Hypertrichosis or a hormone disorder?
In addition to hypertrichosis, there are also hormonal disorders that lead to increased hair growth, especially in women. In the case of hormonal disorders, the so-called hirsutism, women have an increased production of actually male sex hormones. Therefore, the actually very fine hair, which covers all people, is transformed into thicker, so-called terminal hair.
These are then much more noticeable. Unlike hypertrichosis, however, hirsutism does not affect the whole body or random areas, but follows the male hair type. This means, in the face, on the chest, and in the pubic area a dense hair develops.
Causes for this increased production of male sex hormones can be for example hormone-producing tumors. But also certain drugs such as spironolactone or doping agents can cause such a hormone disorder. Occasionally, hormone disorders also occur in post-menopausal women.
If a hormone disorder is the cause of increased hair growth, the cause of the problem can often be treated with medication. For this purpose, so-called antiandrogens are used, which also occur in the contraceptive pill.
