Hirsutism – yet another woman-man thing
Blog BackTable of Contents:
- It’s high time to keep your ears to the ground
- Different types of hirsutism are not to be compared
- How hirsutism can be treated?
- Easy Waxing way
For centuries with no end body hair has been crucial to the survival of mankind seeing as it helps to control body temperature or protect from severe trauma among others. Due to fundamental changes in contemporary society being carried on to prevailing beauty standards, more and more of people are using hair removal services in order to showcase their smooth skin. However, we still should differentiate unwanted hair from hirsutism, especially when it comes to women. There exists more than one type of hair appearing in different areas of human body. From mere peach fuzz to coarse and dark hair.
When the nature of our hairiness should be questioned? When it is no longer a cosmetic problem but a medical one? In this article we would like to introduce the notion of hirsutism. What it is, what are its symptoms and how it can be treated – those are only some of the questions addressed.
It’s high time to keep your ears to the ground
Hirsutism refers to a condition when women experience excessive growth of terminal hair in a male - specific pattern. The most prone areas consist of chest, abdomen, buttocks and inner thighs. In most cases, the disorder is at the same time a symptom of underlying medical condition. For this reason, hirsutism should be considered an indicator that there are some potential issues with the workings of our organism.
Different types of hirsutism are not to be compared
Underlying causes of the disease vary considerably. Excessive hair growth is usually induced by changes in hormonal balance of female organism. It is due to androgens, commonly referred to as male sex hormones. Do not be confused, they are also naturally produced in women’s body by ovaries and adrenals, although at smaller scale. Emergence of hirsutism indicates abnormal androgen action or hypersensitivity of hair follicles to this hormone. Such endocrinologic changes can be observed in case of ovary or adrenal malfunction, obesity, type 2 diabetes or high hormonal contraceptives intake.
We can make a connection between the emergence of hirsutism and the development of female body. While pregnant, excessive hair growth can appear due to the changes in hormonal balance. As far as menopause is concerned, the level of released estrogen is nowhere near comparable to androgens production.
If no underlying cause of hirsutism can be distinguished, the condition is considered idiopathic. It means that it is hereditarily predetermined. Such type of hirsutism characterises mostly women of Indian and Middle East descent.
How hirsutism can be treated?
The most important is diagnosis of a medical condition that we suffer from. To do so, it is necessary to consult a physician as soon as the first symptoms are observed. The doctor will take a look at the medical history, probably ask some questions regarding your concerns so as to determine whether there is a risk of having hirsutism and to pin down possible factors causing it. More often than not, the Ferriman-Gallwey score is being used to determine the extent of the abnormal hair growth. Due to the subjectivity of this method additional tests are also performed, including blood tests to check hormone levels.
Effectiveness of the treatment depends on what kind of hirsutism we are dealing with. For hirsutism induced by hormonal changes antiandrogens can be used. Those are drugs that block the effects of androgens and testosterone, like birth control pills. The downside is long period of time before the results can be observed. They will be visible after at least 6 months since the beginning of the treatment – it is the time necessary for new hair affected by medication to grow. Unfortunately, when it comes to idiopathic hirsutism no treatment inducing changes on hormonal level would give any lasting effects. In such cases recommended course of action is consideration of hair removal services – depilation.
Easy Waxing way
While taking into consideration making use of hair removal services it is vital to turn to the specialists in the field. The variety of currently practised depilation methods may come off as a surprise. You can choose from soft waxing, hard wax, sugar paste or laser hair removal in Warsaw and Wroclaw. Every method mentioned is specifically tailored to suit a particular customer profile and to address his needs. Additionally, the depilation technique recommended during a treatment is chosen based on not only costumer’s expectations but also their skin condition.