What are the side effects of laser hair removal on pregnant women?

The risks are uncertain with laser hair removal during pregnancy, so it is best to avoid the treatment altogether as it is not worth any potential side effects or risks.

Avoiding some treatments are due to unclear risks or real risks.  LHR removal falls into the category of unclear risks and therefore is to be avoided.  LASER hair removal is typically not performed on pregnancy since there is not enough information on its effects on either the mother or the baby. In addition, there is a surge of progesterone and other hormones during pregnancy which can lead to unwanted hair growth. Although probably not harmful, it is probably best practice to resume your LHR treatments after pregnancy.

There is no evidence that we have found, by contacting safety consultants, that there is a risk to pregnant women or their fetus. However, it is difficult for anyone to make a definite claim. If the device is electromagnetically shielded, I am told, then it should be fine. The real issue is to avoid topical anesthetic cream as there is absorption of this cream and that might be a risk to the baby. Have your physician check with the laser company that they are intending to use, to see what their position statement is in terms of treating pregnant women.

The risks of laser hair removal on pregnant women and their fetus are unknown. For this reason most physicians will not perform this treatment on pregnant women. The potential side effects are not worth the risk. I hope this information helps.

Most of us would strongly recommend that no one receive a laser or energy based cosmetic treatment onanyone that is pregnant. While we suspect that nothing bad would happen as a result of a laser treatment during pregnancy, the one in a million chance risk is just not worth it – this is a cosmetic procedure and it can wait until you are not pregnant.

 This is a question that often comes up - from which medications are safe in pregnancy to which types of cosmetic treatments would be ok.  Due to the fact that most of us err on the side of safety, most of these treatments have not been studied on pregnant women, so they are best avoided.

We highly recommend having treatments when you are not pregnant. There are no real evidence to show that there are side effects but we would rather play it safe. You only have a few months to wait. Safety is always first.