During pregnancy and breast feeding, our body hormones change to cater for the baby. Some fortunate women have the pregnancy glow. For others, hormonal changes can cause acne outbreaks, melasma and generally dull looking skin.
Often, pregnant and breastfeeding women wish to do some aesthetic treatments but are unsure of the safety of the procedures.
Common cosmetic treatments are generally NOT SAFE or suitable during pregnancy and breast feeding period. Botox, fillers, and chemical peels, they all are procedures with some risks not worth to take during the most precious times of your life.
Botox is a neurotoxin, it is never a good idea to put toxin into a pregnant lady or a breast feeding mother although up to date there is no strong data showing that Botox is unsafe in pregnancy or breast feeding.
Fillers and chemical peels are not recommended as weight and fluid balance can change during pregnancy, so how fillers may look will change during the pregnancy. Moreover, some ingredients in the fillers are not safe to use in pregnancy and breast feeding. Due to the hormonal changes as well, our skin may also react differently to chemical peels. There is a higher risks of things can go wrong during a chemical peel session such as hyperpigmentation of the skin after the procedure.
So then you might be wondering, what treatments are safe during pregnancy and breast feeding period?
Cosmetic Procedures that Are Safe During Pregnancy
Medifacial is safe for pregnant and breast feeding mothers. Medifacials is a treatment that helps exfoliate and remove the superficial layer of dead skin cells of our face. When the layer of dead skin is removed, the body will response and quickly replaces with new healthy skin cells. It is good to perform medifacials once a month to cleanse, soothe, and hydrate your sensitive skin due to hormonal changes. Not to mention, a good pampering facial session can help to de-stress too during this period.
Other ‘light’ treatments such as PRP, laser therapy, laser hair removal treatments, and HIFU, they are all usually safe in pregnancy and breast feeding with no studies showing any adverse effects to the baby. Problem with these treatments is the numbing agent applied before the procedures. Numbing agent usually contains lidocaine, which is safe to use during pregnancy. However, some numbing agents contain benzocaine, bupivacaine, mepivacaine, or tetracaine. These agents are labeled as pregnancy category C, which means they are not safe to use during pregnancy. To be safe, pregnant or breast feeding women are advised against using topical numbing agents. You can still go for the treatments without numbing agents, maybe you will feel just a little bit more uncomfortable.
The months of pregnancy and many months of breast feeding can be a long period to wait for women who used to get regular cosmetic treatments. Skin changes during pregnancy can also be troublesome; however, the risks and complications far outweigh the benefits of cosmetic treatments during the most precious times of your life. Thus, being patience and perform a good daily skincare routine with regular facials sessions are the best strategies for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. All other cosmetic treatments are better off leaving them until later.
