Pregnancy changes your hormones, which may result in unwanted hair growth in unexpected places. But this usually subsides once postpartum hormone levels return to normal.
Most reputable salons won’t perform laser hair removal during pregnancy due to insufficient evidence about its safety for you and the unborn. They do this out of precaution.
What Happens if You Accidentally Get Laser Hair Removal While You’re Pregnant?
As with other beauty treatments, there’s little clinical data on whether laser hair removal is safe for pregnant women. Because of this lack of evidence, reputable clinics will often refuse to treat women who are pregnant – this decision doesn’t reflect anything other than caution; rather, these clinics want to err on the side of caution in order to safeguard their patients and minimize risk.
Pregnancy hormones can make the hair on your legs, belly, and other parts of your body to grow more rapidly than usual – often leaving unwanted downy strands that are hard to reach with razors or waxing kits. Although most times it goes away after giving birth has taken place, it could potentially become permanent issue.
The FDA has granted some home laser hair removal devices FDA clearance; however, these should not be considered medical machines and should not be used by expecting mothers. They don’t employ high-powered lasers that trained doctors use in medical settings – making these less effective and often leading to skin damage than professional grade devices.
Due to androgen hormones present in your body, laser treatment during pregnancy should also be avoided due to risk of permanent pigmentation changes to the skin due to laser treatments. It’s advisable that any concerns with regards to pigmentation changes be discussed with a healthcare provider prior to receiving laser treatments while pregnant.
As laser treatments can cause burning sensations for some women and lead to hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation in some areas, you should speak with your physician regarding using moisturizer on affected areas or use of an analgesic cream in such areas – some individuals even report crusting of skin as an adverse side effect of treatment.
Pregnant women prone to blood-clotting disorders or bleeding disorders should avoid laser treatments during gestation, as their heat could trigger such issues and lead to bleeding or bruising at the site of treatment, which could prove harmful both for mother and baby.
What Happens if You Accidentally Get Laser Hair Removal While You’re Breastfeeding?
Many pregnant women experience unwanted hair growth during their pregnancies due to hormonal fluctuations, typically around their belly, chin, breasts and buttocks (often around the nipples). Although this extra hair might be embarrassing at first glance, most will usually go away six months post birth once your hormones return to normal; but if you’re unhappy with it and wish it were removed more permanently laser hair removal may be an option (it should however be avoided during breastfeeding).
Since no studies exist to assess how laser and intense pulsed light treatments affect breastfeeding infants, experts advise taking an extra precautionary measure by waiting until after your baby has been weaned before starting laser hair removal treatment. Also be mindful that laser hair removal treatments may cause skin irritation; this effect could become amplified if breastfeeding.
Also, laser treatments emit radiation which may be hazardous for breastfeeding mothers. According to Healthline, high levels of radiation exposure can increase miscarriage rates, premature birth rates and cause birth malformations; although laser hair removal involves relatively low radiation exposure levels it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Laser treatments may also impact nursing mothers’ milk by causing skin hyperpigmentation which is then transmitted to their nursing infant. While hyperpigmentation itself isn’t harmful, it may make invisible scars more evident.
Laser hair removal poses no threat to breastfeeding mothers; there’s no evidence it will harm them in any way. Some have even claimed they don’t feel any discomfort from laser treatments because their focus is diverted by caring for a newborn! Of course, most don’t find laser treatments painful either way so this argument does not hold water.
What Happens if You Accidentally Get Laser Hair Removal While You’re Postpartum?
Pregnant women should generally forgo laser hair removal due to limited studies confirming its safety, which could put both you and your unborn baby at risk. There are other methods of hair removal such as waxing, shaving or using clippers which may provide temporary solutions until after giving birth when their regular routine can resume again.
Laser therapy is generally safe to use during pregnancy for treating medical conditions; however, its safety should not be used for cosmetic reasons due to limited data on its efficacy. Electrolysis – which uses an electric current delivered through wire placed into hair follicles to destroy them – also poses risks as it could reach galvanic current and possibly reach the ovaries that contain androgen hormones and potentially cause them damage.
Pregnancy hormonal changes may impede the effectiveness of your hair removal treatment, including androgen hormones that cause hyperpigmentation that makes laser hair removal harder to target hair follicles.
Your menstrual cycle may also change during pregnancy, which could impact how fast hair grows. A doctor can help determine when hormone levels have returned to normal so you can safely proceed with laser hair removal.
If you decide to undergo laser hair removal during your pregnancy, it’s important to remember that it won’t be permanent. Multiple sessions will likely be necessary before all hair follicles in your body have been reduced and some could eventually grow back.
Be wary when nursing as androgen hormones in your blood can have an effect on breast milk production, making it harder for breasts to produce milk and your supply decreasing over time. If this occurs, speak to your physician about resuming treatment once breastfeeding has ended.
What Happens if You Accidentally Get Laser Hair Removal While You’re Trying to Get Pregnant?
FDA has approved at-home laser hair removal devices, however these should not be used during pregnancy. Instead, safe and effective techniques like shaving, waxing and trimming should be utilized instead. Keep in mind that any extra hair you may experience while pregnant is only temporary and will return back to its regular state once your baby arrives.
Given there is no scientific proof that laser hair removal or electrolysis are safe for pregnant women, reputable clinics usually err on the side of caution when offering services to them; as a result, pregnant women usually are declined treatment in these instances. Their intention isn’t to make more sales; rather they aim to ensure both themselves and their unborn child(ren) remain as safe as possible during the process.
Laser hair removal involves using a handheld device that emits light to target specific areas. This light beam is absorbed by pigment in hair follicles, creating heat which damages or destroys them and damages or destroys their growth follicles – not painful, yet sometimes uncomfortable; many have described the experience as similar to snapping with a rubber band; afterward the skin will likely appear red and swollen but this usually indicates successful laser use.
Treatment isn’t permanent and typically requires up to six sessions to achieve desired results. While the process works best on people with light skin and dark hair, new technologies are increasingly effective on all skin types. Furthermore, individual areas may experience different rates of hair growth so clearing out an entire area could take time.
Before scheduling any laser treatments during pregnancy, it’s essential that an honest discussion between you and your laser specialist takes place. He or she should discuss how many sessions will be necessary and the length of time they might take – so you can plan accordingly. If opting for treatments anyway, try to keep chest, breasts and nipples out of reach until breastfeeding resumes again.
