Answer first: most of what makes a cosmetic appointment go smoothly happens outside the treatment room. Before: disclose every medication and supplement, do not schedule close to an event, arrive with clean skin, and do not book when you are unwell. After: expect some visible reaction, follow the specific instructions you were given, avoid the things that increase bruising and swelling, and know which symptoms mean you call the clinic rather than wait. The instructions your own practitioner gives you always take precedence over anything you read here.
What should you sort out before you book?
Timing. This is the single most common regret, and it is entirely avoidable.
Bruising and swelling are common after injectable treatments, and they are unpredictable. Some people bruise from almost nothing, some people barely bruise at all, and the same person can differ between appointments. Booking a treatment shortly before a wedding, a holiday, a photograph, a work presentation or a school formal is asking to spend that event covering something up.
Leave real room. If an event matters, allow enough time not just for the reaction to settle but for a review appointment if one is needed, and for the possibility that the timeline runs long. Working backwards from the event date with a practitioner during a consultation is a far better approach than booking optimistically and hoping.
Your health. Do not attend if you are unwell, have an active infection, or have a skin infection or breakout in the treatment area. Reschedule. Clinics would far rather move an appointment than treat over an infection.
Dental work and vaccinations. Both can matter for timing around some treatments. Mention any that are recent or upcoming.
Medications and supplements. Tell your practitioner about everything, including things you would not think of as medication: fish oil, vitamin E, turmeric, ginkgo, St John’s wort, anti-inflammatories. Several of these affect bruising.
Never stop a prescribed medication because you read something online, including this. If a medication is relevant, your practitioner will discuss it, and if stopping it is ever appropriate, that is a decision made with the doctor who prescribed it.
What should you do on the day?
- Arrive with clean skin, or expect to remove makeup at the clinic
- Eat beforehand. Attending an injectable appointment on an empty stomach makes feeling faint more likely
- Skip alcohol in the lead-up, as it increases bruising
- Allow more time than you think, so that questions and consent are not rushed
- Raise anything that has changed since your consultation, including a new medication, an illness or a change in your circumstances
If you have not yet had your consultation, our guide to questions to consider before a cosmetic consultation is the better place to start.
What is normal in the days afterwards?
Some visible reaction is usual after most cosmetic aesthetic treatments, and the specifics depend on what was done.
After injectable treatments, common reactions include redness at injection points, small raised marks that settle within hours, swelling, tenderness, bruising, and headache. Swelling after volume enhancing treatments is often most noticeable in the first day or two and typically eases over the following days, though this varies.
After skin treatments, common reactions include redness, warmth, tightness, flaking or peeling, and increased sensitivity, particularly to sun.
We have set out what falls within the range of expected temporary reaction, and what does not, in understanding temporary reactions after cosmetic treatments. Treatment-specific instructions are on our aftercare information page, and those instructions are the ones to follow.
What should you avoid afterwards?
This varies by treatment, which is why the instructions you are given individually matter more than a general list. Common considerations across many treatments include:
- Heat. Saunas, steam rooms, hot showers and hot yoga tend to increase swelling and redness
- Strenuous exercise in the immediate period afterwards, for the same reason
- Alcohol, which increases bruising and swelling
- Pressure or rubbing on the treated area, including facials, massage and sleeping face-down
- Sun exposure, which matters generally and matters a great deal after skin treatments, where it also affects the risk of pigment change
- Makeup on treated skin until you have been told it is appropriate
The Australian UV environment is the reason sun protection sits higher on this list here than it does in advice written for other countries. In south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales, UV reaches damaging levels for most of the year, and it does so on overcast days.
When should you contact the clinic?
Promptly, and without waiting to see whether it settles, if you experience:
- Pain that is increasing rather than easing, or pain that seems out of proportion
- Skin that becomes pale, mottled, dusky or blue-toned in or near the treated area
- Skin that becomes hot, red, spreading, or produces discharge
- Fever or feeling generally unwell
- Any change in vision
- Difficulty swallowing or breathing
- Drooping of an eyelid or the brow, or a change in facial movement
- Firm lumps that appear or persist beyond what you were told to expect
Vision changes, difficulty breathing or difficulty swallowing are emergency symptoms. Do not wait for the clinic to open. Seek urgent medical attention or call 000.
For anything else on that list, contact the clinic. Our risks and safety information sets out per-treatment side effects and how to reach us.
Nobody at a clinic will think you are overreacting for calling. A practitioner would rather assess something that turns out to be nothing than hear about it a week later.
What about the psychological side of the days afterwards?
This is rarely written about and it is worth naming.
It is common to feel unsettled in the first days after a cosmetic treatment. Swelling distorts the result, bruising looks worse than the outcome will be, and some treatments do not show their final effect for days or weeks. People frequently form a strong negative impression during a window in which there is nothing meaningful to judge.
The reasonable response is to wait, to follow the aftercare you were given, and to raise concerns at a review appointment rather than acting on them at day two. If something in the red-flag list above is present, that is a different situation entirely, and it is not something to wait out.
Frequently asked questions
Can I fly after a cosmetic treatment? Ask your practitioner, because it depends on the treatment and the timing. Cabin pressure, dehydration and long periods of sitting can all interact with swelling.
Can I exercise the same day? Generally not immediately after injectable treatments. Follow the specific instruction you were given.
How long does bruising last? It varies considerably between people and between treatments. Arnica and similar products are widely used; the evidence for them is limited, and they are not a substitute for allowing enough time.
Can I take pain relief? Ask before you take anti-inflammatories, because some affect bruising. Your practitioner will tell you what is appropriate.
What if I forget the aftercare instructions? Our aftercare information page covers our treatments by category, and you can call the clinic.
Do I need a review appointment? For some treatments a review is standard practice, and for others it is arranged if needed. Ask at the time of treatment so you know what to expect.
Speaking with a practitioner
General information is not a substitute for the instructions given to you by the practitioner who treated you. Where they differ, follow your practitioner.
If you would like to discuss a treatment, its recovery, or how it might fit around something you have coming up, you can arrange a consultation at our Holland Park West clinic in Brisbane or our Kingscliff clinic in NSW through our contact page. A consultation is an assessment and a discussion of risks, alternatives and the option of no treatment. It does not commit you to proceeding.