How should I manage redness, swelling, blisters or sores after treatments?

Redness, swelling, blisters and sores are often a common result of aesthetic and skin cancer treatments. In most cases, they can be managed easily and settle gradually over the following weeks. However, it’s important to notify the clinic if you are very uncomfortable or concerned about your reaction being abnormal.

Most skin cancer and aesthetic treatments cause an inflammation reaction. This may be because:

• The aim, or an important component of, the treatment is to destroy or damage tissue and stimulate the growth of healthy new tissue in its place, and/or
• The treatment stimulates the immune system, which then destroys abnormal cells.

In both cases, it’s normal for redness and swelling to occur as blood flow to the affected area increases after injury.

Redness, swelling and burning

Red and sore skin is a common and expected side effect of many skin cancer and aesthetic treatments.

It’s usually caused by a normal inflammation reaction after the skin is injured. This reaction isn’t harmful, but it can be unsightly and uncomfortable. Depending on the type of reaction, there are several simple and effective ways of managing it.

If the skin feels hot, sore and “sunburnt”, try one or more of the following:

• Cool packs: You can use a packet of frozen vegetables if you don’t have a cool pack in your freezer.
• Cooling spray: e.g. Epicyn antiseptic spray, sterile water.
• Soothing creams: e.g. LaRoche Posay Cicaplast vitamin B5 cream.
• Barrier creams and ointments: Paraffin-based products such as Bepanthen and E45.
• Aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen and other anti-inflammatory drugs: Can help relieve pain and settle swelling.

The red colour caused by inflammation settles in 1-10 days, depending on the depth of the treatment. Redness caused by wound healing is due to the development of blood vessels, which increase blood supply to the skin as it heals. This redness may take many months to fade.

Blisters and sores

Blisters and sores often follow treatments for solar keratoses and sun-damaged skin, such as cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy and topical medications such as fluorouracil and fluorouracil/calcipotriol

It’s usually better not to puncture blisters unless they feel tense and painful. To puncture a blister, use a sterile needle.

Blisters should be covered with a dressing until 2-3 days after they have broken. If this is impractical, silicone gel is a good substitute. Apply a thin film 2-3 times daily until the skin surface has regrown. We recommend Epicyn gel as this contains hypochlorous acid, which helps prevent infections and improves wound healing.

Cold sores

People with a history of cold sores sometimes experience an outbreak after treatment on the face.

If you notice a cold sore starting to develop, you can take antiviral medication, which is available over the counter, to reduce both the severity and duration of symptoms. You can purchase 3 tablets of famciclovir from a pharmacy. Take them as a single dose within 72 hours of the onset of cold sore symptoms.

LED light therapy

LED low level light therapy is a light treatment that stimulates tissue repair and regrowth. Injured skin recovers faster if treated with LED light therapy.
If you would like to speed up your skin’s recovery, you can bok a series of LED light therapy sessions at Spot Check Clinic. This can be done as a preventative measure immediately after some treatments where we want to encourage rapid skin recovery, e.g. fractional laser and microneedling.