Curly, unruly, fast-growing. For ladies, chin hair is regular. However when may it sign a well being difficulty?

People are bushy, and generally that hair pops up in locations we’d fairly it didn’t. Contemplate unruly chin hair, which is one thing most ladies cope with — a lot to their annoyance. “Why did nobody let you know while you become old your one chin hair goes to carry, like, 4 different associates to the occasion?!” one girl vented in a TikTok final yr. “The period of time I spend plucking my chin hair is past me,” one other TikToker complained, “Laser doesn’t work, shaving doesn’t work. What works? I want help!”

Not even film stars are immune. For her function within the upcoming movie Nightbitch, actress Amy Adams stopped plucking her stray chin hairs to assist her get into character as a harried mother who transforms right into a canine. “The hair on the face — that was mine,” Adams instructed Selection. “I noticed it as a beautiful expression of the human expertise with none artifice or filters. Or tweezers!”

Lengthy story brief: Chin hair is widespread. However why do ladies get it, and why does it appear to get extra uncontrolled with age? And what kind of underlying well being points might be contributing to your hair progress? Right here’s what to know.

What causes ladies to get chin hair?

First, let’s discuss two different types of hair. That peach fuzz in your face known as vellus hair, which additionally covers the physique. The thicker, coarser, darker hair that includes your eyebrows, eyelashes, head hair and different physique hair known as terminal hair — and that’s sometimes what individuals goal with their tweezers.

Androgens are what trigger thicker, darker hair, Dr. Bruce Dorr, an ob-gyn and menopause and hormone well being specialist, tells Yahoo Life.

Androgens are a group of sex hormones that assist with puberty and reproductive growth. Whereas testosterone — probably the most distinguished of this hormone sort — is usually related to males, all individuals make testosterone of their our bodies, because it aids in issues equivalent to bone density, muscle growth and puberty. Girls make testosterone from their ovaries, which is then transformed to estrogen, Dorr explains. This helps kick off the menstrual cycle and results in the expansion of underarm and pubic hair.

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is an androgen derived from testosterone, and it could actually have a powerful impact on hair progress, says Dorr. DHT stimulates hair follicle progress in areas extra attentive to androgens, just like the chin. Some ladies naturally have extra delicate DHT receptors, which means that even regular hormone ranges might stimulate elevated facial hair progress. In accordance with Dorr, that’s on account of genetics and nothing to fret about, although it could be annoying.

What else is likely to be contributing to chin hair progress?

Exterior of regular hormonal adjustments and genetics, there are some well being points which will result in hirsutism, a situation resulting in extreme hair progress, which can crop up on the chin, higher lip, chest, abdomen or again. Hirsutism impacts 5 to 10% of ladies of reproductive age, in line with the Cleveland Clinic, and will be attributable to:

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

One potential wrongdoer of chin hair is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which impacts round 8 to 13% of women of child-bearing age. With PCOS, ladies might not ovulate usually, which implies estrogen “builds up and up and up,” Dorr explains. This hormonal imbalance can lead to elevated testosterone and, finally, extra DHT.

As PCOS is tough to diagnose and deal with, it’s potential for girls to solely develop into conscious of an issue due to chin hair progress or different extra facial or physique hair. Different signs embody zits, hair loss, weight acquire and insulin resistance.

Menopause

Many ladies say that they’ve seen extra chin hair as they become old. Usually, this can be a results of perimenopause and menopause, throughout which estrogen ranges are diminished and androgens like testosterone develop into extra dominant.

Weight acquire or loss

Vital weight acquire can throw off hormone ranges, as can an excessive drop in weight. With the latter, an individual with an consuming dysfunction might develop lanugo — comfortable, skinny hair — because the physique works to maintain itself heat.

Cushing syndrome

Cushing syndrome, a dysfunction wherein individuals make too much of the stress hormone cortisol, may also trigger this extra hair. It is because elevated cortisol ranges enhance androgen manufacturing, which stimulates hair growth.

Late-onset congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a situation wherein the adrenal glands produce too little cortisol and an extra of androgens. In ladies, this could result in signs equivalent to a deeper voice, zits and extra facial hair.

Drugs

Medications that may cause excessive hair growth embody anabolic steroids, testosterone, cyclosporine (Sandimmune), minoxidil (Rogaine), danazol (Danocrine) and phenytoin (Dilantin®), per the Cleveland Clinic.

Androgen-secreting tumor

Although uncommon, an androgen-secreting tumor (sometimes discovered within the adrenal glands or ovaries) might result in extra hair progress. Other symptoms of this tumor might embody a deeper voice and zits.

What can we do about chin hair?

In case you wrestle with chin hair, your first step must be to ask why. Dr. Alyssa Dweck, a gynecologist and chief medical officer of complement firm Bonafide Health, tells Yahoo Life that if chin hair is “extreme or fast in onset,” it could be price in search of medical care — together with blood work — in an effort to rule out circumstances which will trigger facial progress. She notes that administration of the underlying situation, equivalent to PCOS, is “essential” for addressing ongoing chin hair points.

However no matter what causes your chin hair, you don’t should have it if you happen to don’t need to, says Dr. Ross Kopelman, a hair transplant specialist and facial plastic surgeon. He says that there are a number of medical interventions one can bear in an effort to handle chin hair.

“I usually suggest a mix method relying on the person’s wants,” he says. “Prescription lotions like eflornithine may also help sluggish hair progress, whereas hormonal remedies, equivalent to contraception tablets or anti-androgens like spironolactone, can handle the foundation explanation for extra hair.”

There are aesthetic interventions one can take to take away chin hair. Tweezing, threading, waxing and shaving are choices, however they’re not everlasting; you’ll should groom usually, as hair will return.

Dr. Gabriela Soza, a dermatologist at PFRANKMD by Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank, tells Yahoo Life that laser hair can be an effective treatment for chin hair, so long as “the hairs are pigmented” — aka brown or black, not “blonde, white or grey.” Laser hair elimination targets the pigment within the hair follicles, so darker hairs soak up the laser mild extra successfully. It’s additionally not a one-and-done therapy: a number of periods should be finished over a span of weeks in an effort to zap away chin hair, and it’s potential for it to return over time and for upkeep periods to be required.

Electrolysis, in the meantime, makes use of positive needles or wires to kill the hair follicle, making certain that no hair can develop from it ever once more. It really works on all hair colours and kinds, making it efficient for positive or light-colored hairs that lasers might not successfully deal with, and it’s the only treatment for permanent hair removal accepted by the Meals and Drug Administration. Nonetheless, you’ll nonetheless want a number of cycles to do away with all of your undesirable hair.

The underside line

If it bothers you, you don’t should reside with chin hair — there are everlasting and non permanent options to scale back it.

Nonetheless, it’s price noting that there’s nothing inherently incorrect, and even unusual, about ladies with chin hair — many will see it as they get into perimenopause, if not earlier. However if you happen to’re battling new or uncommon chin hair progress — particularly if it comes with a bunch of different signs — your finest guess is to hunt out medical help to ensure all is OK.