Short answer: treat away from the site as soon as they're comfortable, but stay off the scar itself until it's fully healed and matured — and get written GP clearance for anything invasive.
The scar is only half the risk. The bigger issues are what the surgery left behind: reduced sensation around the site, so the client can't reliably tell you a wax or a hot stone is burning them; post-operative blood thinners; and lymph node removal, which makes that limb a lifelong caution for anything that breaks skin or drives fluid.
What to do:
- Ask what, where and when. "Any surgery in the last year?" surfaces things "any medical conditions?" never will. Note the date, the site and whether nodes were removed.
- Off the scar entirely while it's healing. No waxing, peels, microneedling, laser, spray tan or deep pressure over a wound that is still pink, raised, tight or losing sensation. Most insurers want it fully closed and settled — check your own policy wording rather than guessing, because the number varies by treatment and by insurer.
- Away from the site is usually fine. A pedicure after shoulder surgery is not a contraindication. Watch positioning and getting on and off the couch.
- Written GP clearance for microneedling, laser, injectables-adjacent work or any treatment on or near the site. A verbal "my surgeon said it's fine" is not a record.
- Keloid-prone clients need a separate conversation before anything that breaks skin.
Stop for heat, spreading redness, discharge or a wound that reopens — that's a same-day GP referral, not a rebooking.
Every client, remembered — safely.
SAY-OS keeps each client's contraindications, allergies and history in one place, and flags them at booking — so the right call happens before they're in the chair.
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