Is It Safe to Get IPL Treatments when Pregnant?

I do not recommend IPL for pregnant women.  The hormonal changes of pregnancy can alter the effect of the broad band light therapy and result in stimulation of pigmentation, and accelerate or precipitate melasma. There is no danger to the baby.

IPL is in theory and in practice completely safe during pregnancy. There is no harmful energy or ionizing radiation involved. My preference is not to treat patients during pregnancy, particularly for melasma, because the pregnancy hormones could exacerbate the pigmentation anyway. In addition, even if this is a perfectly safe and mostly comfortable, well-tolerated procedure, there could be a patient who reacts differently to the treatment, feels more discomfort than the the usual for example... more

There are no studies proving it is safe or harmful. It is recommended to wait until after you have delivered.

Pregnancy causes skin alteration in unpredicted ways. IPL has not been tested in pregnant women and as such we cannot say with certainty that it would affect you adversely. However, I urge you to wait after pregnancy as your skin is likely to react to the laser in a way it may not normally do if you were at your baseline hormone levels. If it is performed on your face there is unlikely to be harm to the fetus though OBs advise against it.

IPL is not recommended once you find out you're pregnant.  The worse case scenario is you run into complications post IPL and you're unable to take the proper antibiotics because of the pregnancy.

It is best to wait until several months after delivery to get laser or IPL treatments.  Hormonal changes during pregnancy change skin pigmentation and the way skin responds.  Also, laser and IPL treatments have not been tested for safety in pregnant women, so such data is not available.

It would be difficult to imagine why an intense light on your face would put your baby at risk.  That being said, the laser companies will let you know that using any laser during pregnancy is contraindicated.  So the message may be mixed and without any studies to back one of the positions it is still an unknown. As for the results and timing of the treatment you should know 2 things.. 1. You may get changes in your skin throughout pregnancy that will need an IPL after you... more

Hi there- I don't think most physicians believe that the IPL will put you or your baby at risk, but most would agree that the hormones of pregnancy DO alter the way your skin will respond to the light of the IPL, making the outcome a bit unpredictable. Better to wait until after you deliver.

Pregnancy is a contraindication for IPL and BBL (Broad Band Light) treatments. The effect on the fetus is unknown and the hormonal shifts of pregnancy make the response of pigmented lesions very unpredictable. It is best to have the treatment after the pregnancy when you reach a normal pre-pregnancy hormonal state. Dr. P. Aldea

Although there is no scientific evidence relating to potential damage to the fetus, it is recommended that you forego any laser treatment while pregnant or lactating. This is purely a precautionary measure.

In my opinion, the IPL treatments should be avoided due to the increase in surging hormones in your body. While it is unlikely there would be any direct harm to the developing child, your melanocytes or pigment producing cells in your skin can react unexpectedly to trauma and hyperpigment or you may get additional broken blood vessels. For this reason, I caution my pregnant patients to wait until the end of pregnancy before beginning treatment. However, when breastfeeding, there probably is... more

Because very few treatments of any sort have been studied in pregnant or lactating women, most dermatologists would advise waiting till after the pregnancy. Besides, a variety of brown blemishes or burst blood vessels may develop during pregnancy, which can then be cleaned up by the IPL afterwards safely. While the risk of treatment would be remote, why have any risk?