Non-Ablative Radio-Frequency Treatment of Skin Tissue

RF energy for skin conditioning is applied with a non-ablative electrode 18 having a shank end 16 within a handpiece 12. The handpiece incorporates an inline switch to prevent electrical shock to the patient when the energized electrode surface makes or breaks contact with the skin. The switch is formed between a contact surface 28 at the end of the slidable electrode 18 and the facing contact surface 32 of a fixed contact 34 within the handpicce. At least those contact surfaces are coated with a noble metal, preferably of gold, to reduce erosion and pitting due to making and breaking of the inline switch contacts during a skin conditioning procedure using RF energy from the non-ablative electrode.