How To Slow Down Female Facial Hair Growth

Credit... Aileen Son for The New York Times

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Why Do Women Sprout Chin Hairs every bit They Age?

And what's the best mode to remove them?

Credit... Aileen Son for The New York Times

Published Dec. 14, 2021 Updated Dec. twenty, 2021

Q: Why exercise women sprout chin hairs as they age — and what'southward the all-time way to remove them so they don't grow back darker and thicker?

If you lot're a woman who is growing new, unwanted chin hairs, the first thing you should know is that most of the fourth dimension, "this is perfectly normal," said Dr. Joel L. Cohen, a dermatologist and director of AboutSkin Dermatology and DermSurgery in Denver.

Every bit women get closer to menopause, he said, the balance of hormones in their bodies shifts, and they can start producing more male-type hormones known as androgens. These androgens, Dr. Cohen said, tin transform the kinds of hair follicles that women typically have on their faces — ones that produce curt, thin, lite hair known as peach fuzz — into follicles that make thicker, darker hair.

As for why some women sprout these hairs and others don't, that's oftentimes down to genetics, said Dr. Angela Lamb, a board-certified dermatologist at Mountain Sinai in New York City. If you're growing unwanted hair and your mother, sister or grandmother did too, so that's a proficient sign that this kind of hair growth runs in the family.

How to remove them

There are many safe means to remove unwanted facial hair, including tweezing, waxing, threading, shaving or using depilatory creams. If you're worried that whatever of those techniques will cause your hair to grow back thicker, you can relax on that front end. "It's a myth," Dr. Lamb said. In fact, the opposite tin can even happen: Waxing, tweezing or threading tin reduce hair growth, considering some hair follicles become damaged past the removal procedure and finish producing pilus, she said.

Some other style to control unwanted hair growth is to utilize a prescription foam called Vaniqa, which makes hair grow more slowly, finely and possibly lighter in colour when applied twice a day. Only the cream merely works for equally long as it's used — once you stop applying it, hair will grow back the way it grew before, Dr. Lamb said.

Credit... Aileen Son for The New York Times

If you lot desire to eliminate chin hairs permanently, you might consider light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation hair removal or electrolysis, Dr. Lamb said, which both piece of work by damaging the hair follicle so it stops producing hair. Electrolysis, which tin be done past a doctor or an aesthetician at a medical spa — and involves inserting a needle into the pilus follicle and damaging the root with an electric current — is prophylactic for all skin and hair types. Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation hair removal, in which laser light is used to heat and destroy hair follicles, can also be done at a md's office or medical spa. Just it often does not effectively remove light-colored hair, and some types of lasers cannot be used safely on darker skin tones because they can burn the pare, Dr. Cohen noted. Ane that is safe to utilise on all skin types, he mentioned, is a new laser hair-removal device called Bare HR, which is available in some medical spas and doctors' offices.

You can buy at-home laser or intense pulsed light (I.P.L.) therapy devices, which are also an option for lighter skin hues and harm hair follicles by heating them. But these devices are often less effective, piece of work more than slowly and require more than treatments than those done professionally, Dr. Lamb said.

When unusual hair growth is cause for concern

If y'all're noticing more hair growth than usual, and it'due south appearing not just on your confront but as well on your chest, lower abdomen, inner thighs or back, you may want to encounter a medico. This type of excessive pilus growth, called hirsutism, tin can be caused by genetics, or as a side-effect of certain medications. In many cases, it'southward zippo to worry about. But hirsutism can also be a symptom of another medical condition that requires treatment, Dr. Lamb said.

One condition that tin can cause hirsutism is polycystic ovary syndrome, so-chosen considering modest cysts grow in the ovaries. These cysts lead to increased androgen production, promoting pilus growth, Dr. Cohen explained, resulting in coarser, darker hair. Other symptoms of PCOS include flow irregularities, weight gain and acne. It'due south of import for women with PCOS symptoms to see a doctor, Dr. Lamb said, because when untreated, it can lead to infertility. Typically, PCOS is treated with lifestyle changes and medications, which could include birth command, progestin therapy or the anti-diabetic medication metformin.

Long-term apply of corticosteroids, which are used to treat some autoimmune conditions equally well as asthma, can besides lead to changes in pilus growth patterns, including excessive growth, Dr. Cohen said. That's because they, too, stimulate androgen production in the body.

Usually, though, sprouting extra hair is cipher to worry about, and information technology's very common. "People inquire me most it all the time," Dr. Lamb said.

Melinda Wenner Moyer is a science journalist.