Woman World Web

May 30th, 2009 by Joyce Pendelthumb

Circus and carnival barkers used to cry out “come see the bearded lady” as they moved from town to town. People would stare and children would point at the sideshows. Unfortunately excessive hair growth on the face and other areas is something that women still deal with today. It is called Hirsutism and it is estimated that nearly 25% of women will have to deal with it.

Hirsutism Defined

For those who do not know Hirsutism is the growth of excess hair that is dark in color and coarse in texture. This hair can occur on the face, back, abdomen or chest. Mainly this is a problem seen in the female gender, though it is not unheard of for men to report it as well. The reason men are considered less likely to have Hirsutism, might be because they are accustomed to the growth of coarse dark hair on their face and other areas and may not notice excessive growth.

All human beings have hair, and it is all over the body. The number of hair follicles you will have is actually determined in the womb. This hair that is found all over the body can be categorized as one of two types:

1) Vellus Hair- This is hair that is present all over the body, it will be light and wispy and barely noticeable. Men and women both have this hair.

2) Terminal Hair- The hair in your eyebrows and on the top of your head fits into this category. The hair is normally dark in color and has a coarse texture.

The long dark hairs that a woman may begin to notice under the chin or other areas of the face are a situation where vellus hair has transformed into terminal hair. This most commonly happens to women as they age. At times thick hair on the face can point to an underlying medical condition, but not often. Most of the time it is a simple matter of increased levels of the male hormone testosterone in the female body that is to blame.

Remove the Hair

Now that you have a little background on what and why you probably want the answer to only one question, “How do I get rid of unwanted facial hair?” Well the answer is you have many choices, but as you will see, the best choice is laser hair removal.

The number one way people generally use is shaving. However as you well know shaving has some distinct disadvantages. First off it is nearly impossible to get a really close shave and while that may not be important to the male gender a woman suffering from excessive facial hair wants every trace of it removed.

Depilatory creams are possibly the second most used method of hair removal. The biggest problem with this method beyond being messy is the smell and the possible skin irritation.

On the other hand, laser hair removal has none of these issues and several more benefits. To begin with, laser hair removal goes to the source of hair growth by affecting the follicle itself.

The laser in laser hair removal is actually a strong light that passes through the skin seeking out the melanin in dark colored hair. When it hits the melanin, the follicle is then damaged by the laser but none of the surrounding tissue is hurt. This leads to inhibited hair growth and over time can leave the area completely hair free. Some Chicago laser hair removal practitioners claim they can treat even the lightest hairs with laser hair removal.

The staff at many of the Chicago laser hair removal clinics is excellent, but even if you are half way across the country one thing is sure. Laser hair removal is easy, painless and a potentially permanent answer to the presence of unsightly facial hair in women!