Can you have treatment with a sun tan?

Can you have treatment if you have a tan (or are planning to)?

A tan is your skin letting you know that it has been exposure to harmful UV radiation, has been damaged in some way and is trying to protect itself. If you have just exposed your skin to extended periods of strong sunshine, your skin may be inflamed and recovering. Having any aggressive treatment during this time may not be a good idea. Let your skin settle before seeking any skin treatment.

Laser and IPL should not be performed on recently tanned skin. If you have been tanning (whether at home or away), we advise waiting 2 weeks before having treatment. Make sure that you let your practitioner know if you are tanned as it may not be obvious to them. In some cases, your practitioner may want to repeat a test patch just to be sure.

If you have just had laser or IPL treatment, your skin will need a period of time to settle and should not be exposed to strong sunlight. The length of time depends on the type of laser and aggressiveness of treatment but should certainly be a minimum of a few days if not a week or more – 2 weeks would be ideal.

Treatments not affected by tans are: Injectable treatments, radio frequency skin tightening and LED light.

If you’re ever in doubt, please call 020 7043 2233 and ask advice from your treater.