Unwanted body hair or abnormal hair growth called hirsutism is the bane of women the world over. It is also a lucrative business for the beauty products industry as well as the medical fraternity.

Most parts of the human body are covered in hair but excessive hair growth in certain areas can be classified as hirsutism. So just how do you identify the problem?

What Causes Hirsutism?

Excessive hair growth usually targets the chin, upper lip, chest, shoulders, neck, arms and thighs, abdomen, buttocks and pubic areas. This is caused by the presence of excessive amounts of the male hormone testosterone in the body.

Heightened levels of testosterone are secreted by either the adrenal glands or the ovaries and could be hereditary or even induced by drugs used to treat other diseases.

Menopausal woman usually walk a hormonal tightrope and experience a reduction in the female hormone, oestrogen. Heightened levels of testosterone sometimes lead to hirsutism at this stage.

Doesn’t sound pretty? Well, it isn’t. Talk to any adolescent female and the topic of conversation will usually revolve around unwanted hair. Puberty is characterised by several body changes – biological, physiological and hormonal.

These usually settle down after a couple of years but if excessive hair growth appears well after puberty, you are most likely afflicted with hirsutism.

Excessive testosterone, in turn, causes the appearance of terminal hair – thick, dark and long hair in the eyebrows, eyelashes and scalp – to appear in androgen-dependent sites.

Types of Treatment

So just how do you treat a condition that is so embarrassing? Look out for the following changes. One, is there a sudden spurt in unwanted body hair? Two, is the sudden hair growth rapid? Three, do you suffer from signs of virilization characterised by, say, a deepening voice? And four, are you a victim of Cushing’s Syndrome?

So just how bad is the problem? Before heading for your general practitioner, it is important to identify the extent of the medical condition.

Researchers have devised a way to assess the severity if hirsutism and have given us the Ferriman-Gallwey Scale. This method of evaluation rates you on a score depending on body hair growth in nine locations.

The score varies with race as hair growth too varies with whether you are Causasian, Asian, etc.

Approaching your doctor is especially advisable as hirsutism could be a symptom of a more serious condition, one you don’t want to ignore. Hormonal imbalances leading to excessive production of the male hormone in women could be caused by obesity, infertility, menstrual abnormalities and polycystic ovaries.

Temporary Hair Removal

So apart from treating the deeper underlying condition that is causing the problem, there are certain superficial ways to treat hirsutism. These are self-treatments and include tweezing or plucking out the unwanted hair with a pair of tweezers. This is inexpensive and painful and could result in ingrown hair in the follicle.

Next, there’s shaving. Again, it’s quick and inexpensive but the downside is that it leaves ungainly stubble that grows back quickly.

Other superficial treatments include waxing, bleaching, home electrolysis and the use of an epilator. Finally, the beauty industry has come up with depilatories or chemicals that destroy the bonds that bind the hair together.

If the hirsutism is intense, your doctor will probably prescribe drugs like growth inhibitors and hormone blockers. These essentially address the cause of the hirsutism, which is the hormonal imbalance.

Drugs and Laser Treatment

Self-medicating is not advisable as these are serious drugs, they usually have serious side-effects. Also, they must be taken only under medical supervision.

Finally something that has brought much cheer to the blushing, self-conscious woman afflicted by hirsutism – laser treatment for unwanted hair removal. Lasers use a high-energy pulse of light directed at the skin.

The dark pigment in the hair follicle – melanin – attracts the fine laser beam which then destroys the hair root. Hence, repeated laser treatments can actually remove unwanted hair.

All about Hirsutism is a post from: Skincare