5 causes of unwanted facial hair in women (and how to get rid of them)

When you see a woman with unusual hair growth on her face, she is probably suffering from hirsutism. This is a condition where women have unnecessary and unwanted body and facial hair. The pattern of growth in hirsutism is similar to the growth of hair in males. There are several reasons for why women could be experiencing excessive and unwanted hair on their face. Here are a few of them:

Genetic or racial

Women who are from the Indian sub-continent, Mediterranean countries are more likely to have unwanted hair growth than women from European, East Asian or Native American origin.

You are also prone to having more facial hair growth if it runs in your family. If these two are reasons behind your excessive hair growth, you cannot do much about it apart from managing the hair growth.

Hormonal imbalance       

There are certain medical conditions that could cause excess production of male hormones in women and lead to hirsutism. The most common cause of hormonal imbalance is polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS. Even adrenal gland disorders are one of them. these include:

• Adrenal cancer
• Tumours found in the adrenal area
• Cushing’s syndrome
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Certain medications

Did you know medications of certain kinds could lead to excessive body or facial hair growth? Here are a few medications you should be careful of in order to prevent excessive hair growth on the face.

• Testosterone
• Cyclosporine
• Use of Minoxidil in higher concentration and quantities. (Only 1 ml is recommended at a time and in an entire day not more than 2 ml should be applied on the entire scalp). Here are some more hair loss medications.
• Use of steroids of different kinds, especially anabolic. Here are some more reasons steroids are bad for you.

Growth of androgens

Another important reason that leads to the growth of unwanted facial hair growth is the growth of androgens. Now some of you must be wondering how androgens could affect your body when they are male hormones. The truth is that women also have certain levels of androgens in their body. The hair that appears on the face is basically a response to the presence of androgens. When a woman sees way too much hair growing on her face, it is because the level of androgens in her body is high or has gone out of control. When the androgen levels are normal, the growth of hair is also normal.

Other reasons

There are other small reasons that contribute towards the growth of unwanted facial hair. Birth control pills often have an effect on the androgen levels. There are other drugs such as medicines that treat health conditions and diseases such as seizures, migraines, schizophrenia, high blood pressures, headaches, etc.

Remedies and treatments

A few remedies and treatments can be used in order to take care of this condition. They include.

• Using depilatory creams, waxing, shaving and plucking.
• Using laser hair reduction techniques which use light as an instrument for increasing the hair follicles. It will in turn prevent the growth of excessive hair on the skin.
• Electrolysis also destroys the ability of your hair to grow back by using the production of heat. However it could leave some signs of scarring behind.
• Medicated creams can also be used to reduce the growth of unwanted facial hair. The only side-effects that come with this are skin rashes and irritation.
• Weight loss is also another healthy remedy that helps in the reduction of unnecessary hair. Several women these days have witnessed unnecessary hair growth on their face because they are too overweight. Shedding the weight will definitely help with facial hair reduction.