Human hair grows and changes appearance throughout life. In childhood, it is soft and vellus, but as getting older, the hair becomes denser. Some people are genetically hairy, and some may become bald in their early teens. But excessive hair has a different procedure. It can be developed in different periods due to different causes. Since in the current social and cultural conditions, excessive hair affects appearance, everyone wants to get rid of this hair. In this article, we describe the main causes of excessive hair, as well as ways to remove it.

What is Excessive Hair?

Excessive hair is thick and dark and makes an unpleasant appearance for everyone. It usually grows on the face, back, groin, buttocks, throat, chest, around the navel, ears, and other parts of the body. The removal of excessive hair has become a major concern, especially for females, as some people may have excessive hair due to hormonal and genetic conditions, which can be a serious challenge for them.

What causes excessive hair?

Excessive hair usually develops significantly after puberty. As mentioned above, it can be a sign of a disease or be related to place of birth, hereditary, and geographical factors. Excessive hair growth can occur both naturally and as underlying causes. If you do not find the cause for your excessive hair, consult a specialist.

Elevated levels of male hormones in females:

 

Everyone’s body may undergo various disorders especially hormonal disorders throughout their life. Hormonal disorders are higher in females than males due to puberty, pregnancy, menopause, etc. The pituitary or adrenal glands may lead to excessive secretion of male hormones, which is one of the causes of excessive hair in females. Adrenal gland disorders like enlargement or the presence of a tumor in it, which leads to Cushing’s syndrome may also be a cause of excessive hair in females. Hormones associated with androgen production, such as non-cancerous tumors that secrete prolactin, can also be the cause of hormonal changes leading to excessive hair growth. Women contain some male hormones in their body and a disorder in these hormones will be associated with the growth of excessive hair in different parts of the body.

Poly cystic ovary syndrome:

Polycystic ovary syndrome or lazy ovary is one of the most prevalent disorders among females that may lead to increasing excessive hair or hirsutism. Excessive hair is normally fluffy, but hirsutism can be mild, moderate, or severe.

Symptoms of hirsutism:

Females with hirsutism may initially have excessive hair on the upper lip, sides of face, chin, around the nipple, lower abdomen, etc. during or after puberty. These symptoms are mild hirsutism. The severe form of this disorder can also lead to the growth of excessive hair in the upper abdomen, sternum, and shoulders.

To diagnose hirsutism, the person must see a specialist and the level of androgen in her body should be measured. If someone has the above-mentioned symptoms, her excessive hair growth and hirsutism are getting worse and has a constantly changing, irregular, or no menstrual cycle, it is necessary to see a specialist for further analyses and measurement of androgen levels and other related experiments.

Obesity and taking contraceptives; the two causes of hirsutism:

Contraceptives, corticosteroids, and hormones can cause excessive hair. In addition, excessively obese women with high-fat levels are at risk for lazy ovary and hormonal disorders; so, they should see a specialist for examination and treatment.

The ways for the treatment of excessive hair

So far, we became acquainted with the development of excessive hair, but we guess most people are looking for a way to permanently get rid of their excessive hair instead of paying attention to the causes of their growth. Here are the most common methods of removing excessive hair.

Electrolysis; A half-done treatment!

In this method, a needle is used to enter a small electric current into the hair follicle and the excessive hair is removed from the body through a process. However, it is not commonly used due to being time-consuming and having an efficacy of 15-50% per session, and it may occasionally lead to unpleasant side effects such as large, treatment-resistant wounds.

Prescribing medicine to get rid of excessive hair:

Each person had a body with different features, and different treatment strategies can be used depending on the causes of excessive hair growth. The most important medicines used to get rid of excessive hair are cyproterone acetate and spironolactone

Topical treatments for excessive hair:

The most common methods of topical treatment are shaving, trimmers, cold vax strips, threading, and wax.

Laser; a more sustainable way for hair removal:

One of the best and most effective ways to remove excessive hair is to use laser technology. In this method, using a laser, the excessive hair follicles are destroyed and the possibility of excessive hair growth in that particular area is eliminated. This treatment is done in several sessions over several weeks. This method is often more successful and permanent than other methods. The main problem with lasers is that they are expensive and only licensed physicians can perform laser therapy.

 How does a laser remove excessive hair?

 Hair usually falls out two weeks after the laser therapy and grows back after 1.5 to 2 months. When about 40 to 50 percent of the previously lasered hair grows, it is a good time to do the laser again. This interval can be between 1.5 to 3 months. Usually, performing 4 to 7 sessions of laser therapy leads to desired results. After the laser, some hairs fall out immediately but most of them are removed within 2 weeks. At present, there is no definitive method for the complete and permanent removal of excessive hair; but among the available methods, the laser is the most effective and permanent. It should be noted that not all excessive hair is permanently removed by laser. Hair may grow back after the laser. However, the important point is that after laser therapy, the growth of excessive hair is very low and in most cases, these hairs are fluffy and soft.

Laser systems target a large number of hair follicles at a time by selecting the appropriate wavelengths in a relatively large area. The mechanism of action of the laser is targeting melanin (dark hair color) by a dedicated wavelength of radiation that generates heat and subsequently destroys hair follicle stem cells.

Scientific studies of laser therapy:

Studies have shown that after one session of treatment, different parts of the hair follicle remain unchanged, and the laser energy leads to functional changes in the hair follicle stem cells rather than their destruction. Most researchers state that the word permanent means a reduction in the number of hairs after laser therapy for longer than the full phase of follicle growth in any area of the body. If hair regrowth does not occur after this period, it can be concluded that the hair follicle has irreversibly damaged.

Most physicians believe that the lighter the patient’s skin and the darker the excessive hair, the more likely the laser is to be effective. In addition to hair, skin also gets its color from melanin, and dark skin with more melanin absorbs more laser energy, leading to skin damage and discoloration. Thick, black hair is the best target for any laser and is easily removed; but laser therapy has not been effective on white hair so far. The target of radiation is melanin in follicles, and if the hair is white, blond, or light brown, the laser is not suitable because the hair has insufficient melanin and so, does not easily absorb the radiation.

Laser is the safest way to get rid of excess body hair; because it has been designed to only penetrate the hair follicles and therefore is not destructive for other parts of the body.

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