Can Pregnancy Reverse The Effects Of Laser Hair Removal?

“The minute you get pregnant, all those years of laser and all that pain and all that money you have put into laser to be hairless – waste of F-ing money.” So said podcaster Sophie Habboo, speaking on the show, Nearly Parents, she co-hosts with husband Jamie Laing. Besides ravenous hunger and brittle (in her words “grey”) teeth, pregnancy has seen Habboo witness an almost total reversal of the effects of laser treatment that had left her with a “99 per cent” hairless body, she told listeners.

Not convinced? The clip racked up millions of views when it was shared on TikTok, which suggests it struck a chord.

One medical aesthetician weighed in to say that she doesn’t recommend women embark on a full course of laser hair removal before they’ve finished having children. Others have insisted that pregnancy didn’t majorly affect their body’s hair growth cycle. Some salient voices have added that laser hair removal only ever offers a reduction in hair, not the total removal of it.

So, what’s the reality? Can pregnancy undo the results of all of your diligently scheduled laser appointments? Harley Street Dermatology Clinic consultant dermatologist Dr Aleksander Godic sets the record straight.

How does pregnancy affect hair growth?

“Pregnancy triggers profound hormonal changes, especially in oestrogen, progesterone and androgens,” Godic tells British Vogue.

“These hormones can stimulate dormant follicles to enter growth, especially on the face, abdomen or back. Hormones also prolong the growth phase and increase overall hair density. Even follicles that were previously damaged by laser may recover partial function under hormonal influence, producing new, sometimes finer hairs.”

This explains why someone like Habboo, he says, had significant hair re-growth despite excellent long-term results before pregnancy.

Is laser hair removal a permanent hair removal option?

Godic puts it simply: No. “There is no such thing as permanent hair removal, but rather long-term hair reduction,” he says.

The way lasers work (by concentrating a beam of heat that’s absorbed by the pigment in a hair follicle, damaging it down to the root and making it harder for the bulb to grow a new hair), can only happen with hair that’s already broken through the skin. “Not all follicles are active at the time of treatment; some are dormant (in the ‘telogen’ phase) and will not absorb the laser energy,” Godic explains.

This is why many laser clinics will require you to come in for multiple sessions, spaced several weeks apart, to try and target each hair at the right part of the growth cycle.

Can you have laser hair removal during pregnancy?

While laser hair removal during pregnancy isn’t contraindicated, there’s a notable lack of safety studies, so it is not advisable.

Most importantly, the skin of pregnant people is more reactive and can be more prone to burning, irritation and pigmentation changes, says Godic, which makes heat-related treatments – like laser hair removal – something of a concern.