Neetu Khurana Sodhi, DO, MPH

While photorejuvenation likely poses no risk to your baby, your hormone levels shift dramatically during pregnancy and could predispose you to hyperpigmentation and worsening of melasma.  I am an OB and recommend that all of my pregnant patients avoid such services until 6 weeks postpartum.

The darkening is from post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. I would consider laser hair removal first because if you continue to shave you will continue to cause further darkening. Time alone will then lighten your underarms but the lightening can be augmented with peels and/or hydroquinone. I would certainly avoid IPL.

I'd suggest that you ask the clinic to optimize the settings for your skin type and continue with treatment. The laser can only target the hair that is in the active phase of growth so it takes 6-9 treatments to get a 75-80% reduction in hair growth.  Keep it up!

It appears as though the settings were a bit high but in your skin tone I would expect complete clearing of the marks. Make sure to use broad spectrum sunscreen daily to prevent extended hyperpigmentation.

I would suggest treatment with a fractional laser such as the ICON by Cynosure as I use it regularly to achieve excellent skin resurfacing results. It uses laser energy microbeams to create areas of affected tissue that extend through the epidermis into the dermis. The body’s natural healing process creates new, healthy tissue to replace the areas of affected tissue, resulting in healthier, younger-looking skin and a dramatic improvement in the appearance of scars such as the one you have.