With an aggressive skin treatment, a controlled injury is intentionally inflicted to a client’s skin. The barrier function has been compromised and the immune system has been tasked. The client’s skin is vulnerable to prolonged erythema, unwanted edema, and risk of dermatitis or even fungal or bacterial infection. 

Aggressive skin care treatments could include any number of treatments and could be intentional or unintentional. You may have a well-established client who wants more invasive treatments to combat signs of aging or you may have misjudged your client’s skin during consultation and the end result was more aggressive than intended. Alternately, your client might not have been compliant with post-treatment instructions and their skin is struggling to recover. It is important to know and understand how to integrate skin care products with active ingredients into your client’s homecare regimen after an aggressive treatment. 

Technician, educator, mentor, and business owner, Mary Nielsen has been at the forefront in medical aesthetics since its infancy in the early 1990s. She is an Oregon-certified advanced aesthetician and a licensed aesthetics instructor. She serves as vice chair of the Oregon Board of Certified Advanced Estheticians. She is the author of several aesthetics books, including four chapters in the latest “Milady’s Esthetics” textbook.