Radiofrequency therapy
Radiofrequency Therapy in Physiotherapy
Written and clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H. Last reviewed 15 October 2026.
Radiofrequency therapy, also called radiofrequency diathermy, passes a high-frequency current through the body to warm muscle and connective tissue deeper than a heat pack can reach. We use it at Serangoon before hands-on work and exercise, mainly for dense scar tissue and long-standing stiffness. It is an add-on, never the treatment on its own.
$50 added to a physiotherapy appointment, or $90 booked on its own. At Serangoon, with Louise Yow.
If this sounds like you
Months on, and it still stops in the same place
The operation was months ago, or the injury was last year. The scar has closed, the swelling has gone down, and the joint still stops at the same point every time. You stretch it at home and it gives a little. By the next morning it is back where it was.
The back of the shoulder when you reach for the seatbelt. The knee on the bottom step. The thick scar that pulls when you bend.
The usual belief is that it needs to be pushed harder. Dense scar and tissue that has been short for months does not change because it is forced once. It changes when it is moved and loaded, often, over weeks, and it moves more easily when it is warm. Has anyone measured the range, so you know whether it is moving at all?
Not the cosmetic kind
Radiofrequency is also sold in beauty clinics for skin tightening. That is a different use of a related technology. Here it is used to warm muscle and connective tissue so it is ready for treatment. If you are looking for skin tightening, this page is not about that.
What we use it for
Three jobs, each one preparing the tissue for treatment:
- Warming deeper tissue. Controlled therapeutic heat into muscle and connective tissue that a heat pack on the skin does not reach.
- Before hands-on work on dense scar and long-standing stiffness. Warm tissue is more pliable, so the myofascial release and joint mobilization that follow can work further into the stiffness.
- Before active work. It prepares the tissue for movement, joint mobilization and strength training. It does not replace them.
It is strictly an adjunct. The part of the appointment that changes what the tissue can do is the hands-on treatment and the exercise, and that is the part that carries on at home. For stiffness after an operation, the page on physiotherapy after surgery sets out how the four stages run.
What it feels like
We use a BTL radiofrequency unit. You lie or sit comfortably, a conductive cream is applied, and your physiotherapist moves a handheld electrode over the area for a few minutes. You feel a steady warmth that builds gradually. It should never feel hot or burn. Say so at once if it does, and it is turned down or stopped.
Is this normal afterwards?
Usually expected
- Steady warmth during treatment
- Skin a little pink for a short while afterwards
- Feeling looser, which is the point: the hands-on work and exercise follow straight after
Tell us, or see a doctor
- Heat that is uncomfortable during treatment: tell your physiotherapist straight away
- A blister, or skin that is still red and sore the next day: see a doctor the same day
What the research says
The research on radiofrequency in physiotherapy is small. Reviews have found mixed results in long-standing conditions, with most of the work done on one type, pulsed shortwave, in knee osteoarthritis.1,2 One randomized trial of a 448 kHz device in knee osteoarthritis found better pain and function when it was added to usual care.3
That is not enough to use it on its own, and it is why we use it to prepare tissue for the treatments with more evidence behind them: hands-on treatment and exercise.
When radiofrequency is not used
Your physiotherapist checks for these before using it. Tell them if any apply:
- A pacemaker or any other implanted electronic device
- You are pregnant and the area is the abdomen, lower back or pelvis
- Cancer in or near the area
- An infection, or an area with a suspected blood clot
- Reduced feeling in the skin over the area
- A fresh injury that is still hot and swollen
- Metal in the area, such as a plate or screws from surgery: your physiotherapist decides whether it can be used
- Over the eyes, or over growing bones in children
Who does it
Radiofrequency at Serangoon
Every appointment is one-to-one with your physiotherapist for the full 45 minutes. We do not use therapy assistants.
Louise Yow
Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H
Runs radiofrequency therapy at Serangoon, and the hands-on treatment and exercise that follow it.
Radiofrequency therapy
Added to a physiotherapy appointment ($230 per 45-minute appointment, nett, no GST). Booked on its own, $90. At Serangoon.
Questions
Before you book
Does radiofrequency therapy hurt?
No. You feel a steady warmth. It should never feel hot or burn, and it is turned down or stopped the moment you say so.
Is this the same as radiofrequency skin tightening?
No. Beauty clinics use radiofrequency for the skin. In physiotherapy it is used to warm muscle and connective tissue before hands-on treatment and exercise.
How is radiofrequency different from ultrasound therapy?
Ultrasound uses sound waves through a small head. Radiofrequency uses a high-frequency current to warm tissue more deeply. Both are add-ons to hands-on treatment and exercise. Ultrasound therapy →
Can I book radiofrequency on its own?
Yes, at $90. Added to a physiotherapy appointment it is $50. If the problem is new, or has not been assessed, start with an Assessment & Treatment so we know what we are treating.
Where is radiofrequency therapy available?
At the Serangoon clinic, 265 Serangoon Central Drive #04-269, with Louise Yow.
Will my insurance pay?
It depends on your policy. How insurance claims for physiotherapy actually work →
Where
Radiofrequency at Serangoon
SERANGOON
265 Serangoon Central Drive #04-269
S550265 · Lift C only
NE12CC13 Serangoon MRT
Physiotherapy and hand therapy in Serangoon →
WhatsApp 8892 4121Stiff for months and not sure why?
Months on and it still stops in the same place? Get Assessed & Treated, and leave knowing what is limiting it, which stage you are in, and whether radiofrequency is worth adding.
Phoebe, our WhatsApp assistant, replies with a clinic and two times. $230 per 45-minute appointment, nett, no GST. Bring any scan report or doctor’s letter you have.
Sources
Research referred to on this page
- Kumaran B, Watson T. Radiofrequency-based treatment in therapy-related clinical practice: a narrative review. Part I: acute conditions. Phys Ther Rev. 2015;20(4):241-254.
- Kumaran B, Watson T. Radiofrequency-based treatment in therapy-related clinical practice: a narrative review. Part II: chronic conditions. Phys Ther Rev. 2015;20(5-6):325-343.
- Kumaran B, Watson T. Treatment using 448kHz capacitive resistive monopolar radiofrequency improves pain and function in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joint: a randomised controlled trial. Physiotherapy. 2019;105(1):98-107.
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Google reviews from our clinics in Singapore.
