Pregnancy is an experience like no other. Some women positively glow, but for a lot of us, it’s actually a pretty awkward time. Pregnant bodies go through all kinds of changes, from big bellies that make leg shaving impossible to surprising hair growth in new places.
It makes sense to wonder whether you can get laser hair removal while pregnant. It’ll allow you to feel a little more comfortable in your skin! Sadly, you will probably have to wait until well after you’ve had your baby. In this post, we’ll explain why, and give you all the other details about laser hair removal and pregnancy.
Why We Don’t Recommend Getting Laser Hair Removal While Pregnant
As is often the case with pregnancy and beauty treatments, there isn’t enough evidence to prove that laser hair removal is safe. To prove that a medical procedure is safe for pregnant women and their babies, studies have to be performed on pregnant women.
It makes perfect sense to conduct those kinds of studies for life-saving procedures. However, when it comes to elective beauty treatments, even if the chances of side effects or complications are extremely low, it’s still not worthwhile.
In other words, there are no known risks for getting laser hair removal during pregnancy. We just don’t have sufficient proof that it’s safe.
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More Reasons to Wait
Even if laser hair removal was proven safe during pregnancy, it’s probably not the best time for it.
When you’re pregnant, estrogen hormones are surging through your body. Then, once you give birth, your body goes through big hormonal changes yet again. We find that results are more predictable and consistent when our clients’ hormones have had a chance to stabilize.
Additionally, it’s very common to experience increased hyperpigmentation (especially melasma) during pregnancy. Inflammation of any sort increases your chances of developing pigmentation, which can also apply to laser.
How Does Pregnancy Affect Hair Growth?
The way pregnancy affects hair growth can be very unpredictable. All we can say for certain is that you’ll probably experience some changes to the hair all over your body, from its rate of growth to its texture.
The massive increase in estrogen during pregnancy often leads to more hair follicles getting stuck in the anagen phase. This means that more of your hair follicles produce hair all at once. This leads to pregnant women growing long shiny hair on their heads, but sometimes also on their bodies.
After pregnancy, as hormone levels stabilize, the hair follicles move into the shedding phase. It leads to something called “telogen effluvium” which is when women shed a lot of hair all at once a few months after giving birth. It can be really scary to lose so much hair at once, but really, you’re only shedding 9-months worth of hair that got stuck in the growth phase. Usually, everything levels off and hair growth goes back to normal after a few more months.
When Can I Resume Getting Laser Hair Removal?
Once your pregnancy is over, it’s best to wait at least three months while your hormones return to normal. The safety of laser during breastfeeding hasn’t been verified, so we recommend waiting until you’re no longer breastfeeding, as well.
What If I Had Laser Hair Removal Before I Knew I Was Pregnant?
If you had laser hair removal before you knew you were pregnant, don’t worry – these things can happen. Stressing over it is probably not going to do your baby any good, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be cautious.
As we already touched on, there is no safety data on laser hair removal and pregnancy. It’s best that you let your doctor know. It’s their job to monitor your pregnancy and make sure that both you and the baby are healthy and safe.
Bottom Line on Pregnancy and Laser
There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to pregnancy and laser hair removal. At SEV Laser, we prioritize your health and wellbeing above all else.
As such, we don’t perform laser hair removal or any of our other services on customers who are pregnant or nursing. We believe that it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Once you’re no longer pregnant, though, it’s fair game! We’ll happily welcome you to book your laser hair removal at any of our salons, so you can feel more at home in your post-pregnancy body.
