Potenza RF microneedling is a treatment in which ultrafine needles create controlled micro-injuries and deliver radiofrequency energy into the dermis, prompting new collagen and elastin. Coastal Dermatology + Aesthetics uses it at its San Luis Obispo office for acne scarring, sagging skin and lines. Sessions run 45 to 90 minutes and results build over four to twelve weeks.
What Potenza does for your skin
Potenza rebuilds your skin from underneath. Ultrafine needles open microscopic channels and carry radiofrequency energy down to the layer where collagen actually lives, and your body answers by making more of it. Over the following weeks acne scars soften and shallow out, rough texture smooths, loose skin firms up, and fine lines fill in from below rather than being covered over.
This is not a facial. A facial polishes the skin you already have and you look better that afternoon. Potenza changes the structure underneath, which is why it keeps improving for weeks after you leave and why the result stays.
Nothing about it is preset. How deep the needles go, how much energy they carry and how many passes you get are chosen for your skin at your appointment. That is what lets it be used safely on every skin tone, and it is what lets it reach scarring that no cream, peel or facial will ever get to.
What Potenza is good at
- Softening pitted acne scars that have outlasted every product you have tried
- Smoothing rough, uneven texture and enlarged-looking pores
- Firming skin that has started to loosen along the jaw, neck and chest
- Filling fine lines from underneath instead of covering them
- Working safely on every skin tone, including deeper tones that rule out some lasers
- Treating more than one of those in the same appointment, rather than one concern per visit
Treatment modes on the Potenza system: monopolar or bipolar, at 1 MHz or 2 MHz. Your provider picks the one that suits the concern and your skin instead of running everyone at one setting. [1]
How treatment works
The channel
Ultrafine needles pass through the surface and open microscopic channels at a set depth. On their own these are enough to start your skin repairing itself.
The energy
Radiofrequency travels down the needles and warms the deeper layer where the needle sits, not the surface. This is the part plain microneedling cannot do, and it is what firms sagging skin rather than just smoothing texture.
The rebuild
Over the next several weeks your skin lays down fresh collagen and elastin. You do not walk out with the result. You grow it, which is why this is planned as a short course rather than a one-off.
How long the collagen response takes to show. What you see at two weeks is not what you are paying for. Judge it at three months.
Potenza® Fusion Tip
We are one of the only providers in our area that uses groundbreaking Potenza® Fusion tip technology, which delivers a topical treatment into the channels while your skin is being tightened through soft tissue coagulation.
Here is why that matters. Every serum you have ever bought has to fight its way through an intact skin barrier, and most of it never gets there. The Fusion tip puts the product in while the channels are still open, so it reaches the depth it was designed for instead of sitting on top and drying off.
See it in motion
Sixty seconds. Watch the handpiece work, and watch what happens beneath the surface once the energy goes in. That part never shows up in a before and after photo, and it is the part doing all the work. Then keep scrolling and see how it lands on real faces.
Areas we treat
Face
Softens acne scarring, smooths rough texture, firms early looseness along the cheeks.
Neck
Firms crepey skin in an area that usually gives your age away before your face does.
Jawline
Tightens a softening jaw and brings back some definition without surgery or filler.
Chest
Smooths the fine crosshatched lines left by years of sun.
Acne-scarred areas
Targeted work on the pitted, indented scars that stay long after the acne has gone.
Real results
Before & after
These are our own patients, photographed at our San Luis Obispo office and published with their consent. Individual results vary. There are more in the practice’s private gallery, and we are happy to show you cases similar to yours at your consultation.
Individual results vary. Photos shown are unretouched patients of Coastal Dermatology + Aesthetics, published with consent.
Studies, covering 481 patients, in a 2025 review of RF microneedling used on its own for acne scarring. The reviewers concluded it works as a standalone treatment, and said the research still has work to do on the ideal settings. [2]
Tressa is amazing! I’m an Esthetician in Pismo and refer to her all the time.
The Coastal difference
Depth is a clinical decision
The needle depth, the mode and the energy are not preset, and they are the whole treatment. Chosen well they soften a scar that has been there fifteen years. Chosen badly on the wrong skin, energy treatments leave dark marks instead of fixing them. Potenza can be used on every skin tone. That is not the same sentence as “at these settings, on your skin,” and the second one takes a physician.
You will also be told when something else is the better answer. Potenza is superb on scarring and texture and it is not a volume treatment, so if what is actually bothering you is a face that has emptied out, we will say so. A chemical peel treats the surface layer Potenza passes straight through, and the two are often sequenced together rather than chosen between.
Is it right for you?
Potenza is probably a good fit if:
- You have acne scars, rough texture or enlarged-looking pores that have not budged with skincare
- Your skin is starting to lose its firmness and you are not ready for anything surgical
- You can take two to five days of looking flushed
- You would rather build a result over three months than chase a quick one
We will steer you somewhere else if:
- You have active acne or broken skin in the area right now, which needs settling first
- You have a condition or medication that slows healing
- You have an implanted device that rules out radiofrequency
- You have a tan, fresh or from a bottle, and it needs to fade first
Not sure which of these you are? That is what the consultation is for, and it is the reason we do not sell this over the phone.
What to expect afterward
For the first few days you will look like you caught too much sun. Expect redness, some swelling, a few pinpoint dots where the needles went, and skin that feels tight and dry. It settles on its own. Most people are comfortable in public by day three and fully back to normal within a week.
In the first week, do
- Wash with a gentle cleanser and keep moisturizer on
- Wear sunscreen every day without exception
- Follow whatever topical plan your provider sends you home with
- Leave your skin alone while it heals
In the first week, don’t
- Pick at anything that flakes or crusts
- Go back to retinoids or acids until we clear you
- Work out, sit in a sauna or overheat if we have told you to wait
- Let healing skin see direct sun
Call us about anything severe, worsening, or simply not what we described: significant pain, blistering, signs of infection, or any reaction that does not match what we discussed before your treatment. We would far rather hear from you.
Concerns treated
Potenza works on the layer where scars, laxity and lines actually sit. Pick a concern to see how we approach it.
What treatment costs
Potenza is priced per session, and what you pay depends on how much area is being treated and how many sessions your skin needs. Most people are planning a short course rather than a single visit, so we quote you the whole plan at your consultation rather than one number that changes later.
We do not discount our way into a treatment. If a cheaper option would serve you better, that is the one you will be offered.
Treatment time
45 to 90 minutes
Downtime
2 to 5 days of redness, like a strong sunburn
Results appear
Gradually, over 4 to 12 weeks
Results last
Long-term, with occasional maintenance
Potenza® RF Microneedling frequently asked questions
Sunscreen matters more than usual while your skin is rebuilding. Broad spectrum, SPF 30 or higher, water resistant, every single day. [3]
Offered at
Ready to start? Request your consultation
Fill out the form below, book online in Santa Maria (opens online scheduler), or give us a call. Cosmetic and aesthetic appointments need no referral. For medical dermatology, we are accepting new patients by referral from your primary care physician; send the referral across and then use the same form.
Cosmetic consultations are $125, paid at booking and credited toward the cost of treatment.
Sources and medical review
1. Cynosure Lutronic. Potenza RF microneedling system. Four treatment modes: monopolar or bipolar delivery at 1 MHz or 2 MHz; monopolar for deep heating across a wider area, bipolar for concentrated superficial delivery. https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/cynosure-announces-launch-of-potenza-rf-microneedling-device · Manufacturer / Trade Press
2. Niaz G, Ajeebi Y, Alshamrani HM, Khalmurad M, Lee K. “Fractional Radiofrequency Microneedling as a Monotherapy in Acne Scar Management: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence.” *Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology.* 2025;18:19-29. Sixteen studies, 481 patients. PMID 39781098. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39781098/ · Peer-Reviewed Systematic Review
3. American Academy of Dermatology Association. “How to select a sunscreen.” Broad spectrum, SPF 30 or higher, water resistant. https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/sun-protection/shade-clothing-sunscreen/how-to-select-sunscreen · Medical Organization
4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 510(k) Premarket Notification K192545, Potenza, cleared 20 February 2020. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf19/K192545.pdf · Regulatory
Content on this page is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Potenza® is a trademark of Cynosure Lutronic, Inc. Individual results may vary. Cosmetic consultations are $125, paid at booking and credited toward the cost of treatment.