Skin Tightening in Delray Beach: An Interview with David Patterson, APRN

Short version: AmpUp Wellness uses the Thermage FLX for radiofrequency skin tightening. One treatment, one hour, $799 for the full face and neck, no downtime. Results hold about a year to a year and a half. It is not a facelift, and it will not fix a large amount of loose skin. Below, David Patterson, APRN, answers the questions patients actually ask him, in his own words.

David opened AmpUp Wellness in Delray Beach almost four years ago and is the sole practitioner. He added skin tightening after his medical weight loss patients kept coming back with the same complaint. Every answer below is printed exactly as he said it in an October 2026 interview.

Who is David Patterson, and what does he do at AmpUp?

Yes, I'm a nurse practitioner and I decided to open up AmpUp almost four years ago. I really wanted to concentrate on improving clients' longevity. So I started learning a lot about peptides. I started learning about IV nutrition. Started learning about, you know, weight loss products because diabetes is such a huge problem in this country around the world. And that's when I opened it up and particularly got really involved with hormone replacement because I'm really big in the gym and meet a lot of people that are like, man, I'm just not strong anymore. Like, I don't know what's going on. So start taking all these courses and just really made that my main focus on how people could like take control of their own health and not just wait to get sick. So and you can do that with hormone replacement, losing weight and just getting control of your cellular health. And that's kind of what AmpUp is all about.

Those courses are documented. David completed the BHRT Provider Pellet Training Program in October 2023 and Peptide Therapy Clinical Training through the Seeds Scientific Research & Performance Institute in August 2023.

Why did AmpUp add radiofrequency skin tightening?

Yeah, so about three years ago, once I got into medical weight loss with the GLP-1s, about six months or seven months later, a lot of clients would come see me and they'd be like, David, I got this loose skin. So my arms a little bit more flabbier or like around my neck it's a little more flabbier so I was like wow let me see if I can research you know non-surgical ways to improve you know skin elasticity and that's when I came across radiofrequency skin tightening so when I saw that I was like you know let me get involved with it and and that's when I brought it that service on to AmpUp.

That order matters. The skin complaint showed up six or seven months into medical weight loss, not at the start. If you are on a GLP-1 right now and your skin still looks fine, this is the thing to watch for later.

What does radiofrequency skin tightening actually do under the skin?

So what it's doing is it's causing a heat to be created underneath the layers of the skin and when that heat is created it causes the collagen to contract and when the collagen contracts it creates new collagen strands that are stronger. And that's what gives you that skin tightening response, which you will see over the next two to three months after the treatment.

Do you see results right away?

So you will see an immediate skin tightening response because we kind of, like I mentioned, we kind of shock the skin and you will see the immediate response, but then it kind of like plateaus off and you don't really over the next week, you don't see, you don't see anything. But over the next two months is when the collagen remodels and you get a nice skin tightening response.

So there is a quiet middle stretch. Week one looks good, week two looks like nothing happened, and the real change shows up around month two and three. Patients who judge the result at the two week mark usually judge it too early.

How long do the results last?

Okay, typically the results will last for about a year, maybe a year and a half, just depending on your skin quality. If you're doing the face and the neck, again, probably every once a year, every year and a half, we can do the procedure again. And likely after a year, you probably just need touch up on certain areas. There might be specific areas that are more loose than others. And on the second one, we would probably just touch up those areas.

Why does Thermage FLX take one treatment when Morpheus8 takes three?

[Because] of the machine that I have, I use the Thermage FLX. So there's several different models in this market for radiofrequency skin tightening, like the Morpheus 8, which when you have to do Morpheus 8, you have to go for three different procedures. You have reddening of the face for about two to three days because it uses a needle to cause this type of skin tightening. And with the Thermage, it's beautiful because you only come for one treatment. And there's no downtime. You leave the appointment. You may have some mild redness to the face, but after about two hours, that goes away. And you can go out and be in the sun. There's no restrictions once you leave.

The device in the Delray Beach treatment room is the Thermage FLX with AccuREP Technology, made by Solta Medical. It is worth asking any clinic which specific device they run, because the answer changes your session count, your downtime and your price.

What does the hour actually feel like?

So typically when you come in, we have to do some measurements on the face. We put a grid on the face and then it just depends on the area of the face. So the machine will tell us how many areas and how many tips we have to use. And we do like the whole face. We do the eyes. We do the forehead. We do the jaw. We do the neck. And it's just, it feels like a little hot sensation on the skin.

Asked to put a number on it:

I mean, people have experienced up to those certain spots, particularly under the jaw line, could be a seven or eight out of 10. No one has ever said it was like the worst pain they've ever felt. They've definitely felt, you know, significant here above the eyebrow. People have reported that's kind of sensitive there, but just pretty much those two areas, the jaw, the neck, eyebrow are probably the most sensitive places.

Who is the ideal candidate for skin tightening?

Yeah, so people just looking to improve the skin quality of their face. People, it's ideal for people from the ages of 25 to 65. After the age of 65, some people can have really worn skin. really damaged skin and even trying to remodel the collagen doesn't work so well. So we always have to review everybody on a case-by-case basis after the age of 65. But everyone else, you know, people, they, it's ideally made when people get a lot of saggy skin under the jawline and they want to tighten that area up. Works extremely well for tightening that. So a lot of people will come and just see us just to get the skin tightening of the jawline. It gives a nice eye lift behind the arms. It can help tighten some of that loose skin behind the arms. But ideally candidates should have a good amount of collagen, like good, pretty decent skin quality already. And it will work. You know, you can expect to get good results.

Who should skip it?

Yeah. So people that have really, really worn skin, you're probably not going to get great results. And then ultimately you may be upset that you had spent this money and you didn't get good results. People that have, let's say they had an excessive amount of weight loss, meaning over 150 pounds and they have a lot of loose skin on the back of their arms or the back of their legs it may not tighten those areas you know so anybody with an excessive amount of weight loss or really really poor skin quality probably not going to have good results for those candidates.

Most clinics will not tell you this part. If you dropped more than 150 pounds and you have significant loose skin on your arms or legs, radiofrequency is not the answer, and David will say so at the consult rather than take the booking. Read more on the skin tightening after weight loss page.

What does $799 include?

No, it's just going to be your forehead. It's going to be, you know, the side of your eyes here, face and neck. The beauty of it was is, you know, the cost of this used to be a lot more expensive, but it has come down to just make it more affordable for all our clients. If you want to add areas, you know, like let's say you want to do your arms with it, you know, that would probably be an additional cost of $499. And it just really comes down to, you know, the tips of the machine are quite expensive. So that's why we have to charge additionally if you're going to do an additional area of the skin.

So: $799 covers forehead, around the eyes, face and neck in one hour. Arms add roughly $499, because each treatment tip is a real consumable cost. Current pricing is on the skin tightening service page.

Is it safe on darker skin tones, and who cannot have it?

Yes. Yeah. There is no there's no contraindication for any type of skin type. The only real contraindication from getting this procedure done is if you have any type of a[n im]planted medical device like a pacemaker or defibrillator or something like this could not allow you to have this procedure done because it could interfere with the mechanism of the implanted device.

One clarification worth adding. Radiofrequency heats tissue rather than targeting pigment, which is why it is used across a wide range of skin tones where light-based devices carry more risk. That is still a conversation for your consult, not a blanket guarantee. The implanted device point is firm: a pacemaker or defibrillator rules this treatment out.

Can it be combined with Botox, fillers or laser?

Yes. So you definitely can't do both things at the same time. Like you can never do Botox and skin tightening at the same time. So you really need a two week gap at least. If you're going to do dermal fillers, if you're going to do laser treatments, if you're going to do Botox, at least a two week gap in between those two treatments.

And the gap runs in both directions:

Yes. It's just vice versa. So if you're going to do Botox, wait two weeks, do the skin tightening. Or if you want to do the skin tightening, wait two weeks and then you do the Botox.

What is the biggest myth about skin tightening?

Yeah. So a lot of people think when they get skin tightening that they're going to get a full facelift. So it is not a facelift. Okay. What we're doing is just trying to reduce some of the fine lines that may occur, like say on your face, or let's say in your arm, if you develop some loose skin to kind of tighten that up, but it is not a true facelift, which some people ask me when they come in for appointments to be seen for the skin tightening.

That's probably the biggest one. That's probably the biggest thing that people have asked me when they come in. Oh, is this going to, you know, does this replace doing a, you know, a tummy tuck or something like that? And I'm like, well, if you have too much loose skin, it's not going to work. But people that have a mild to moderate amount of loose skin, it will benefit them.

Why come to AmpUp instead of a med spa down the road?

Yeah. So the great thing about coming to AmpUp Wellness, I'm the sole practitioner here. You're going to get a concierge level service when you come here. All my clients have access to me, you know, seven days a week. If they have questions, if they have concerns, I really try to make it a personalized experience when you come. You're just not just like another number. And, you know, you're not like an I'm not like an online service where I, you know, give you a prescription and that's it. You don't hear from me again. I like seeing all my clients like, you know, once a month or like I said, just contact me, text me, let me know how they're doing. So that's the type of service you're going to get here at AmpUp, that's what kind of separates me from other med spas.

Yeah so obviously you know skin tightening is just one of many services that um I do here um I really look to increase your longevity and create increase your you know your self-worth. You know your confidence is a big thing. You know when you lose weight and you get stronger and you get more muscular and you enjoy you know your you feel that your skin quality is getting better it's going to make you more confident in life and that's just my aim and goal with longevity medicine.

Book a consult

Skin tightening sits alongside medical weight loss, hormone replacement and peptide therapy at AmpUp. If you are not sure whether your skin has enough collagen left for radiofrequency to work, that is exactly what the consult is for, and David would rather tell you no than take $799 for a result you will not like.

AmpUp Wellness, 5130 Linton Blvd #D2, Delray Beach, FL 33484. Call (561) 850-5983 or book a consultation.

Medical disclaimer: This article is educational and is not medical advice. Candidacy, pricing and expected results are determined at an in-person consultation. AmpUp Wellness is led by David Patterson, APRN, in Delray Beach, Florida.