Plasma Pen Aftercare
Plasma Pen Aftercare
These instructions are for Plasma Pen skin tightening and fibroblast treatments — hooded eyelids, crow’s feet, forehead and frown lines, and other areas treated to soften wrinkles and tighten skin. If you had a benign skin lesion removed, that is a different treatment with a different protocol: please follow the skin lesion removal aftercare given to you in clinic rather than this page, and contact us if you no longer have it. A dedicated skin lesion removal guide is being prepared.
The first 24 hours
Keep the treated area dry for the first 24 hours and avoid washing directly over the plasma dots during this period. The dots need to dry down undisturbed, and water, product and friction all work against that.
- No washing, showering water or cleanser directly over the treated area.
- Keep the area product-light. ELKA CLINIC does not provide or routinely recommend an ointment, balm or cream after Plasma Pen skin tightening, so do not apply one unless we have specifically advised you otherwise.
- Touch the area as little as possible, and only ever with clean hands.
- No makeup over the treated area.
- Sleep with your head slightly elevated for the first few nights, particularly after eyelid treatment.
- Keep pillowcases and anything else that contacts the area clean.
Showering is fine — simply keep the water off the treated area and avoid steam and long hot showers while the dots are drying.
Leave the plasma dots alone
This is the single most important instruction on this page. The small plasma dots must be allowed to dry, heal and shed naturally, in their own time. There is nothing you need to do to speed that up, and nothing you should do.
- Do not pick the dots.
- Do not peel them.
- Do not scratch them.
- Do not rub or scrub the area.
- Do not exfoliate over the dots.
- Do not pull off or deliberately remove a dot, even one that looks ready.
Disturbing the healing surface before it is ready can interfere with healing and increases the chance of unwanted skin changes, such as a lasting mark or a temporary change in skin colour. Every dot will come away on its own.
Swelling and eyelid care
Some redness, warmth, tenderness and swelling can follow Plasma Pen treatment. It is part of the response the treatment is designed to create.
What to expect
Swelling
Swelling around the eyelids is usually more noticeable than elsewhere, because the tissue around the eyes is delicate and holds fluid readily. It often looks more pronounced on waking the following morning before it begins to settle.
Swelling that is clearly worsening rather than settling, or that comes with increasing pain, spreading heat or discharge, is not part of ordinary recovery. Contact us.
Comfort only
Cool compress
If the area feels swollen or uncomfortable, a clean, cool compress may be used for comfort. Cool, not freezing, and never ice directly against the skin.
- Rest it gently in place — do not press firmly.
- Do not rub, and do not disturb the plasma dots.
- Do not massage the eyelids.
- Keep anything that touches the area clean.
- No warm or hot compresses over freshly treated skin.
If your eyelids were treated
Eyelid care
- Do not rub your eyes.
- Do not pick the plasma dots.
- No eye makeup until the area has healed.
- No lash extensions until healed.
- No lash lifts or lash tints until healed.
- No skincare actives over healing eyelid skin.
Washing and daily care
From approximately 24 hours you can gently cleanse the area if it needs it. Gentle is the whole instruction — the aim is to keep the skin clean without loosening a single dot early.
- Lukewarm water and a very mild cleanser.
- Clean hands only.
- No rubbing and no scrubbing.
- No washcloths, flannels or other friction.
- No cleansing brushes or exfoliating devices.
- No exfoliation of any kind.
- Pat or blot dry — do not wipe.
- Do not soak the area, and keep hot showers, baths and steam off it.
Keep the area product-light while it heals. If you are unsure whether something is suitable, ask us before applying it rather than after.
What to avoid, and for how long
The timings differ by activity. Where a healing condition is attached, that condition matters more than the number of days.
72 hours
Exercise and heavy sweating
Avoid strenuous exercise and heavy sweating for 72 hours, and beyond that until the treated area feels comfortable enough that sweating will not irritate it.
Gentle walking is fine from the day after treatment. Sweat softens the dots, stings healing skin and carries bacteria across the area.
At least 7 days, and until healed
Swimming, spas, sauna and steam
No swimming, pools, spas or hot tubs, and no sauna or steam room, for at least 7 days and until the plasma dots have shed and the treated skin has healed — whichever comes later.
Reaching day seven does not automatically mean the skin is ready. If dots are still in place, keep waiting.
Until healed
Makeup
No makeup directly over the treated area until every plasma dot has shed naturally and the skin surface has healed. Depending on the area treated, that includes foundation, concealer, powder, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara where it may contact a treated eyelid.
There is no fixed makeup day. Healing status decides, and removing makeup is the friction that lifts a dot before it is ready.
Throughout healing
Picking, friction and exfoliation
No picking, scratching, scrubbing or exfoliating over the treated area at any point during healing, and no facial brushes, washcloths or exfoliating devices.
Keep deliberate sun exposure off the area for the whole of this period as well.
The Plasma Pen healing timeline
A general guide to how Plasma Pen healing usually progresses. Areas differ, and so do people.
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Day 1
Visible plasma dots, with redness and warmth. The skin feels tight and a little sunburnt, and a grid of small dark dots is visible across the treated area. Swelling begins and is often obvious by the evening, particularly around the eyes.
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Days 2–4
Swelling usually peaks, then settles. It is commonly most noticeable on the second morning and eases noticeably each day after that. The dots become darker and drier and are firmly attached. Around the eyes the lids can look puffy enough to change the eye shape briefly.
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Days 5–10
The dots begin to loosen and shed naturally. They come away a few at a time rather than all at once, usually finishing between days five and seven on the face, and around seven to ten days on the neck or wherever they lift more slowly. Itching as they lift is normal. Leave them alone.
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Weeks 2–4
The pink stage. The new skin underneath is intact but can look pink and feel tight or slightly dry. Early tightening becomes visible now that the swelling has gone. In skin that pigments readily, temporary darkening can appear at this stage.
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Weeks 6–12
The result develops. Collagen remodelling continues quietly, and this is when most of the visible tightening appears. Any residual pinkness usually resolves within this window.
Healing varies from person to person and from area to area, so treat these bands as a general guide rather than a schedule. The neck and body heal more slowly than the face.
After the dots have shed
The dots falling away does not mean the skin has finished settling. It means the surface has closed — the rest of the recovery is still underway underneath.
- The newly healed skin may look pink, feel sensitive, or appear temporarily different in colour to the skin around it.
- It may feel tight or slightly dry for a while. That settles.
- Do not start scrubbing or exfoliating simply because the dots have gone.
- Do not resume aggressive skincare, and do not treat this as the moment to catch up on everything you paused.
- Do not tan, and keep deliberate sun off the area.
New skin is the part of the process most worth protecting. Being patient for another few weeks is what preserves the result.
Skincare and sun protection
Until completely healed
Active skincare
While the area is healing, do not apply any of the following directly over it: retinol and retinoids, AHAs, BHAs and exfoliating acids, physical scrubs, strong active serums, or exfoliating devices.
Wait until the area is completely healed. For stronger exfoliating acids and retinoid products, wait until completely healed and then approximately another week before restarting them directly over the treated area. If the skin still feels sensitive, wait longer.
Once the surface has healed
Sun and SPF
Avoid deliberate or direct sun exposure while the area is healing. Do not apply sunscreen directly over fresh plasma dots.
Once the dots have shed naturally, the surface has healed and the skin comfortably tolerates topical products, use a broad-spectrum SPF 50+ over exposed treated skin, and keep that up. For eyelid and lash-line areas, use a product suitable for the eye area rather than smearing sunscreen into the lash line, and rely on sunglasses, a hat and shade as well.
Temporary pigment changes — skin becoming darker or lighter in the treated area — can occur after plasma fibroblast treatment. Careful sun protection meaningfully reduces the risk, though it cannot rule every change out. This is worth taking seriously rather than worrying about.
When to contact ELKA CLINIC
If something about your healing concerns you, get in touch. Most of the time we will simply confirm you are on track, and we would far rather hear from you early than have you wait and worry. A clear photograph taken in daylight helps, so WhatsApp is usually the quickest way to reach us.
Some things warrant a closer look rather than being put down to ordinary Plasma Pen recovery:
- Pain that is increasing rather than improving.
- Redness or swelling that is significantly worsening rather than settling.
- Any discharge from the treated area.
- Blistering.
- An unexpected or significant skin reaction.
- Anything that makes you think the area may be infected.
If your treatment was around the eyes, eye pain, significant eye symptoms or any change in your vision should be assessed promptly by a doctor or an emergency department — do not wait to hear back from us first.
Other treatments and another Plasma Pen session
At least 4 weeks
Other treatments over the same area
Avoid significant treatments directly over the Plasma Pen area for at least 4 weeks and until it is completely healed. That includes microneedling, chemical peels, laser and light treatments, significant resurfacing, and anything else likely to irritate recovering skin.
If another practitioner is treating the same area, tell them Plasma Pen treatment was performed there.
From around 12 weeks
A further Plasma Pen session
Further Plasma Pen treatment, if recommended, should only be considered once the area has completely healed and enough time has passed to assess the developing result. In practice that is generally from around 12 weeks.
Collagen change continues for weeks after the dots have gone, so treating again too early means judging a result that has not finished arriving.