Treatment Risks and Recovery What every treatment here has in common.
Every treatment page at MARA.H carries its own risk section, written for that treatment. This page carries what they share — the risks that follow from breaking the skin at all, the situations where we assess before proceeding, how the decision is actually made, and what to do if something does not seem right afterwards.
Nothing on this page can be booked. It is here to be read before you decide, not to move you along.
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Risk follows depth: how far into the skin something goes, and what is placed there, matters more than how dramatic the result looks.
Three groups: injected treatments, treatments that break or resurface the skin, and non-invasive treatments. Each group has its own recurring themes.
Common ground: infection, pigment change, scarring and an uneven response turn up across almost everything that breaks the skin.
Assessment decides: suitability is settled at consultation, not at booking, and sometimes the outcome is that we do not proceed.
Recovery is a range: stated as a range rather than a promise, because that is what it is.
If something is wrong: call 0468 358 861 rather than wait. If it is severe, contact your GP or call 000.
Your treatment specifically: the full risk section lives on that treatment’s own page — the index is further down.
Why we write the risks out in full
Most clinic websites put the risks somewhere they will not be read: a paragraph of legal text at the bottom, or a form handed to you once you have already committed. We take the opposite view. Risk information is part of what you are deciding with, so it sits inside every treatment page rather than underneath it.
This is patient education, not a disclaimer. A disclaimer exists to protect the clinic; education exists to let you make a decision you will still be happy with in three months. The difference shows up in how things are written — plain descriptions of what you would actually see and feel, recovery given as a range, no probability figures we cannot source, and no suggestion that something will not happen simply because the person doing it is experienced.
Reading a complete list of what can go wrong is uncomfortable, and it is meant to be a little. Almost everything listed across our pages is uncommon. Being told about it beforehand is what makes it manageable if it does happen, because you will recognise it and call us instead of waiting to see.
Three groups, three different risk profiles
Treatments are grouped here by how far into the skin they reach and what is placed there. That is what drives the risk, and it does not always match how invasive a treatment feels.
Injected treatments
Something is placed under the skin, near blood vessels and nerves, and cannot be removed by rinsing it off. This group has the widest range of possible outcomes.
Recurring themes: bruising and swelling as a matter of course rather than bad luck; lumps and asymmetry; product affecting a neighbouring muscle or pressing on a vessel; and allergic reaction to an injected product.
Several treatments in this group involve prescription medicines, which means the decision runs through a consultation with a registered medical practitioner before anything is dispensed.
Treatments that break or resurface the skin
Laser and light, focused ultrasound and radiofrequency, chemical peels, needling, semi-permanent makeup and extraction. Nothing is left under the skin, but the barrier is broken or the deeper layers are heated.
Recurring themes: infection while the barrier is open; pigment that comes back darker or lighter than the surrounding skin; blistering, crusting and scarring; and an outcome that depends heavily on settings and technique.
Pigment change after treatment is more likely in melanin-rich and Asian skin. That is a reason to set the treatment to the skin, not a reason to avoid the whole group.
Non-invasive treatments
Enzyme therapy, paramedical facials, radiofrequency at non-ablative settings, and manual sculpting work. The skin barrier stays intact.
Recurring themes: flushing, tightness and stinging during and after; reaction to an active ingredient; breakouts as congestion clears; and treatments layered too close together doing more than either would alone.
Lowest risk of the three groups. Lowest is not none, and this group still has situations where we would not proceed.
What almost everything shares
Infection, wherever the skin is broken
Any treatment that breaks the barrier creates a window in which bacteria can get in. Clinic hygiene closes most of that window; the rest of it is the days afterwards, at home. Picking, touching with unwashed hands, gym equipment, swimming and steam are how it usually happens. Spreading redness, heat, discharge or fever are the signs worth acting on.
Pigment changing in either direction
Inflamed skin can respond by producing more pigment, leaving an area darker than the skin around it, or by producing less, leaving it paler. Both can take weeks to months to settle and neither is fully predictable in advance. This is the single most common reason a treatment aimed at pigmentation leaves someone looking worse before better, and it is more likely in melanin-rich and Asian skin. Sun exposure during recovery makes it more likely, which is why sun protection during the recovery window is not optional.
Scarring
Uncommon across all three groups and possible in the first two. It is most often linked to something being interfered with while healing — a scab picked off, a blister opened — or to a reaction that was left rather than looked at. A history of keloid scarring changes the calculation and needs raising before you book.
A recovery period, even where the treatment is short
Appointment length and recovery length are separate things. A treatment that takes twenty minutes can still leave you visibly red for a day or flaking for a fortnight. Where the timing is known and consistent, our pages print it. Where it depends on the settings used and how your skin behaved, your treating practitioner gives it to you at the end of the appointment — and that instruction takes priority over anything written on a website.
Responses that differ between people
Skin type, age, hormones, medication, sun history, how well you sleep and what you are treating all change the outcome. The number of sessions that suits one person is not the number that suits another, and some conditions — melasma is the clearest example — are managed over time rather than removed permanently. Nobody can tell you your result in advance, and a clinic that does is guessing.
Treatments stacked too close together
Two reasonable treatments in the wrong order, or a week apart when they needed a month, cause more problems than either would alone. This includes what you do at home: acids, retinol and strong vitamin C going back in too early is one of the most common causes of a poor recovery. If you are having treatment elsewhere as well, tell us.
When we assess first, and when we do not proceed
These come up across nearly every treatment we offer. Each treatment page also carries its own list. Raise anything here when you book rather than on the day, so we are not deciding under time pressure.
Tell us when you book
- ·Pregnancy or breastfeeding, including if you are trying
- ·Isotretinoin now, or within the last several months
- ·Any medication or supplement affecting bleeding or clotting, prescribed or not
- ·Cold sores, if the treatment is anywhere near the mouth
- ·A history of keloid or raised scarring
- ·Recent sun exposure, tanning, or a holiday coming up
- ·Other treatments booked elsewhere, and what your home routine contains
- ·Any event you are planning around, and how far away it is
Assessed before we proceed
- ·Active infection, broken skin, or inflamed skin in the treatment area
- ·Eczema, psoriasis or dermatitis where the treatment would go
- ·An autoimmune condition, or recent corticosteroid use
- ·Uncontrolled diabetes, a suppressed immune system, or current chemotherapy
- ·Anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy, or a bleeding disorder
- ·A neuromuscular condition, where injected muscle relaxants are being considered
- ·Recent laser, peel, filler, thread or dental work in the same area
- ·Skin that is acutely compromised, however that happened
None of these is an automatic no on its own. They mean the decision is made at assessment — and sometimes the outcome of that assessment is that we do not treat, or that you see your GP first.
The consultation is where suitability is settled
Booking an appointment is not the same as being cleared for it. Every treatment at MARA.H begins with an assessment of what you are actually dealing with, what your history allows, and whether the treatment you came in asking about is the one that fits. Where it is not, we say so — including when that means you leave without booking anything.
Prescription treatments at MARA.H are provided following consultation with Dr Jenn Lee, an Ahpra Registered Practitioner (General Registration MED0002666421). Suitability for anything prescription-only is decided at that consultation rather than before it. That is why those treatments are not something you can select from a page and have confirmed later.
Bring the full picture with you. Medication and supplements, previous treatments and how you reacted to them, skin conditions you have had treated in the past, and what you use at home. People routinely leave out supplements bought without a prescription and treatments had at another clinic, and both change what is reasonable to do.
An assessment that ends in a different plan, a referral to your GP or a dermatologist, or a recommendation to wait, is a working assessment. We would rather have that conversation with you than a different one afterwards.
What to do, and when not to wait
Call us rather than wait and see
Call the clinic on 0468 358 861 during opening hours and describe what you are seeing. Do not hold it until your next appointment, and do not decide on your own that it is probably nothing. We would far rather look at something that turns out to be a normal part of healing.
Look at rather than wait out
Pain that is out of proportion to what you were told to expect. Redness that is spreading rather than settling. Heat, discharge, or a fever. Blistering, or a scab that keeps getting bigger. Skin that turns white, dusky or mottled after an injected treatment. Any change in vision after treatment near the eyes. A lump that is growing rather than softening.
Outside our hours, or if it is severe
Contact your GP, or attend your nearest emergency department. If it is severe, or you are frightened, call 000. Nothing about being our patient means you should wait for us to open.
Bring the detail with you
Whoever sees you will want to know what treatment you had, when, and to which area. If you are seeing someone other than us, that information is what lets them help you quickly. Photographs taken as things change are more useful than a description from memory.
Where to read the full risk section
Each treatment page carries a risk section written for that treatment: what most people experience, the less common risks, recovery, individual variation, who it is not suitable for, and what to do if something is wrong.
Injected treatments
Breaks or resurfaces the skin
Non-invasive treatments
Treating a concern rather than choosing a device? Acne Treatment and Acne Scar Treatment set out how the options are sequenced, and the full treatment index lists everything.
Treatment Risks FAQ
Because risk information belongs somewhere you can find it without being sold to on the way. Every treatment page at MARA.H carries its own risk section covering what is specific to that treatment. This page covers what they have in common — the risks that follow from breaking the skin at all, the situations where we assess before proceeding, and what to do if something does not seem right afterwards. Nothing on this page can be booked, and that is deliberate.
Not the ones people usually assume. Risk follows how far into the skin something goes and what is being placed there, not how dramatic the result is. Injected treatments carry the widest range of possible outcomes because a product is placed under the skin near blood vessels and nerves. Laser, energy, peel, needling and semi-permanent makeup treatments break or resurface the skin, so infection, pigment change and scarring are the recurring themes. Non-invasive treatments carry the least, which is not the same as none.
There is no single list that covers every treatment, but some situations come up across nearly all of them: pregnancy and breastfeeding, active infection or inflamed skin in the area being treated, current isotretinoin use, an active cold sore where the treatment is near the mouth, and recent sun exposure or tanning. A bleeding disorder or blood-thinning medication, a history of keloid scarring, an autoimmune condition, uncontrolled diabetes and a suppressed immune system all mean the decision is made at assessment rather than at booking. Tell us about all of these before you book, not on the day.
Yes, including when that means you leave without booking anything. An assessment that ends in “not this, and here is why” is a working assessment, not a failed one. Sometimes the honest answer is a different treatment, sometimes it is a referral to your GP or a dermatologist first, and sometimes it is that the concern does not need treating.
In everyday use the words blur, so our pages avoid relying on the distinction. Each treatment page separates what most people experience — redness, swelling, tenderness, bruising, flaking, the things that are part of the treatment working — from the less common outcomes you would want to know about before deciding. Both are stated. Neither is described as unlikely enough to ignore.
Where a timing is known and consistent, it is printed. Where it depends on how many areas were treated, what settings were used and how your skin responded on the day, the accurate answer is the one your treating practitioner gives you at the end of the appointment. Printing a single number in that situation would look more precise while being less true. Recovery is given as a range rather than a promise for the same reason.
Prescription treatments at MARA.H are provided following consultation with Dr Jenn Lee, an Ahpra Registered Practitioner (General Registration MED0002666421). Suitability is decided at that consultation rather than before it, which is why prescription treatments cannot be booked from a page and confirmed later.
Call the clinic on 0468 358 861 during opening hours and describe what you are seeing — do not wait for your next appointment. Increasing pain, spreading redness, heat, discharge, fever, blistering, skin that turns white, dusky or mottled, or any change in vision after treatment near the eyes should be looked at rather than waited out. Outside our hours, contact your GP. If it is severe or you are worried, call 000.
Reading on from here
Three places people go after this page. None of them is a booking link.
Treatment Index
The full list. Each page carries its own risk section, its own recovery timings, and its own list of who it is not suitable for.
Learn More → Ask Us DirectlyContact the Clinic
If something on this page applies to you and you are not sure what it means for your plan, ask before you book rather than on the day.
Learn More → Everything ElseGeneral FAQ
Consultations, what to expect at the clinic, and the questions that come up before a first appointment.
Learn More →This page provides general information only and does not constitute medical advice. All treatments require an individual consultation to assess suitability. Individual results may vary.