What Women With Excess Facial Hair Needs To Know

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Frustrated with your facial hair growing thicker? In most women, facial hair is very thin, light in colour and doesn’t even show up. Whereas, some women have thicker, darker hair on their upper lip and chin. Excess facial hair affects 5-10% of women. Though there is no physical danger in having excess facial hair, it can be emotionally daunting to deal with.

What’s covered in this article:
✔ What causes excess facial hair?
✔ Medical conditions for male-type facial hair in women
✔  How to get rid of unwanted facial hair?

Facial Hair

What causes excess facial hair?

✔ Some medical conditions and medicines may cause excessive facial hair in women.
Genetics matter too. If your parents, grandparents had it, you will probably inherit it too.
Hormonal imbalance (higher level of androgens, testosterone) leads to excessive hair on the face.

If your facial hair starts to grow thicker and darker all of a sudden, consult a Dermatologist!

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Medical conditions for male-type facial hair in women

Certain medical conditions can cause women to produce too much of male hormone – androgen which leads to excess facial hair like men.

  • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

Cysts form in the ovaries affect hormone production, leading to unwanted facial hair along with irregular menstrual cycles and dropped fertility. 

  • Adrenal Gland Disorders

This is another form of hormonal disorder that leads to male-pattern facial hair. 

Here the adrenal glands, placed just above your kidneys, are responsible for releasing “stress hormones” which affects the way your body produces androgen which in turn produces excessive facial hair.

Please discuss with your Dermatologist to help them determine the cause of your facial hair. 

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How to get rid of unwanted facial hair?

Maintain a healthy weight to correct your level of androgens. Obesity affects your hormones. If you’re overweight, your doctor will probably suggest that you lose weight to reduce your hair growth. 

✔ Get medical treatment if you have PCOS or adrenal disorders to balance your hormone levels. 

✔ Your dermatologist may prescribe hair reduction creams to reduce your facial hair. 

✔ You can also opt-out for frequent hair removal techniques – waxing, plucking & shaving, which are a nonmedical way to remove excessive or unwanted hair. It is probably the most common, inexpensive and immediate method women use to get rid of facial hair.

✔ For near-permanent results consider Laser hair removal: It involves using concentrated light rays to damage your hair follicles. Damaged follicles can’t produce new hair.

Laser hair removal should be done under Dermatologist’s supervision. Your skin doctor can tell you more about the different ways to get rid of facial hair depending on your health condition and skin type.

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at the comfort of your Home
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Dr Jisha Gomez

She is a highly skilled dermatology physician with strong expertise in improving skin & hair health through the development of corrective treatment combinations. She completed her Post-graduate Diploma in Dermatology from Cardiff, UK & Fellowship in Aesthetic Medicine (FAM) from the Institute of Laser and Aesthetic Medicine, Delhi with over 5+ years experience treating skin patients. She has worked in Government hospitals in Trivandrum and Bangalore. She is actively involved in creating awareness for healthy skin, breaking the social stigma based on skin colour & stopping steroid abuse in our country.