Body hair for women

In women during puberty (8-13 years of age), darker, more pithy terminal hair develops from the colorless, fluffy vellus hair of childhood in the pubic area, anal area, armpits and on arms and legs. The pubic hair of the woman covers the labia and the mons pubis in the shape of a pointed triangle. Pubic hair grows about 1 cm per month and falls out after about 6 months.

The pubic hairs usually have a darker color than the head hairs and are stronger than these. In Europe they are mostly curled, in Africa they are strongly curled and in Asia and America they are smooth and tight. How dark or how pronounced the hair is, depends on the genetic disposition, which is the number of hair growth cells.

Also in women, the extent of hair is related to the male sex hormone testosterone. The more of this hormone is present, the denser and more numerous is the hair of the woman. In addition to hypertrichosis (unnatural, increased body hair), which can occur in both men and women, there is a clinical picture that is found exclusively in women (hirsutism).

Here it comes to a typical male hair on the chin, upper lip, jaw, chest, below the navel and thighs. In contrast to hypertrichosis, hirsutism occurs due to an increased production of male sex hormones (androgens). The causes of increased testosterone production are manifold and range from a genetic predisposition, to ulcers (tumors) on the ovaries (ovaries), to various diseases in the adrenal cortex, the site of androgen formation.

In women, hirsutism and hypertrichosis belong to the picture of masculinization (virilization). In many places, excessive body hair is considered unhygienic or unaesthetic and is less accepted than male body hair. That is why nowadays a whole body depilation is not unusual for women, whereby the armpit area and the legs are depilated most often.

In the 4th month of pregnancy the fetus develops unpigmented, very short and thin wool hair (lanugo hair). In addition to the cheese smear (Venix caseosa), which is produced on the sebaceous glands of the lanugo hair, the lanugo hair serves the fetus as protection against its own softening by the amniotic fluid, against vibrations, sound and cold. Furthermore, the lanugo hair helps in the formation of the child’s first bowel movement (meconium), which stimulates the newborn’s intestinal movement.

Normally, the lanugo hair disappears during pregnancy. If the child is recovered too early, lanugo hairs may still be found. The persistence of this hair even after the birth of the child is called hypertrichosis lanuginosa. In the first years of life, a very thin, colorless down hair (vellus hair) forms on the smooth, hairless skin of the baby, which covers almost the entire body except for the inner surfaces of the hands and feet (groin skin), the lips and nipples.