It is the cosmetic removal of small, superficial skin lesions that have been established as harmless. At ELKA CLINIC this is done with a plasma pen, which uses a tiny electrical arc to remove the lesion tissue precisely without cutting and without touching the skin.

The most common requests are skin tags, milia, and small raised benign growths in places where they catch, rub or simply bother the person who has them.

It is a cosmetic service, not a diagnostic one. That distinction shapes everything else on this page.

A small plasma arc jumps from the device tip to the skin surface without contact. That arc removes the lesion tissue at a controlled, shallow depth.

A protective crust forms over the treated point almost immediately. Underneath it, the skin repairs and remodels. The crust then separates naturally as new skin forms beneath, which is why the instruction not to pick matters so much.

Because the energy is delivered as a precise point rather than as broad heat, surrounding skin is affected far less than with some other removal methods.

Cryotherapy freezes the lesion and the tissue around it. It is quick but less precise, and on pigmented or deeper skin it carries a real risk of leaving a pale mark where the freeze extended beyond the lesion.

Surgical removal cuts and, depending on size, may need stitches. It is the right choice when tissue needs to be sent for testing, or when a lesion is deep or large. It leaves a surgical scar.

Plasma pen sits between them for small, superficial, already-diagnosed lesions: no cutting, no stitches, high precision, and a crust rather than a wound. What it cannot do is provide a specimen for pathology, which is exactly why undiagnosed lesions are not treated this way.

A lesion that is fully removed does not usually return in the same spot. What does happen is that people who form skin tags or milia tend to keep forming them, so new ones can appear elsewhere over time.

That is a tendency rather than a treatment failure. Some clients return occasionally for new lesions and treat it as maintenance.

Most clients find it very manageable. Topical numbing is applied first and the treatment of each individual lesion takes only moments.

The sensation is described as a brief hot pinprick. Areas with thinner skin, and anywhere close to the eyes or lips, are felt more than the neck or body.

We do not remove moles. We do not remove any lesion that has not been diagnosed. We do not remove anything that has changed in size, shape, colour or border, anything that itches, bleeds, crusts or will not heal, and anything that looks in any way suspicious.

We also do not treat lesions that are deeper than the surface, larger than plasma pen can address well, or in an area where treatment would risk a poor cosmetic outcome.

If you are unsure which category yours falls into, that is precisely the situation where you should see a doctor first rather than book with us.

Because removing a mole cosmetically destroys the tissue. If that mole was ever going to need testing, the opportunity to test it is gone, and any future recurrence becomes far harder to interpret.

Moles are also frequently deeper than they appear, so cosmetic removal can leave pigment behind and give a false impression that the lesion is gone.

This is not a matter of capability or caution for its own sake. It is the correct standard of care, and any clinic offering to remove moles cosmetically without medical assessment is one to walk away from.

For anything other than an obvious, unchanged skin tag or milia, yes, and we would rather you did.

The right sequence is: your GP or a dermatologist confirms the lesion is benign, and then we remove it cosmetically. That way you have a diagnosis on record and we are doing the part we are qualified to do.

If you have a skin check due, have it before your appointment rather than after. Perth is a high-UV environment and a full skin check is worth having regardless of this treatment.

We will tell you clearly at assessment, explain why, and recommend that you see your GP or a dermatologist. We will not treat something else instead just to fill the appointment.

If you have travelled in for the appointment and we cannot proceed, we would still rather have that conversation than remove something we are not confident about.

No, and we will never try. We are not a diagnostic service and we do not offer opinions on whether a lesion is malignant.

If anything about a lesion concerns us, we will say that we are not comfortable treating it and that you should have it looked at medically. That is the extent of it, and it should be treated as a prompt to see a doctor rather than as reassurance either way.

Assessment first. Each lesion is looked at individually, your medical history is reviewed, and we confirm what we are and are not treating. Photographs are taken.

Then the area is cleansed and topical numbing is applied and left to work.

Then removal, lesion by lesion. You will see a small crust form over each treated point almost immediately.

Then aftercare: what to apply, what to avoid, and how long the crusts will take to separate. Written instructions go home with you.

Allow around forty-five minutes to an hour and a half depending on how many lesions are being treated. A single skin tag is quick; a numbing period still applies.

Assessment and numbing account for most of the appointment. The removal itself is fast.

Generally very little, because the plasma arc seals as it removes. Some lesions, particularly larger skin tags, can produce a small amount of pinpoint bleeding.

This is one reason blood-thinning medication is discussed beforehand rather than discovered on the day.

Yes, though you will have small visible crusts at each treated point, and makeup cannot go over them until they have separated.

If the lesions are on your face and you would rather not be seen with visible crusts, plan the timing the way you would for any short-downtime treatment.

For most small skin tags and milia, yes. The lesion is removed in that session and the work afterwards is simply healing.

Larger or deeper lesions occasionally need a second, conservative pass once the first has fully healed. Going conservatively twice is safer than going aggressively once, especially on the face.

The crusts are gone within about ten days. The pink mark underneath is the part that takes longer, commonly a few weeks and occasionally a couple of months.

If you have an event coming up, plan around the pink stage rather than the crust stage. That is the one people underestimate.

Yes. Removing a skin tag does not change the tendency to form them, so new ones can appear in the same general area or elsewhere over the years.

Treated lesions themselves do not usually return. Any lesion that does appear to return in exactly the same place should be looked at medically rather than simply retreated.

Tell us. Bring it in and we will look at it against your before photographs. Residual pink almost always continues to improve with time and sun protection.

If a small area has healed with a textural change or a pigment change, we will be honest about what can and cannot be improved and what the options are.

It depends on how many lesions are being treated, their size and where they are. Rather than publish a figure here that can go out of date, current prices and appointment lengths are shown on our booking page.

View current pricing and availability.

If we assess a lesion and recommend that you see a doctor instead, we will explain that clearly and discuss the appointment with you rather than proceed with something we are not comfortable treating.

Talk to us when you book if you are uncertain whether your lesion is suitable, and send photographs beforehand. It is better to sort that out in advance than on the day.

Yes. Options are set out on our payment plans page.

No. This is a cosmetic treatment performed in a cosmetic clinic, so there is no Medicare rebate and it is not claimable as a medical procedure.

If a lesion needs to be removed for medical reasons, that is a matter for your GP or a dermatologist, where different funding arrangements may apply.