hormones
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Situation
some facial hair is normal, but too much can signal a bigger problem by brianna snyder
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healthylife
about four years before her hormones flared up in her 20s and the hair started growing back. In a phone interview with HealthyLife, Gregor says she’s received lots of support from readers and other women who suffer from hair overgrowth. “I was really bowled over by how many people commented or tweeted me and were like, ‘I thought I was the only one who’s going through this,’” she says. “[Women feel like] it’s such a shameful thing.” After she gave birth via Caesarean she had to stay in the hospital for a few days, so she’d get up early every morning to shave before anyone could see her.
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e all have hair on our bodies. And it covers every inch of us except for our palms and the soles of our feet. But medical conditions, hormones, genetics, ethnicity and even stress can cause hairs to go from “vellus” (short, fine, blondish) to “terminal” (long, coarse, black). Wainer says Italian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean women are more likely to have dark hair on their upper lips and chins than women of, for example, Asian descent. So if you’ve got black hairs poking through and you’re wondering if it’s normal or if it’s hirsutism, you have to consider a variety of those factors. Age is pertinent too: After menopause, your estrogen levels plummet and your testosterone begins taking over. Voila! Chin hair. Karen Kolenda is an electrologist in Fairfield who studied at the Kree Institute of Electrology in New York City. She’s been licensed in electrology for 25 years and serves on the board of directors for the American Electrology Association and is president of the Connecticut State Electrology Association. She says she consults with women individually to
Photo: Emma Innocenti/GettyImages.
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any of us have them — wiry, dark hairs that sneak out of places on our bodies we don’t want them. We pluck vigorously. We wax. We bleach. But some of us have to take more extreme steps, turning to razors, lasers and electrolysis. Dr. Bruce Wainer, senior attending physician and endocrinologist at Bridgeport Hospital, says about 5 to 10 percent of women suffer from hirsutism, a condition that causes abnormal male-pattern growth of dark hairs on the chin, face, chest or navel. Women with hirsutism may choose to shave daily or undergo expensive treatments such as electrolysis and/or laser hair removal. And if that isn’t enough, for about 75 to 80 percent of those of us who have it, the condition is caused by polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS (symptoms also include irregular periods, trouble with fertility, obesity and ovarian cysts). Despite the fact that so many women struggle with this issue, Wainer says many of us don’t seek medical treatment. “Usually it’s a cosmetic issue,” he says. Women who pluck, wax and shave don’t feel a need to talk to a doctor, but others find they can’t control it or the growth is getting worse. “Everyone has their threshold.” That’s what happened to Britta Gregor, who wrote about her struggle with hirsutism for the website XOJane. “Since I was 16, I’ve … grown dark, thick hair along my jawline and chin,” she writes. “I currently shave my face at least once a day, first thing in the morning. If I have something important to do in the late afternoon or evening, I bring my kit with me to shave and re-apply my makeup at work.” Gregor, who is married and has a young son, says she’s never let her husband touch her face “below the cheekbones.” And her parents once helped fund laser treatment, which worked for