Aftercare: what to do, and what to leave alone, after your treatment

Find your treatment below. Each section gathers the instructions we already publish on that treatment's page. The instructions you were given at the clinic come first: if they differ from this page, follow them, and ask us.

Treated with us? Your review is part of the treatment and is not billed as a new one. Book your review

Jump to your treatment

• Anti-wrinkle injections and lip flip
• Dermal filler
• Microneedling
• PRP microneedling and PRP for hair
• CO2 laser resurfacing
• RF microneedling
• Broadband light
• Facial peels and the carbon laser peel
• Laser hair removal
• Your timeline
• If something does not look right

After anti-wrinkle injections, stay upright and leave the area alone

You can usually go back to your day. Small raised bumps at the injection points settle quickly, and bruising is possible, particularly around the eyes.

• Stay upright for the period you are given.
• Do not rub or massage the treated area.
• Skip heavy exercise and heat, including saunas, hot yoga and facial treatments, for the timeframe your injector gives you.
• Do not judge the result straight away. The effect builds, which is why we ask you to book a review. If it is uneven or under-dosed, that review is where we correct it.

After a lip flip the same rules apply: stay upright and do not rub the area. If it turns out under-dosed for your muscle, that is corrected at review.

More on anti-wrinkle injections. Book your review

After filler, swelling is expected, so judge the result at your review

Expect swelling, and expect it to look bigger than the final result. Lips swell substantially. Bruising is common.

• Follow the aftercare you are given on heat, exercise, dental work and sleeping position. It depends on the area and the product, so it comes from your injector rather than from this page.
• Come back for your review before you decide the treatment is finished. Judging filler early is judging swelling, not the outcome you paid for.
• Next time, remember that bruising is more likely if you have taken anti-inflammatories, fish oil or alcohol beforehand. Mention supplements and anti-inflammatories to us rather than stopping them on your own, and never stop a prescribed medication without advice from the prescriber who started it.
• Have an event coming up? Book filler well before it, so it is not photographed mid-settle.

More on dermal fillers. Book your review

After microneedling, skin stays bare and actives wait until we say so

Redness, heat and tightness are normal straight afterwards.

• Leave the skin bare, and keep makeup off for the period you are advised.
• Skip the gym, saunas and hot showers for a while.
• Do not restart retinoids or acids until you are told.
• Use sun protection. It is essential, not a nice extra.
• The improvement builds after each session as collagen remodels, so we assess it at review against your consultation photographs.

More on microneedling. Book your review

After PRP, heat, sweat and sun are what to avoid

PRP microneedling

Expect redness and heat like a moderate sunburn, and possibly some tightness and flaking as the skin recovers.

• Keep the skin free of makeup for the period you are given.
• Avoid the gym, saunas and hot showers for a while.
• Be strict with sun protection.
• The improvement builds as collagen remodels, so we assess it at review rather than straight after a session.

PRP for hair

Expect tenderness, mild swelling and possible pinpoint bruising across the scalp.

• Leave your hair unwashed for the period you are given.
• Skip styling products, heat tools and colouring for a short while.
• Skip saunas and heavy exercise for a short while.
• Use sun protection on any exposed scalp.
• Progress is reviewed against your photographs, not against your memory of how your hair looked.

More on PRP microneedling and PRP for hair. Book your review

After CO2 resurfacing, you follow a written plan and the sun is off limits

Expect redness, swelling, weeping and then peeling, in that order. This is a real recovery, and we plan it with you at consultation.

• Follow your written aftercare plan. It covers cleansing, the occlusive ointment, what to avoid, and the specific signs that should prompt you to call us.
• Ask us before you add or swap anything in that plan.
• Sun protection is not optional. New skin is highly susceptible to pigmentation, and sun on healing skin is the most common way people undermine a good CO2 result.
• Stay out of the sun while you heal. If you are travelling somewhere sunny, tell us and we will time the treatment around it.
• Results build as collagen remodels, so the review is where we judge them.

More on CO2 laser resurfacing. Book your review

Treated somewhere else? Bring whatever record you have, including the aftercare sheet or the clinic's name, and we will look at your skin and tell you straight what we see. If something looks wrong right now, call the clinic that treated you first: they know what was used and where.

Treated somewhere else? Book a free consultation

After RF microneedling, written aftercare tells you when makeup and exercise return

Redness, warmth and swelling are expected, with a fine grid of pinpoint marks across the treated skin. It feels tight, dry and sandpapery as it recovers.

• Follow your written aftercare on cleansing and moisturising.
• Go back to makeup and exercise when your aftercare says, not before.
• Be strict with sun protection.
• Plan it away from events.
• The meaningful change comes from remodelling, so we photograph and review rather than judging it straight away.

More on RF microneedling. Book your review

After broadband light, darkened spots flake off on their own, so do not pick them

Expect warmth and redness, similar to mild sunburn. Treated pigment darkens before it clears, can look like coffee grounds on the skin, and then flakes away. That is the expected sequence, not a complication.

• Do not pick at the darkened spots.
• Protect your skin from the sun between sessions. That is what decides whether your result holds: broadband light removes the damage already there, it does not stop you making more.
• Do not book broadband light right before an event.
• Arrive at your next session untanned, with self-tanner fully off. We do not treat tanned or recently sun-exposed skin.

More on broadband light. Book your review

After a peel, let the skin shed by itself

Facial peels

Expect tightness, then flaking or peeling.

• Do not pull the skin off. Peeling it early is the fastest way to cause pigmentation or a mark that lasts longer than the peel did.
• Follow your written aftercare on cleansing and moisturiser.
• Restart actives only when your aftercare says, and that includes an active cleanser.
• Protect your skin from the sun, strictly. In Ontario summers that one instruction does most of the work.

Carbon laser peel

Despite the name, this is a laser treatment rather than an acid peel, so there is little to shed. Expect mild warmth and pinkness, and skin that feels smooth and matte. Some people notice a mild purge afterwards as loosened congestion clears.

• Use sun protection.
• Skip the sauna, hot yoga and heavy exercise afterwards, for as long as your clinician tells you.
• Leave strong actives out of your routine briefly.
• It can sit close to an event, though not on the day of the event itself.

More on facial peels and the carbon laser peel. Book your review

After laser hair removal, shave but never wax, pluck or thread

Expect redness and small raised bumps around each follicle, a little like goosebumps. The treated hairs do not fall out straight away. They shed afterwards, which can look like regrowth if nobody has warned you.

• Avoid heat, saunas, hot tubs and heavy exercise for the period you are given.
• Keep the area clean.
• Use sun protection, and arrive at your next session untanned, with self-tanner fully off.
• Between sessions you may shave. Never wax, pluck, thread or epilate: removing the hair from the follicle removes the target the next session needs.
• Shave the area the day before or the morning of your next session.
• Keep your next appointment. Turning up late sets the course back rather than simply delaying it.

More on laser hair removal. Book your review

Your timeline is personal, which is why we give it in person

We do not publish downtime averages, or how long a result takes to show. The honest answer depends on the treatment, the settings, the area and your own skin, and people plan work, holidays and events around whatever number they are given. So yours comes from the person who treated you, and you can ask again at any point.

If you are pregnant, trying to conceive or breastfeeding before your next session, say so at booking rather than on the day. Our position on treatment in pregnancy is set out treatment by treatment.

Follow-up is part of the treatment. We would always rather see you than have you worry at home. Book your review

If something does not look right, call us the same day

If you were treated here and something does not look or feel right, phone 647-333-6805. You will not be wasting anybody's time.

The signs that mean call now, and what happens when you do, are on our page for if something is wrong after treatment.

Treated somewhere else? We will look at your skin and tell you what we see. Treated somewhere else? Book a free consultation

Treated with us? Book your review