anybody done IPL?

[sowaddayasay]

hello, thinking trying IPL (pulsing light) hair removal and they recommend not doing it while breastfeeding. Has anybody done it or can give me better reasons to not do it please? TIA , s

PS posting this also in style and beauty

Hi I use this on/ off as have poly cystic ovaries, it works very well and you need to use a qualified and registered salon, I will say you are asked a series of questions and breast feeding may indeed rule you out. Your hormones need to settle back to normal as your periods actually effect pattern of growth ( as in when hairs grow etc) so mention this when booking a patch test.
Lots of different IPL achines out there and do some research for what may suit your needs, plus be realistic, it's more permanent reduction that it going altogether but makes a huge improvement for me personally.

Thank you very much coansha, that's very helpful! I'm a bit confused because the general advice is don't do it when breastfeeding but the salon don't seem to mind...

I would wait off, truly your hormones need to settle and think you might be wasting your money until then.
By chance I'm going to new salon tomorrow as old therapist had terrible car crash and is off sick indef.
It has new machine, will let you know how I get on with it.

That settles it then, I won't do it, especially as the salon said it would be ok - clearly they are not to be trusted if everybody else says no! I will remain a bit hairier than desired till the breastfeeding ends. Trouble is there is no plan to end breastfeeding so who knows when I will try IPL.

Thanks for your help!

How about getting a home IPL? Something like the Philips Lumea? I started using it in December (xmas present). DD was 9mo then and I'm still breastfeeding. I've done my research online as well and come to the same conclusion that it might be a waste of money because of the hormone changes. Some people have no problem, others reported their hair came back really quickly. I'm going to breastfeed for a bit, and also planning to have a second. It's going to be another 3 or 4 years before I could head to the salon!

With the Lumea, the good thing is that once you've got it, it doesn't cost more to reapply. I have very good results with my arms, bikini line and legs. My underarm growth is a lot more vigorous and I need to do it every 2 weeks. (The machine says that after about 2 months, you only need to do a maintenance every 4-6 weeks). I haven't needed to shave except before using the Lumea, so it's been pretty good. I used to shave every other day.

I've had ipl and have bought the boots smooth skin machine.
I can only think that they are saying no to breast feeding
A) to cover them selves just in case there is some weird reaction in your body
B) due to hormonal imbalances affecting hair growth.

As far as I know ipl kills each hair it affects BUT IT only affect actively growing dark hairs. Which is only a very small percentage of hairs at any time as most have either finished growing snd are sitting in the skin at rest or are dormant. So it takes quite a few treatments to get a noticable reduction as fresh untreated hairs sprout over the next few months. However i have found it is very good on underarms and bikini line.
There is a problem with facial hair as very fine vellus hairs can suddenly turn thick and black I believe this is an issue with hormonal conditions like pcs.. So it can appear not to work but in reality it is new untreated hairs that are growing. Hormonal balance may not be stable whilst b/f.
I suspect this may be why salons would be unwilling to treat as the client may be unhappy with the results.

I believe the hormonal effect of facial hair was the reason why the boots machine was not promoted for this. I have used mine myself and although I don't have pcs I am q hairy and now in my 40s so get the odd dark hair. I have found it good on coarse dark hairs but not do good on the finer dark hairs.

thanks OneLittleBabyTerror and IDontDoIroning, I was a bit concerned about the salon because they had pregnancy/breastfeeding as a possible issue on the paperwork I had to sign but then, they seemed happy to go on without explaining what could go wrong. I wouldn't want to have a good few sessions go to waste both money and time wise so decided against it.

The Lumea sounds like an interesting idea, I will look for some online tutorials on how to do it and possibly give it a go. Sometimes I look longingly at 20s style swimsuits, the kind that laughs at the face of bikini lines!

I have tried swimming shorts but found that they dig in all the right places to make you look like a sausage. A hairless sausage but still...

I know this is an old thread but also wondering about the Iumea when breastfeeding as long as it’s just the hormones issue to myself and not damaging to baby or milk supply then I want to start using again 🙈
how was it for you lady’s when breastfeeding?