Over the past couple of years I have been noticing places on my body have developed hair in places there wasn’t hair before, or darker hair in places there was light hair. I am planning on getting my hormones checked and possibly getting on birth control to hopefully stop any more darker/thicker hair from growing.
1.Do you know how long it takes for birth control to regulate hormones?
2. Are there any kinds of birth control i should steer clear of that might CAUSE more hair growth?
3. Is it realistic to expect the birth control and regulation of hormones to keep light hair from turning terminal, and to keep from developing new/thick hair in new places? (The only place I don’t have a problem with hair is on my face and I would be so devastated if hair started growing there!)
How old are you? What body areas are you seeing more growth on? What’s your ethnic background?
There are certain pills that have more effect on this than others. A good doctor would put you on the appropriate one. It takes a couple months to assess effectiveness and side effects.
Maybe I am crazy, but since one can tell if one is fertile by looking at one’s saliva dried on a mirror, through a magnifying glass, why do people take pills every day of the year, when there are so few fertile days where one would have to avoid having sex?
You’re still very young and this is completely normal. Hair develops into your mid to late 20s, depending. I doubt there are any hormonal issues since these are completely normal areas to have hair. If you’re having issues with your periods or need birth control, then taking the pills is fine. But if you’re only looking to take them to try to stop hair growth, it’s probably not worth it as it’s not likely to happen unless you have a hormonal issue which the pills will stabilize a bit.
Is it normal to develop MORE hair in places where there was already hair? i.e…my bikini line used to start like 6 or 7 inches below my belly button, and it keeps inching upwards more and more! It’s the same with my upper arms. Could this be hormones?
thanks for the help again
Hormones definitely play a big part, but genetics rate right up there. Hair patterns gradually spread out as you get older. This is a normal happening as you age. Bummer .
The concept/fact that we don’t express enough here is it is not the androgens (male hormones) that are the biggest concern for people being hairier than they like in place they don’t desire, but rather, the SENSITIVITY of ones follicles to these androgens. Both men and women have male hormones, with men having 10 times the amount of women. A visibly hairy man can have the same number of follicles as a less hairy man, but one is hairier than the other because the hairy man’s follicles attract the male hormones that are circulating in his blood, while the less hairy man’s follicles have no attraction to the the androgens.
So if you see some guy with very little terminal hair on his chest, back and arms and he looks as manly-manly (same testosterone level) as the real hairy guy next to him, you will know that the hairy guys follicles are like magnets for male hormone circulating in his blood and the less hairy guy follicles ignore those same hormones.
Male hormones are a problem for both men and women, but only if those follicles are sensitive to those normally occurring hormones that are circulating in the blood. This goes for women, too, and that’s why many women come on this board and say their doctor said their hormone levels were normal even though they have too much noticeable hair on their faces, etc…
James, there are various birth control pills. Some cause more, some cause less hair to develop. It depends on the blend of hormones that each pill type has. Pills like Yasmine and Yaz have the combination that usually controls hair growth.
edoedo, this doesn’t mean that you can’t get laser or electrolysis treatments later in life if this hair bothers you. Bikini hair is easy and inexpensive to treat with laser. You’ll need electrolysis for upper arms.
.