How can you reduce unwanted hair growth?
In case of hirsutism, a thorough diagnosis is of great importance in order to exclude serious diseases. This includes above all the taking of the patient’s medical history (anamnesis), physical examination and laboratory diagnostics. Elevated testosterone (and DHEA) levels indicate hirsutism, but a value within the normal range does not exclude the disease. In addition, the so-called Ferriman-Gallwey-Index is used, in which the distribution of terminal hairs on the body is divided into 9 areas and evaluated with between 0 and 4 points. From a sum of 8 points on, one speaks of hirsutism.
Hair growth in old women
Hair growth in women depends on age. Around the age of 40, the hair of women often changes. The cause is a reduced production of the sex hormone estrogen in the ovaries.
In addition to the typical side effects of menopause, such as hot flushes, sweating or mood swings, the lack of estrogen causes the hair to become finer in structure and sometimes even thinner. The body hair of women can increase with age due to the decreasing estrogen level. The thinning of the scalp hair and the increased hair growth on the face and body is due to the fact that the male hormone testosterone continues to be produced in unchanged quantities, while the production of the female hormone estrogen decreases.
Taking estrogen preparations can counteract the increased hair growth in women. However, the use of such hormones is not generally recommended and should always be discussed with a specialist. The symptoms often disappear after the menopause (duration: about ten years).
For both women and men, the pubic hair and underarm hair becomes thinner or disappears completely with age. Overall, body hair tends to increase in women with increasing age, while it tends to decrease in men. Hair growth on the chin of women is colloquially also called “lady’s beard”.
The chin hair can be removed by plucking, shaving, waxing or epilating, but for many women this is not a permanent solution. Because the regrowing stubble is noticeable on the chin (with dark hair) as beard shadow and can be very disturbing cosmetically. For a longer hair-free episode, methods such as laser or flash lamp treatment can be used.
This weakens the hair follicles and the chin hair does not grow back as quickly. The chin hairs are often very dark and become long very quickly. If only individual hairs are present, they can be removed with tweezers or blonded.
However, if there is a noticeable increase in hair growth in women on the chin or if the male hair pattern is also found on the rest of the body, the hormone levels in the blood should be checked. In this case, hair growth on the chin can be an indication of ovarian disease or tumors that lead to increased androgen production (male sex hormone). Such a cause of increased hair growth would have to be treated as a priority.
Hair growth on the face is not uncommon in women. About one in six women have more or less increased hair growth above the upper lip, in the cheek or chin area. Many hairs on the face are often unpleasant for women, they appear male and often represent a cosmetic problem.
Most women try to get rid of facial hair, but this can be very costly under certain circumstances. The hair growth in the face can be predisposed. So if there are already women with strong facial hair in the family, the predisposition cannot be changed.
Sometimes, however, an overproduction of male sex hormones can be the cause of increased hair growth on the face. This cause should be clarified by a specialist for endocrinology. Increased hair growth can also occur as a reaction to certain drugs.
For example, a significant change in facial hair in adulthood can be an indication of various diseases (e.g. functional disorders of the ovaries or adrenal cortex). Hair removal can be very painful, as many very sensitive nerves are located in many parts of the face, making mechanical hair removal (e.g. plucking or epilation) particularly unpleasant. A gentle option is a lightening coloration of the dark facial hairs.
By bleaching the hair, they are no longer noticeable in the face (eg in the upper lip area). The result lasts about two to six weeks, depending on the individual hair growth.The advantage of this is that the hair does not grow stubbly and there is no irritation of the skin, provided that the colorant is tolerated. Hair growth on the breast is normal in both men and women and varies from individual to individual.
In men, chest hair is a secondary sexual characteristic and is often perceived as particularly male. Women usually have less hair, because the hair follicles are stimulated in their growth by male sex hormones. An excess of male sex hormones can thus lead to excessive breast hair in women.
If the hormone balance is not disturbed, the form of excessive breast hair is called idiopathic, i.e. of unknown cause. Often, such excessive hairiness of the breast occurs in women with dark complexion and main hair, who also have above-average hairiness in other parts of the body. But also women of lighter type can have strong hair on the breast, often long, wiry and dark hair grows around the areola of the nipple.
Although these are not a cause for concern from a medical point of view, they are often perceived by those affected as cosmetically very disturbing. Since the skin around the nipple is very sensitive and inflammation must be avoided, women who are thinking about permanent hair removal should seek advice from their gynecologist or dermatologist. The fact that body hair grows on the abdomen is also something quite natural for women.
However, hair on the belly (especially if it is very dark and long) is perceived by most women as annoying or unaesthetic. There are a variety of methods to get rid of the hair on the belly. Shaving the belly is not recommended because the hairs grow back stubbly, which can be particularly unpleasant on the soft skin of the belly.
It makes more sense to tear out hairs on the belly, which can be achieved with cold or warm wax, for example. This method can be extremely painful, and the skin on the belly often reacts with irritation to the hair being torn out. Small pimples and redness can develop, which is particularly unpleasant in the area of the waistband.
Cooling after waxing and the application of care products can reduce these reactions. If you don’t want to remove the hair on your stomach, you can also lighten it with special bleaching agents, so that the hair is hardly visible. In hypertrichosis, there is increased hair growth in one or more parts of the body.
The causes of hypertrichosis can be manifold. Here you will get to the topic: HypertrichosisIn hirsutism, women are affected by increased hair growth. The hair growth is similar to that of a man and can be seen on the face, chest and abdomen.
Here you will get to the topic: HirsutismMany people find hair on their legs, armpits or face disturbing. There is a variety of means or methods to get rid of the annoying hairs. Here you will get to the topic: Depilation
