Should you get a bikini wax if you're on your period?

November 8, 2017 11:12 PM

You may have heard at some point that your period can make you more sensitive to the pain of waxing and there might be some truth to that.

You probably do what you can to try to schedule your bikini waxes around your period. But sometimes schedules just don’t like up perfectly or your period arrives earlier than you anticipated.

Before you cancel your appointment due to Aunt Flo, know this: You’re okay to move forward with things, even on your period. Sure, you’ve probably heard that you can’t get waxed on your period but that’s really not the case.

“People don’t tend to get waxed that often during their period, probably mostly due to shyness. But there no reason you can’t,” says Lara Kaiser, an esthetician for New York City’s Shen Beauty. You can even do a Brazilian as long as you wear a tampon, she says.

“If it’s the only time that works for your schedule, it’s not a big deal,” Kaiser adds.

You may have heard at some point that your period can make you more sensitive to the pain of waxing (which, let’s be honest, is already painful enough)—and there might be some truth to that. During your period, your body is in an inflammatory state and a lot more hormones than usual are released in your body. “They really do increase the sensitivity of the skin,” says Jessica Shepherd, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and director of minimally invasive gynecology at The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. “Waxing during that time could elicit more tenderness in that area.”

Still, this hasn’t been proven by research, says Christine Greves, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. It’s just what doctors have noticed over time. As for hygiene concerns, that area isn’t sterile anyway and your esthetician should be wearing gloves, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

If you feel okay knowing that your wax might be a little more uncomfortable than normal, then go for it. Kaiser points out that you just might want to take an ibuprofen beforehand, to help take the edge off.

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