What is Facial Hair? and How it can be Treated
What is Facial Hair?
Facial hair is hair that generally grows on areas of the face, such as chin, cheeks, upper lip, sideburns, neck, and jaw region. However, in women especially, these unwanted or excess hair can affect their feelings of self-consciousness and confidence. Grooming techniques such as threading, tweezing, waxing can become time-consuming, expensive, and painful.
Often referred to as Hirsutism (medical name), causes an excess or unwanted coarse hair growth due to hormonal imbalance.
Causes of Excess or Unwanted Facial Hair
The main reason for excessive body or facial hair in women is due to increased levels of androgens (hormones), this includes testosterone. Although all females produce these androgens, however, these levels typically maintained and remain low. However, some medical conditions can disrupt the hormonal balance and can cause a woman to produce excessive levels of androgens causing male-pattern hair growth.
Conditions that are likely to affect the excess hair are:
- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome:
- Cushing’s Disease
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Medications such as Minoxidil, Anabolic Steroids, Testosterone based medications & cyclosporin.
Other risk factors include:
- Family history.
- Ethnicity. Women from Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and South Asian ancestry tend to develop body hair with no identifiable cause.
- Obesity. Being obese can trigger androgen production and make hirsutism.
- Irritants: Stimulation of the hair by waxing, plucking, shaving, and waxing may encourage hair to become thicker and denser.
Treatments available for Unwanted or Excess Hair.
Laser Hair Removal:
The laser technology produces concentrated beams of light that emit controlled bursts of light that target and penetrate small areas, causing damage at the root of the hair follicles without harming other skin structures.
These sophisticated lasers can target the hair follicles so precisely, that, by using different light wavelengths, Laser Hair Removal is possible for all skin types & tones.
Medications to control hormone levels through your medical practice.
Weight loss can help control hormone levels and reverse excess hair production.
