Just like men, women have hair follicles all over their faces. However, for most women, these follicles grow tiny, soft hairs that are barely noticeable.
During menopause, a woman’s body stops circulating estrogen but continues to circulate the same amounts of testosterone. The imbalance of hormones causes the appearance of some male secondary sex characteristics, like coarse facial hair. You should let your doctor know if your facial and body hairs are growing quickly.
So, what do we do about it?
If you occasionally have a few dark (or white) hairs on the corners of your lip or chin, it’s fine just to trim them with scissors or a razor. However, if you choose these methods then you will feel bristly hair. The hair is not stimulated or gets coarser due to shaving it is due to your hormones changing. You are just trimming at the skin’s surface but there is always another hair under which is pushing hair upwards and this is the reason that you will have to perform these methods daily to keep the area smooth.
Tweezing, waxing, threading aren’t the best options, because the force of the pluck can irritate and leave a bump, cause ingrown hair, pustules, and pigmentation changes. These methods can also stimulate those small vellus or baby hair that surround the coarse ones you want removed and eventually the coarse hairs will multiply. You now have a bigger problem.
Laser hair removal achieves permanent hair reduction not 100% removal. Lasers work on all skin types and respond best when the hair is dark and coarse. Actually, the coarser and darker the hair the better result.
If you have a mixture of dark and white hair, lasers can still be performed to eliminate the dark hair and weaken the white hair. During the process you can shave between treatments and within a few treatments you will often only notice white hair and the dark hair will appear finer and in time disappear completely. The most important factor is for you to search out a knowledgeable and experienced technologist who specialises in permanent hair removal by using laser and electrolysis and treats all skin color safely.
Electrolysis – a procedure in which the follicle is destroyed by heat through an electrical current – is a good solution to treat a few stragglers. If you have white or red hair and if the hair is long but too fine for laser, Electrolysis will achieve 100% permanent hair removal.
Why does the hair on your head start to get thin?
Fifty percent of postmenopausal women have noticeable thinning of the hair on their scalp. After age 50, approximately the same number of men suffer from thinning. The reason is likely loss of estrogen, which is protective of hair. You shed some hair naturally every day, but the loss is considered significant if you start to see thinning behind the hairline or your part is widening.
See a doctor when you first notice signs of hair thinning as they will be able to determine whether it is a correctable condition due to your thyroid or low iron levels, or due to medication. They can confirm if it is due to age and will likely recommend Minoxidil which may or may not help. You must use it daily or it will stop working. Hair transplants are available or you can purchase seamless silk base hair toppers or wigs to regain confidence.
So, what about men?
Hair in the ears that grow dark, long and coarse can evolve around 35 years of age, (observed from my years of experience). This is due to an increase of testosterone. The hormone makes hair coarser and thicker as men age. Other areas that seem to be stimulated are the eyebrows and nose hair.
Also, I have treated males who first noticed hair at the spine of their back and sparse hair on their shoulders in their early to mid 40’s.
If the hair is dark, then laser for the ears, spine and shoulders would be the best solution. Then finish treatment with electrolysis to achieve 100% permanent hair removal. For the nose and eyebrow hair trimming is the recommended treatment.
Men normally lose their hair when three main factors interact: genetics, age, and hormones. Also known as androgenetic alopecia, male-pattern baldness happens as hormone levels change over the course of a man’s life. Genetic factors also affect the likelihood of male-pattern baldness.
Male ear before 1st laser Rx Male ear 4 years after 9 laser Rx
