Gentle firming, zero downtime
Forma is InMode radiofrequency without needles: a warm handpiece gliding over the jaw, neck, or cheek at a held temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, with no downtime. Sessions usually run as a weekly series, the firming is subtle and shows up a few sessions in, and patients on RealSelf report it holding about a year with a top-up. At Skinovatio Lincoln Park, on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood, it’s a tightening option for early laxity along the jaw and neck.
$249
to start
At a glance
Forma skin firming- Appointment
- 30 to 45 minutes, no numbing
- Downtime
- None. Pink and warm for 15 minutes to a few hours
- First results
- Subtle firming after the second or third session
- Full results
- About 3 months after the series ends
- Sessions
- A series, usually 4 to 6, then maintenance every few months
- Cost
- From $249. About $62 per payment across 4 with Afterpay or Klarna.
What to expect
What the appointment is like
Plan on thirty to forty-five minutes. Nothing breaks the skin, so there’s no numbing to wait for. Patients on RealSelf compare the feeling to a hot-stone massage: deep warmth that builds and then settles in. If a spot feels hot rather than warm, tell your provider and they’ll move the handpiece. With no downtime, you can go straight back to work afterward.
Consult
We’ll map where your skin has loosened, ask about implants, pacemakers, pregnancy, and recent filler, and recommend whether Forma is enough or Morpheus8 is the better choice. We take photos before your first session.
Gel and settings
A conductive gel goes on. Your provider sets the target temperature for the zone and watches the readout for the whole session.
Treatment
The handpiece glides in slow circles over one zone at a time until the skin holds temperature for several minutes, then moves on. Jaw and under-chin take about 30 minutes, and adding the neck makes it a little longer.
Before you leave
We wipe off the gel and apply moisturizer and sunscreen. Makeup can go on right away.
Your results
A predictable timeline
Results are subtle and gradual. Most people don’t look obviously treated, but the change often shows in side-profile photos after a couple of months.
Session 1
Pink for an hour. Your skin may feel tighter that evening, mostly from swelling, which fades.
Sessions 2 to 3
The first real firming shows along the jaw. Photos often catch it before the mirror does.
End of series
The collagen response is underway, and skin feels denser to the touch.
Month 3 after the series
Your best result. This is when we’ll retake photos together.
Months 6 to 12
The result holds, then gradually softens. A maintenance session every few months helps keep it.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
Your cost depends on the number of sessions in the series (usually four to six), face alone versus face and neck, body zones with the Forma Plus handpiece, and a maintenance plan afterward. A single session is priced for a pre-event visit. A series is priced as a series, because the collagen response needs the repetition and a one-off won’t hold.
- How many sessions are in the series
- Face alone versus face plus neck
- Body areas with Forma Plus
- Whether you set up maintenance afterward
At Skinovatio Lincoln Park
Forma skin firming
$249
to start
- Face
- $249
- Neck
- $249
- Face and neck
- $750
- Body
- $1,200 per session
- Consultation
- $50
- With Afterpay or Klarna
- About $62 × 4 payments
Forma works as a series, since a single session won’t produce a visible result on its own. That’s why the packages below start at three.
Book your Forma skin firming appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Forma or something else?
We have three tightening tools on our menu, each with a different job. Deciding between the two RF options? Our RF microneedling vs microneedling post explains what the needles add.
| Forma | Morpheus8 | PDO threads | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Heats the dermis from the surface to contract collagen | Delivers RF through needles for deeper remodeling | Repositions tissue with dissolvable sutures |
| Downtime | None, pink for hours | Red and swollen 2 to 5 days | Tender and tight 2 to 3 days |
| Sessions | A series of 4 to 6, then maintenance | 1 to 3, 4 to 8 weeks apart | Usually 1, repeated at 12 months or when the lift fades |
| Best suited for | Early laxity | Visible jowls or crepe | Tissue that has slid |
What it does
- Forma
- Heats the dermis from the surface to contract collagen
- Morpheus8
- Delivers RF through needles for deeper remodeling
- PDO threads
- Repositions tissue with dissolvable sutures
Downtime
- Forma
- None, pink for hours
- Morpheus8
- Red and swollen 2 to 5 days
- PDO threads
- Tender and tight 2 to 3 days
Sessions
- Forma
- A series of 4 to 6, then maintenance
- Morpheus8
- 1 to 3, 4 to 8 weeks apart
- PDO threads
- Usually 1, repeated at 12 months or when the lift fades
Best suited for
- Forma
- Early laxity
- Morpheus8
- Visible jowls or crepe
- PDO threads
- Tissue that has slid
Morpheus8 offers the bigger change, with two to five days of redness. PDO threads move tissue on day one but don’t tighten skin the way heat does. Forma works well as maintenance alongside both, and many people start with Forma for early laxity, then move to Morpheus8 as laxity progresses.
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
Forma is a good fit if you have mild laxity, any skin type, and no room for downtime, or if you want to address early changes along the jaw. It’s also a good first tightening treatment if you’re unsure about Morpheus8.
A good fit for
- Mild laxity along the jaw, chin, or neck
- Anyone who wants no recovery time
- All skin tones, radiofrequency has no pigment target
- Mild body laxity on arms, abdomen, knees, or thighs (Forma Plus)
Not recommended
- Moderate or heavy laxity, jowls, or a dropped neck (try Morpheus8)
- A fold you can lift rather than slack (surgery may be needed)
- Fat under the chin (that’s Kybella)
- A pacemaker or metal in the area, or during pregnancy
Skin tightening is an off-label use of an FDA-cleared device, backed by one small study without a control group. If strong evidence matters to you, Morpheus8 has more research behind it.
In detail
What it treats
Forma is for skin that has started to slacken but hasn’t folded. If the skin along your jaw has a little more give than it used to, that’s in range. If there’s a fold you can lift, it’s likely beyond what Forma can do, and we’ll recommend a better option.
This includes a softening jawline, early jowl shadow, or the first crease under the chin. Expect gradual firming, not a lift.
Kybella removes the fat pad, but the skin that was stretched over it may need help to tighten afterward. Kybella comes first, then a Forma series once the swelling has settled. We always do it in that order.
Fine horizontal neck crepe and a cheek that has lost a little tension both respond, mildly. Heavy neck laxity doesn’t; for that, we’d recommend Morpheus8 or a surgical option instead.
If you’ve finished a Morpheus8 series, Forma every few months can help maintain the result, with no downtime. It’s the same platform with a gentler handpiece.
Forma isn’t the right tool for fat, heavy jowls, deep folds, or anything you’d describe as hanging, and we’ll recommend options that fit better.
How it works
InMode Forma is a bipolar radiofrequency handpiece on the same platform as Morpheus8. Current runs between two electrodes on the head and heats the dermis in bulk to a controlled temperature for several minutes per zone. That heat contracts existing collagen a little on the day and starts a slower remodeling response over the following months, per Chawvavanich et al., 2022.
Radiofrequency has no color target. A laser is light absorbed by pigment, which is why lasers have to account for your skin tone and tan. RF is electrical current, so Forma works the same in every skin type and in every month.
Forma is FDA-cleared, and the cleared uses are “relief of minor muscle aches and pain, relief of muscle spasm, and temporary improvement of local blood circulation,” per FDA 510(k) K210492. Skin tightening is how the device is used and sold, but that use is off-label. The published evidence for that use is one small study: 22 people with loose skin under the chin, four sessions two weeks apart, laxity scores improved by the second or third session, no serious side effects. There was no control group. The same study saw a small fat-volume change on 3D imaging, but we still don’t offer Forma for fat. A single study of 22 people is encouraging, but it isn’t a guarantee of results.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
There’s no downtime. You’ll leave pink and warm, and that fades in 15 minutes to a few hours. Some people notice mild puffiness or tingling that evening. Makeup right away is fine.
For the rest of the day, moisturize, wear sunscreen, and skip hot yoga, the sauna, and a hard run, since added heat is the main thing to avoid.
Problems are rare. They include a burn or blister if the handpiece sits still or the gel runs dry, temporary numbness, and uneven results. Your provider’s job is to keep the handpiece moving and the gel wet. Temperature should be tracked on the device display, not by time alone.
Why here
Why Lincoln Park
You’ll find us on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood, a block up from the Apollo Theater. Take the Brown Line to Diversey, then head south on Lincoln. The 11 Lincoln bus stops on the block. There are meters on Lincoln, and free spots on the side streets west of Clark if you check the cleaning signs.
A weekly series is easy to schedule, and midday and end-of-day appointments are the most popular.
For a wedding or other event, plan for the series to end about two weeks before the date. Forma can also run alongside an IPL series, and the two alternate weeks without competing. A HydraFacial on the same day is usually fine. Your provider is our medical esthetician.
Questions
Common questions, answered
Radiofrequency skin tightening uses electrical current to heat the dermis to a controlled temperature for several minutes, which contracts existing collagen slightly and triggers new collagen over the following months. Forma delivers it from the surface with a smooth handpiece. Morpheus8 delivers it through needles. Neither is a laser.
We don’t offer Ultherapy at Lincoln Park, so we don’t compare results directly. Ultherapy uses focused ultrasound and Forma uses radiofrequency, and both heat tissue to contract collagen. Forma is a series of short, comfortable sessions with no downtime and a mild result. If you’ve been quoted a single stronger session elsewhere, the trade-off is intensity for repetition. You can bring the quote to your consult to compare options.
Forma feels like a hot stone moving in circles. There’s no numbing, and you can talk comfortably throughout. Morpheus8 is numbed first and still feels like pressure and heat with each stamp. Afterward, Forma is pink for an hour. Morpheus8 is red and swollen for two to five days.
Yes. The flush fades in 15 minutes to a few hours, makeup can go on right away, and nothing is broken or crusted. Skip the sauna and hard workouts that day.
Mild laxity there is the best-studied use. The one published study treated 22 people under the chin with four sessions and saw laxity scores improve by the second or third session. It won’t remove a fat pad, though. If there’s fat under the chin, we’ll start with Kybella, then use Forma for the skin.
If you can see early softening along the jaw and you’d rather start now than wait for jowls, yes, with the caveat that the result is subtle and needs maintenance. If your skin is still tight, we’d suggest putting that money toward sunscreen and a regular HydraFacial instead.
The published study used four sessions two weeks apart. Common clinic protocols run six weekly sessions. Either way, the sessions need to be regular, and we’ll help you plan them. After the series, a maintenance session every few months holds the result.
Patients on RealSelf report results lasting up to a year with at least one maintenance session. The published study measured improvement still holding at six months. Maintenance every three to four months is common once the series is done.
Yes. Radiofrequency heats tissue with electrical current, not with light absorbed by pigment, so there’s no added pigment risk in darker skin. That’s why we often guide darker skin types toward Forma or Morpheus8 rather than IPL or the Plasma Pen.
Aim to finish the series about two weeks before the date. There’s no downtime, so the last session could be the day before, but the result builds after the series and two weeks lets it settle.
There’s nothing to undo. Forma uses heat without injuring the skin, so the worst case is that a session does less than you hoped, and you can stop at any time.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
Related priorities
Skin tightening (Morpheus8)
From $1,200RF microneedling for jawline laxity, neck skin, and acne scars
Learn more
Thread lift (PDO)
Priced at your consultA non-surgical lift to help with early jowls, brow, and neck
Learn more
HydraFacial
From $199A 30-minute facial with no downtime and a glow that lasts about a week
Learn more
Start with a consult
Tell us what you’d like to work on. We’ll assess your skin and goals, walk you through your Forma skin firming options, and give you a clear plan and price before anything begins.
Afterpay and Klarna are available at checkout for eligible treatments.