When you opt for laser hair removal treatment, you’re bound to take some necessary cautions afterward. Avoiding sun exposure, shaving, waxing, etc., are recommended for the best results. But what about your weight training and other exercises? Can you go to the gym after laser hair removal?
No, you can’t go to the gym after laser hair removal. You can’t exercise after laser hair removal treatments as the treatment area becomes extremely sensitive after treatment sessions. Sweating and increased blood flow will negatively affect the sensitive hair follicles causing redness, swelling, and skin infection. Therefore, it’s advised to wait 48 hours before working out again.
Here we will discuss why you can’t exercise after a laser hair removal treatment, what workouts you should avoid when you can start going to the gym again, and much more. So let’s jump right in.
What Is Laser Hair Removal?
A widely popular cosmetic procedure all around the world, laser hair removal is a complex process of getting rid of unwanted hair growth from your body. After a few laser hair removal sessions, it can permanently halt hair regrowth in the treated region.
In each laser session, pulses of laser target your hair follicle and cause controlled damage to the follicles. During the process, the melanin pigment of your hair follicles absorbs the laser light and converts the energy to heat. The heat damages your hair roots and delays hair growth for a long period.
As different hairs undergo different stages of growth during the laser treatment, it will take at least 10 laser sessions to permanently remove all the hair from the treated area. Usually, each laser session is done 4 to 6 weeks apart for the best results.
A laser hair removal session makes your hair follicles and the skin of your treated area extremely sensitive. Hence, you’re suggested to avoid tight clothing, hot yoga, external activities, and rough fabrics to avoid irritation and skin swelling.
Can You Exercise After Laser Hair Removal?
“To be safe, you need two days to wait before you can go and work out. Some say less, but two days is safer, especially with different skin types”, commented one user in response to nasty skin irritation picture on Reddit
You can’t immediately exercise or go to the gym after a laser treatment if you want to get optimal results. It’s recommended to avoid exercise after laser hair removal for 36 to 48 hours. By avoiding intense workout sessions and excessive exercise, you can eliminate all kinds of potential adverse effects of laser treatment.
Otherwise, the affected area will swell because of excessive sweating. Due to the increased blood flow after exercising, your body might promote healthy hair growth in the treated areas, which will negatively affect the laser treatment results.
So, you should avoid all types of exercises that increase your body temperature and cause sweating.
Why Should You Avoid Exercising After Laser Hair Removal?
So now you know that you need to avoid heat and exercise after laser hair removal. Here’s a bunch of reasons why you should avoid exercise after the treatment sessions —
- For Optimum Results of the Treatment
Exercising offers a lot of benefits for our body. Usually, you sweat a lot, and the blood flow of your body increases during exercise. Although both things are good for your health, they might affect your laser-affected area negatively.
Increased blood flow causes more nutrients to reach the hair follicles, which might promote the growth of those hairs and reverse the effects of laser treatments.
Also, sweating will provide a suitable environment for bacteria breeding which might cause ingrown hairs. Hence, you should avoid exercise after laser hair removal to ensure that the procedure works properly.
- To Keep Your Skin Cool
A hair specialist, Martha Clara, says, “After getting laser hair removal, it is always better to avoid going out in the sun because it can lead you to the results that you never want.”
As we have mentioned before, your skin is exposed to concentrated heat beams during laser treatments. This makes your skin highly sensitive to outside temperature changes. So you need to avoid any type of activity that further raises the temperature of your body.
Also, you should avoid exercising outdoors as the UV rays of the sun will easily damage the recently treated hair follicles of your body.
- To Avoid Skin Infection
After each treatment, you’ll notice redness and swelling around the treated area. Naturally, these areas are extremely vulnerable to microorganisms.
If you don’t take proper skin aftercare and perform heat and sweat-inducing exercise, bacteria or fungus might grow in the laser-treated areas. This will lead to skin irritation, rash, or other skin infections.
Which Exercises You Should Avoid After Laser Hair Removal?
Although it’s better to avoid all types of exercises and sports after laser sessions, there are a few that are totally prohibited. Here’s a list of some workouts and sports that you should avoid after laser treatments-
- Swimming
Swimming pools contain harmful bacteria, chlorine, and many other chemicals that might cause skin infection and irritation to your laser-treated body parts. To be completely safe, you should avoid all kinds of water activities for 48 hours.
- Running
If you run in hot temperatures or on a treadmill, it will cause you to sweat. Sweating can cause redness to the treated regions of your body, and it also promotes the growth of bacteria that causes infections. Hence, you should avoid running for at least 24 hours.
- Heavy Weightlifting
Weightlifting is an exercise that often overheats your body. It might lead you to take hot showers. Hence, weightlifting can cause swelling and irritation to the laser-affected areas. You should avoid heavy lifting for a couple of days if you want the best out of the laser hair removal treatment.
Why Shouldn’t I Go to the Gym After Laser Hair Removal?
Laser hair removal is a delicate process that requires proper aftercare. It is important to understand that going to the gym immediately after the procedure can have negative consequences. Train back after biceps day, but remember to avoid activities that may cause excessive sweating or friction on the treated area. Give your body time to heal and follow the guidelines provided by your dermatologist for optimal results.
Which Exercises You Can Perform After Laser Hair Removal?
In case you’re obliged to maintain a strict self-care routine, you can perform some light exercises after laser hair removal. You can go outside for a walk if the temperature is low and the sun rays aren’t very intense.
You can also do some easy yoga poses that won’t harm your laser-treated skin. Similarly, you can perform some light weightlifting as long as you don’t sweat or need to take a shower afterward. Keep in mind that you can go back to your daily workout routine just after one or two days only.
Wrapping Up
So there you have the answer to your question, can you go to the gym after laser hair removal or not. As we have discussed, you shouldn’t go to the gym for a couple of days after the treatment. Instead, you can stay at home and do some light lifting or easy yoga poses to get the optimum results from the laser treatment.
