Let’s Talk About It: Witchy Chin Hairs

I know that I am not the only woman that keeps her best tweezers in her car for that oh-so perfect light we only get in our cars’ mirrors. The best use of my daily commute is to see and tweeze the obnoxious hair that I have been obsessing over under my chin, around my sideburns and, on an especially unlucky day, the inch-long neck or chest hair that has been brewing for weeks unchecked.

Gross. 

Unwanted growth of dark, coarse hairs on the upper lip, chin, jawline, side-burns and even around the nipples can be caused by lowered estrogen in perimenopause and beyond causing a relative increase of testosterone to estrogen. This relative rise in androgens  can make these dude-like hairs crop up. 

If this doesn’t bother you, doing nothing about this is a legitimate choice. If, like me, these drive you rather crazy, here is a list of things you can do about these. 

Lifestyle and diet:

•  Maintain a healthy weight or consider a moderate weight-loss of 5-10% of your body weight. This is why you may read that regular exercise may help you with that unwanted facial hair. Read more here: Hirsutism: Diagnosis and Treatment

• Consider herbs including fennel, licorice, spearmint, saw palmetto, green tea or curcumin as natural ways to treat hirsutism. Read more here: A Narrative Review of  Herbal Remedies for Managing Hirsutism

• Any quick google search will tell you that supplements such as zinc or omega 3 fatty acids can help with this as well - and I was told to start zinc for this very purpose years ago, however there seems to be little clinical research supporting the true efficacy of these supplements. 

Let’s pause for some wacky-word definitions. Androgens are sex hormones. They give men their “male” characteristics and the main one is Testosterone. Now a heads up! Women have  - and need - testosterone too. But when testosterone becomes high relative to our decreasing estrogen, thats when we can see excessive hair growth in women otherwise known as Hirsutism. This is pronounced (Hur-suh-ti-zm). Its a hard word. But that is the medical term for those witchy chin hairs if you are going to your doctor to ask for an intervention.

Mechanical Removal:

Tweezing, waxing, and shaving are all means of mechanical removal. I have tried all of these. I have not tried epilation and would love to hear your experience and success with that method of removal if anyone in our community has tried it. Leave me a note in the comments. 

Electrolysis and Laser Treatments and Depilatories:

I tried lasers for all sorts of unwanted body hair but, as I have rather light hair follicles, this treatment did not work for me. Now, with the color and coarseness of these hairs, I have always felt convinced that it should have worked but no joy. A number of girlfriends with naturally darker hair have all reported much more success. While electrolysis has been recommended to me, fear of burns and scarring from the treatment has caused me to shy away. Again, I would love to hear about your experiences if you have tried! Wondering what a depilatory is? Remember Nair? This is what I think of immediately. Now, I have tried the face-version of Nair. Does it work, yes. Does it smell awful? Also yes. And I would not recommend it to any of my sensitive-skinned friends. Another mention in this category would be bleaching of unwanted hair. While not a removal, some people may find this suitable to their needs. Again, I would proceed with caution for any ladies with sensitive skin. 

Pharmacologic (Medications)

Anti-androgen otherwise known as androgene-blocking creams such as Spironolactone can help block growth of unwanted hair but it takes many months for this to work and compliance seems to be low. Birth control pills may also be an option for some. Talk to your dermatologist for topical options and OBGYN if you want to explore birth control pills.

Me, myself and I. 

As you already are aware, this issue drives me rather bat-sh*t-crazy. This is my routine. 

• Professional waxing every 4-5weeks

• Car-tweezers at the ready for any hairs I have been stalking with my fingertips all day long.

• Topical Spirololactone from my dermatologist. 

When I started menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), including testosterone, my nasty-little friends did get worse. However, in my case, the benefits of the hormones as far outweighed the annoyance of this issue. This will be an ongoing topic of conversation, but I do feel that it is important to note that my witchy-chin-hairs started long before I started MHT, but that the testosterone has also negatively impacted this existing issue, leading me to add Spirolactone to my personal treatment routine. 

Shall we all go buy stock in Tweezerman today??