Just as you can attribute your sensational skinny ankles or peaches and cream complexion to your family tree, so too do genetics play into how hairy you are -- especially if your ancestors hailed from Mediterranean, Middle Eastern or South Asian lands.
But sometimes, especially if your facial hair is manifesting in a typically male pattern, you may have too many male hormones in your system and that can cause a condition known as hirsutism (excessive hairiness). Hirsutism, it's important to note, is a symptom of an underlying cause which should be addressed by a physician. Kauvar explains: "If a woman has excess facial hair and other signs of hormonal imbalance (acne, thinning scalp hair, body hair in other unusual sites, irregular periods) they should be evaluated by an endocrinologist to rule out the possibility of a treatable hormonal condition such as polycystic ovary syndrome." Other medical ailments may also be the cause; things like Cushing's syndrome (caused by an overabundance of cortisol in the body) and tumors in the adrenal glands can also cause excessive facial hair growth.
So, yes, if you're hair growth has become excessive, you should definitely get checked out by your doctor. Your problem may be more complicated than simply figuring out how to best get rid of your mustache and the sooner you find that out, the better.
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How is hirsutism treated?
If your physician determines that your facial hair growth results from an underlying medical condition, they may put you on medication. As Waldorf explains: "Oral medications including estrogens, anti-androgens and some insulin-regulation medications can be helpful to reduce hair growth."
Another thing your doctor can do to help the situation is a to write a prescription for Vaniqa cream. The cream, which is the only one that's FDA approved to reduce the growth of unwanted facial hair (UWF), works by blocking a substance deep within the follicle that hair requires in order to grow. After applying twice a day, improvement is usually seen within six months and, according to Waldorf, Vaniqa is "very helpful for patients with hirsutism."
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Is permanent hair removal a pipe dream?
When it comes to banishing hair forever, laser hair removal is your best plan of attack. Waldorf filled us in on the details �
• If you're dealing with hirsutism or hair growth caused by hormones, it's important to address the problem from a medical standpoint before starting laser removal because the hair will continue to grow until the issue is under control.
• Be forewarned that it will take a minimum of three to five treatments to remove facial hair for good. And, at around $200 a pop, that's not an inexpensive endeavor.
• If you're blonde, you'll have to find another plan of attack. Laser hair removal does not work on light hair because the laser can't tell the difference between your hair and your skin.
• Laser hair removal is typically recommended most for those with dark hair and light-colored skin. However, Kauvar says that certain lasers, like diode and YAG, will work better on darker-toned skin.
• Bottom line, while laser sounds amazing, it can be painful and the treatments are not without risks. Waldorf stresses, "patients with darker-toned skin and those who are tan have a higher risk of pigmentation problems after treatment."
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If not laser hair removal, then what?
Clearly, laser hair removal only works on certain segments of the population and can also be cost prohibitive so the good news is, there are many other roads you can travel to get to the hairless place you dream of.
These next couple of pages will outline other options�
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Shaving
This is the easiest and most instantly gratifying of the options. But it has plusses and minuses. The good news: It's fast and simple (and Waldorf says there's no truth to the old wives' tale that shaving causes hair to grow back thicker).
The bad news: Stubble.
Some advice: Change your razor blade after every two-to-three shaves to ensure a close shave, and pull your skin taut to get the hair as short as possible.
There's just no sugarcoating an issue like women's facial hair removal -- no matter how you slice it, it's not going to morph into a happy, feel good topic.
Yes, we know that there's a strong contingent of women out there who resent the fact that society wants to dictate what's acceptable and what's not when it comes to their facial hair, but be that as it may, as a woman in America, having facial hair is not considered a good thing -- for now anyway.
And, unfortunately, because of the stigma sometimes associated with facial hair, you can become self-conscious, suffer from self-esteem issues and/or become reluctant to enter into a romantic relationship. But, don't despair! First of all, you're not alone. 10 percent of American women contend with facial hair removal two or more times a week. Plus, we're lucky to live in a time when hair removal options abound. Trust us, Laura Ingalls was not nearly as fortunate.
So, let's get proactive and see what your best options are. As with solving any problem, the first thing to do is suss out the root cause -- you want to be sure that your hair growth doesn't signal a medical issue that needs to be addressed. Once anything serious has been ruled out, you can get to tackling the problem head on. To that end, we've brought in the big guns. We consulted with dermatologists Dr. Heidi Waldorf and Dr. Arielle Kauvar to find out the best ways to combat excessive facial hair and learn all about the hair removal options available today. (Psst � we also have some hints from famed etiquette expert, Lizzie Post, about how to, gently, tell a friend that she may want to consider some of these hair removal options.)
Anxious to get plucking? OK, maybe not the best choice of words, but let's begin.
