“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dolores Catania is shrinking down the culture of body shaming through self-confidence.

The 54-year-old reality star debuted on Thursday as the “chief of confidence” for Renuvion, a minimally invasive body contouring medical device and treatment for loose skin after recently undergoing the treatment around her knees — a source of insecurity since she shot to Bravo reality TV fame in 2016.

“I was once knee-shamed on social media very early in the game of ‘Housewives’ for me, first year, first season,” she told WWD. “I had ripped jeans around my knees, and they took a picture — a screenshot of my knees you could see through the hole in my pants, and they put it next to a sonogram of a baby’s face. And for years, I did not wear anything where you could see my knees.”

Catania said she had sagging skin in the area due to gaining and losing weight throughout the years, so she previously underwent liposuction, but it only compounded matters. “I got the liposuction without the skin tightening, so it caused more loose skin, I thought that just getting liposuction would fix the issue, but it kind of made it worse because there was no Renuvion,” she explained.

Apyx Medical’s minimally invasive procedure reduces skin laxity through radiofrequency and helium plasma energy, and it can be used alone or in tandem with liposuction.

“Renuvion has given me back that confidence, but it’s something as simple as that, something so hurtful that could have happened in high school or could have happened during childhood that haunts you,” Catania said. “It’s not about being shallow. I’m not a shallow person. I have my priorities definitely where they should be in this life, but I also know that you don’t have to be a martyr, you can make yourself happier. There are things that can help you and Renuvion has helped me, so that’s why I want to share it so much.”

The procedure uses heat energy to target the tissue, stimulating collagen production and skin contraction. According to the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, Renuvion became commonly used in the face and body in 2019, and it later became FDA-cleared in 2023 for use after liposuction and aesthetic body contouring.

“I think it’s changed most plastic surgery practices around the world, certainly anybody that has adopted the technology,” said Dr. Adam Rubenstein, a Miami-based board-certified plastic surgeon. “Renuvion really changed everything by achieving tremendous temperature in the tissue for just milliseconds, and even that small contact with tissue is enough to make the collagen fibers contract down to initiate a healing process that adds collagen to the tissue, and it just makes everything firm up and tighten down. I always tell patients, it’s like shrink wrapping the skin.”

Rubenstein said some of the most popular areas for treatment are the neck, inner thighs and back.

“I’m exploring new areas too,” Rubenstein added. “One of the newer things we’re doing is hand rejuvenation. And you wouldn’t think about needing to tighten hand skin, but people hate when the hand looks veiny. But sometimes, some people can grab and really stretch the skin up quite a bit and it just gets loose and it looks kind of wrinkly in the back.”

“That is my next procedure, and I cannot wait to share it with everyone,” said Catania, who will soon have Dr. Rubenstein perform hand skin tightening with Renuvion. “They always say you can tell someone’s age by their hands, so the hands don’t match the face,” she said.