dermal heating does not act on fat or volume.
The VF Lift cannot place focal heat in the SMAS or move tissue on the day. Restore builds gradually and varies; it does not replace lost bone support.
Both are monopolar radiofrequency, so a pacemaker or other implanted electronic device rules both out, metal implants near the field change the plan, and pregnancy means waiting.
Both share a family of risks: redness, warmth, swelling and tenderness; less often a blister, crust or altered sensation; rarely a slight dent where heat reaches thin fat.
The VF Lift has a mode built for hollow areas, which is why Dr Sin Yong uses it for lean faces.
The neck, the eyes and the body: where the choice is clearer
Thermage FLX is used on necks at other clinics. For the neck, Dr Sin Yong uses the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift and Time Freeze Laser LCLR® instead of Thermage, set conservatively on thin neck skin with the thyroid kept out of the field. Vertical platysma bands are muscle and answer to neither; see neck lift without surgery.
For the eyes, Thermage FLX has a small eye tip for crepey lid skin and mild hooding, with shields under the lids; Thermage for the eyes explains it. The VF Lift is used around the eyes too: Lift for droopy upper eyes where suitable, and Restore under the eyes with the small I tip and conservative settings, after an ultrasound scan where filler is suspected.
On the body, Dr Sin Yong's protocol on Volnewmer is the VF Lift – Vertical Figure Lift, used on the abdomen, underarms and arms, with Restore for hollow or depleted areas.
Where they are combined, and how Dr Sin Yong chooses
The two can share a face where different zones need different things. Crepey eyelid skin can take the Thermage eye tip alongside the VF Lift on the face. Staging is decided at assessment, and heat is not stacked on tissue that is still responding.
Dr Sin Yong examines the face at rest and in animation, palpates skin and fat thickness zone by zone, and separates laxity from fat and lost volume, with ultrasound where earlier filler is involved. Then:
Skin envelope laxity in a face that has kept its volume: Thermage FLX may be planned alone.
Laxity with puffiness or hollowing, or a lean face: the VF Lift leads.
A heavy lower face with compact fat or settled product: Time Freeze Laser LCLR® leads.
Marked skin excess: referral for a surgical opinion.
1. MessageWhatsApp +65 8023 7170 with what is bothering you. A reply comes from the clinic, not a bot.
2. AssessmentDr Sin Yong examines you himself on Orchard Road, with ultrasound where earlier filler is involved.
3. A plan in writingWhat he would do, what he would not, the fee factors, and the option of no treatment.
Every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong personally. Singapore Medical Council registered · invited to share his clinical expertise internationally for CLASSYS, DEKA, Fotona, Hironic and Ilooda.
Book an assessment with Dr Sin Yong on Orchard Road. Bring the dates of any earlier Thermage, HIFU or filler. How consultations work.
No, although they share an energy: monopolar radiofrequency at 6.78 MHz. Thermage FLX is a Solta Medical device with cryogen cooling, used to tighten the skin envelope. The VF Lift – Vertical Facelift is Dr Sin Yong's protocol on the CLASSYS Volnewmer, with water cooling, planned along vertical vectors with Lift, Sculpt and Restore modes.
It is not a ranking, because they suit different faces. Thermage FLX fits laxity of the skin envelope in a face that has kept its volume. The VF Lift fits laxity with puffiness or hollowing, a lean face, or the neck. Dr Sin Yong performs both and chooses after examining which layer has changed.
In a lean or hollowing face, Dr Sin Yong uses the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift, because its Restore mode is customised to hollow areas and used to stimulate the patient's own fat to regenerate. Thermage has no setting for hollowing. Either is used with restraint over thin tissue, and any change varies between people.
Yes, that is how Dr Sin Yong treats the neck. He uses the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift and Time Freeze Laser LCLR® for loose neck skin and fat under the chin, set conservatively on thin skin. Vertical platysma bands are muscle and are assessed separately, and hanging folds of skin are referred for a surgical opinion.
Both are felt as deep heat. In one randomised split-face trial of the two platforms in 22 Asian women, procedural pain was significantly lower on the Volnewmer side. It was a single, short trial. Comfort also depends on settings, area and the person, and energy is adjusted to your report of heat on either.
Usually, yes. Bring the date, the areas treated and how your skin responded. A recent heating treatment changes the timing and settings of the next, so the VF Lift is planned around it rather than stacked on tissue that is still remodelling. Recent filler or threads in the same plane are also timed around.
References
Multicenter study of noninvasive radiofrequency for periorbital tissue tightening. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, 2003. source
Treatment of Facial Skin Laxity by a New Monopolar Radiofrequency Device. Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery (PMC), 2011. source
About this page: written and medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong, MBBS (NUS), MRCS (Edinburgh) · Last reviewed 28 October 2026 · Illustrative images only, not patients · Editorial policy
