Laer Hair Removal & Infertility

Energy from lasers for hair removal do not penetrate through the deep subcutaneous tissues and especially not as deep as the muscle layer of the abdomen which protects the underlying abdominal cavity so that the ovaries will not be affected.

Laser hair removal will not cause infertility or affect your ovaries. The laser specifically targets the hair follicle and does not travel much below the skin. Millions of women have had bikini hair removal with no reports of infertility.

Dear Anahid,

  You can rest assured that laser hair removal will not cause sterility/infertility. The different lasers that are used for hair removal do not deliver energy deep enough to reach your internal organs (like your ovaries). Lasers are characterized by the wavelength of light that they deliver . . . the lasers that are used for hair removal emit wavelengths ranging from 800 nanometers to 1064 nanometers. The wavelength determines the depth of penetration of the light. . . the longer the wavelength, the deeper the laser energy penetrates. However, even at 1064 nanometers, the laser is only penetrating to a depth of approximately a millimeter into your skin.  Your internal organs are located MUCH deeper than a millimeter below the surface of your skin.

    My explanation may have been a bit technical. But, suffice to say, you should not be concerned about sterility/infertility resulting from laser hair removal treatments. Take care, MK

Laser Hair Removal systems deliver light of various wavelengths through the skin surface where they  are preferentially absorbed by the hair follicles. The light energy absorbed is converted to heat and a microscopic injury to the follicle occurs that results in decreased hair production. The laser energy that is not absorbed quickly scatters or reflects and does not effect structures under the skin.

Although there is no risk of injury to your reproductive systems any time, Laser Hair Removal or any other laser treatments are not recommended during pregnancy.

Dr. Mosher

Thank you for your question. Laser hair removal will not cause infertility or in any way affect your ovaries. The laser only targets the hair follicle and does travel that much below the skin. There has never been a report of infertility caused by laser hair removal. Please do not worry.

Thank you for your question. Laser hair
removal will not cause infertility or in any way affect your ovaries. The laser
only targets the hair follicle and does travel that much below the skin. There
has never been a report of infertility caused by laser hair removal. Please do
not worry. 

Laser hair removal is a surface treatment that does not penetrate far into the skin (level of the hair follicles).  It is made up of light of wavelengths that in any case are not thought to have any ionizing effects (i.e. it is different than X-ray for example).

It is hard to imagine any possible effect therefore that laser would have on your reproductive system and fertility.

The wavelengths for the different laser hair reduction systems available are delivered to the target (hair bulb) just below the skin surface, and not any deeper. Hundreds of millions of women around the world have undergone laser hair reduction treatments without any reports of infertility.

There should not be any risk of laser hair removal treatments affecting your chances for getting pregnant. The laser creates a beam of highly concentrated light that penetrates into the skin where it delivers a controlled amount of therapeutic heat. This light energy is absorbed by the pigment located in the hair follicles. The laser pulses for a fraction of a second, just long enough to destroy numerous follicles at a time and leave the surrounding skin unaffected.  Some laser hair removal systems will further protect the skin during treatment by using Dynamic Cooling Device (DCD) technology where cryogen is sprayed onto the skin a fraction of a second before each laser pulse. This cools the upper layers of the skin and provides increased comfort and protection.