Ever seen a woman with a chin full of hair and wondered why?
Hirsutism is the condition that causes a woman to grow excessive facial and chest hair.
Although most women have hair on their bodies and even their faces; the hair is soft and usually the same colour as their skin. Women with hirsutism have dark, coarse hair, just like a man.
These are some common causes of hirsutism or excess facial and body hair:
1. Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
This is the most common reason why women have excess facial hair. This occurs when benign or harmless cysts grow around the ovaries.
PCOS reduces the fertility of women, cause an irregular menstrual period, and a whole lot of problems like excessive facial hair, fatigue, and pelvic pain.
2. Certain medications
The side effects of some drugs can trigger increase in women’s facial and body hair.
Drugs like bodybuilding steroids, glucocorticoids used for inflammation treatment, and minoxidil used for hair growth cause an excess amount of facial hair on the face.
3. Hormonal imbalance
Excess facial and body hair is associated with the excess production of the male hormone ‘androgen’.
4. Cushing disease
Cushing disease affects the production of androgen which in turn causes an increase in facial hair.
It causes the overproduction of the stress hormone known as cortisol. This happens because of a tumour in the pituitary gland.
5. Obesity
When women are overweight, their bodies produce more male hormones and this leads to more facial and body hair.
Other reasons why women might have excess facial and body hair are hereditary and ancestral reasons.
If hirsutism is present in a family, then others are likely to have it.
Also, certain ethnicities are more likely to have excess facial hair. For example, South Asian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern women are more prone.