Hairy Situations: Too Much, Too Little & Shaving / Question
Published: February 18, 2009
Dear TeenHealthFX,
Im a girl and i have noticed that not only do i have hair in my chest area but all over my stomach and back. I have been panicking lately cause i cant wear shirts unless they cover all the way to my neck. the hairs are getting worse each time and i already have some upperlip hair that is very noticesible and i am starting to grow beard! i dont know what to do please help! ~A girl that needs help~
Signed: A Girl That Needs Help With Excessive Body Hair
Dear A Girl That Needs Help With Excessive Body Hair,
Everyone has some amount of body hair – and the amount is mainly due to genetics. But sometimes women find that they are developing excessive amounts of coarse and pigmented hair on body areas where men typically grow hair – the face, chest, and back – and this is sometimes due to a condition called hirsutism. Hirsutism may arise from excess male hormones called androgens, the key hormone being testosterone, or it may be due to an ethnic or family trait. This condition can often feel unpleasant and embarrassing for the women who deal with it – but the condition can be helped through a combination of self-care and medical treatments.
There are three main ways to treat hirsutism:
1) Professional hair removal, such as electrolysis or laser therapy.
2) Medical therapies such as oral contraceptives, anti-androgens, and topical creams. Keep in mind that after starting a medication regimen, it may take at least a month before any significant differences are seen in hair growth.
3) Self-care methods to remove or diminish the appearance of unwanted hair, such as plucking, shaving, waxing, the use of chemical depilatories, or bleaching.
TeenHealthFX recommends that you meet with your primary care physician, adolescent medicine specialist, or dermatologist to see whether or not you are dealing with hirsutism, and to discuss what treatment strategies would be best for you. In addition, speak with a medical professional to find out what kind of professional hair removal services or self-care hair removal methods are best for you for the different parts of your body where you would like to remove hair.
If you don't have a doctor and live in northern
To learn more about the different types of hair removal, please the answer to “How To Remove Hair On My Upper Lip” under the “Hairy Situations” section of the Health and Illness category of the website.
Signed: TeenHealthFX
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