Less than you might expect, because it is given under local anaesthetic. Profound heats the deeper skin to 65 to 75 degrees Celsius through pairs of fine needles, and every published trial that records its method numbed the area first. With a dilute lidocaine solution infiltrated into the thighs and cold air on the skin, pain averaged 3.7 out of 10 in the 50-woman cellulite trial. In our experience the skin afterwards feels tight and sore, like sunburn with a bruise. Every treatment is given by Dr Marie Duggan, GMC 7488383, at Profound RF London Clinic, 8 Devonshire Place, after a free consultation, and the doctor plans comfort with you there.
What the trials used
The documented method is tumescent anaesthesia: a large volume of very dilute local anaesthetic infiltrated into the area so the tissue is numb and firm. One Profound study used 0.25% lidocaine with adrenaline at 1 in 400,000, placed 15 to 40 minutes before treatment. A technique paper describes a mix of 1% lidocaine with adrenaline, plain lidocaine, bicarbonate and saline, with nitrous oxide gas breathed on top. The cellulite trial behind the US clearance used tumescent anaesthesia and cold air. The face trials of 2010 to 2015 did not record what they numbed with. The maker's patient page says only that "a local anesthetic may be applied to help you manage comfort".
What an independent protocol says
A hospital trial protocol registered in the United States notes that clinicians typically numb with both a topical anaesthetic cream and tumescent anaesthesia. It adds that the tumescent step takes about 45 minutes and can itself be painful, and that the handpiece's built-in cooling plate is generally considered inadequate for pain management on its own. That is the candid version: the numbing takes time and stings, and it is what makes the treatment itself tolerable.
The one pain score
3.74 out of 10 on average, with tumescent anaesthesia and cold air, in the trial of 50 women and 100 thighs that supported the US clearance for cellulite. No face trial published a pain score. Profound is planned as one session: every published trial treated once, and in our practice a second is a choice some make after the six-month review.
How comfort is planned here
The doctor plans comfort with you at the consultation: what will be used for your area and how long the numbing takes. In the clearance records the handpiece heats each point to a set temperature for three to five seconds, and the doctor sets that temperature for your skin. Patients ask us this in writing, and the answer for your case is given in person, because it depends on the area and on you.
Afterwards
In our experience the skin is red and swollen, and feels tight and sore, like sunburn with a bruise, and you go home the same day. Redness lasts hours to a day or two, swelling up to five to ten days, with some bruising; most people are back to normal activities within 24 hours. In the face and neck trial, redness, swelling and bruising lasted one to five days. No published study scored pain after the treatment. Keep the skin clean and cool on the first day, with a cold pack through a cloth, and no make-up for 24 hours. No sauna, steam, hot baths or hard exercise for the first few days, head raised for the first nights after face or neck, sunscreen daily, and no acids or retinoids for a week. Call about a blister, increasing pain or signs of infection.
Who cannot have it
Someone who cannot have a local anaesthetic, which is why the question matters. Also pregnancy and breastfeeding, an active infection or cold sore in the area, a pacemaker or other electrical implant, a keloid history, and healing or bleeding conditions without the doctor's advice first. Profound is FDA-cleared in the US. The FDA's communication of on radiofrequency microneedling as a class names burns, scarring, fat loss, disfigurement and nerve damage among reported complications, and advises an experienced provider. The doctor treats every patient here. The Morpheus8 comparison covers how the two differ in numbing and recovery.
Book a free consultation
Call Profound RF London Clinic on 0207 043 1119 or use the form below at any time and we call you back. Dr Marie Duggan examines the area, explains how the treatment will be kept comfortable, and gives you the price in writing, with a price match on any comparable written quote. Our patients review the clinic on review.clinic, where it scores 4.9 out of 5 from 46 reviews in November 2026.
