Facial Hair in Women

Facial hair can embarrass a woman like nothing else. I knew a friend of mine who had some stray hair on her chin and she was so embarrassed because of them that she used to wake up before her husband everyday, just to tweeze them off, lest he would notice them! It can cause low self-esteem and can even affect the quality of life. Although, many women shy away from even telling anyone about this problem, yet, if they really want a solution to it, they should consult a doctor immediately. So for all the women out there who are curious to know what causes facial hair or how to remove them, below is some information which they will surely find very useful.

Causes

• Facial hair can be due to certain hereditary factors.
• Those belonging to a particular region such as Mediterranean or eastern Europe and women who are Jewish, have facial hair growth and it is totally normal.
• Hormonal Imbalance is another reason behind this. Women have female hormones, known as estrogens as well as male hormones, known as androgens. As they age, both the levels of hormones decline but sometimes in certain women male hormones can be slightly more, leading to excessive hair growth.
• If the woman is taking certain medicines such as steroids, phenytoin, etc. it can stimulate the hair growth in her.
• Certain medical conditions, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, adrenal tumors or even obesity can also cause facial hair in women.

Treatment

To get rid of facial hair, the first thing that a woman should do, is to get a medical evaluation done to diagnose the exact cause behind it. Medical tests are done to measure a woman's testosterone levels as well as DHEA sulfate level, which help in identifying the cause of excess androgen.

If the hair is due to polycystic ovarian syndrome, then birth control pills which can make some androgen inactive, are recommended. Certain medicines such as Spironolactone which inhibit the androgen production or Ketoconazole, that hampers the production of male hormones, are recommended for excessive hair growth.

Although, the above mentioned treatments can prevent hair from appearing in future, but for hair that is already there, a woman can go in for a number of other cosmetic and medical treatments.

• Tweezing, i.e. plucking the hair with a pair of tweezers is a method employed by many women to get rid of it. This method should be used only if the hair on face are very few as tweezing can sometimes irritate the hair follicles.
• There are certain creams available in the market, which if applied to these unwanted hair, dissolve it from its base.
• Bleaching is another good option, especially if the hair is fine. If the hair is coarse, effects of bleaching can be ineffective.
• Electrolysis, a method in which hair roots are destroyed by subjecting them to electric pulses, is a permanent method of hair removal. Electrolysis can be painful and the entire process takes multiple sessions and several months.
• Threading is perhaps the most commonly used method of getting rid of unwanted facial hair. In this method, a thread is used to remove the hair from its roots. The only drawback of this method is that its effects are not long-lasting and thus, it has to be repeated every other week.
• Waxing the hair on the upper lip as well as on the side of the cheeks can help to get rid of them for at least three weeks. Like threading, this method has to be repeated again and again, as it is temporary.
• Laser hair removal, in which the skin with unwanted hair is passed through laser beams, which destroy the dark pigments in facial hair, through the heat generated by the beams, can remove unwanted hair for about eight months. This technique though is effective yet can be very expensive too.

Facial hair can be removed by using any of the methods mentioned above. A woman should weigh all the pros and cons of each of these methods as well as consult a doctor, before opting for any of them.