My mom is italian so it could very well just be genes, but a few months ago i noticed longer vellus hair on my lower back. At the time there was no visible hair on my upper back- the vellus hair wasn’t prominent. Its been about 5 months and today i noticed that there is visible vellus hair on my upper back. That wouldn’t bother me if it was completely white, but its slightly pigmented although fine and soft. The same hair has also shown up on my shoulders and i used to have the shortest white hair on my upper arms and even that seems to getting longer. I’ve always had the longer, light brown hair on my forearms and i can live with that. The only terminal hair on my body is in the under arm, pubic region, but I’ve definetly got a sudden increase in vellus hair. Its even inbetween my breasts and it was never there before. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Could this be a sign of a hormone imbalance? Am i stupid to be concerned about this, i can only find info online about hirsutism but i dont have terminal hair growth, its vellus but theres suddenly alot more of it.
Any help is much appreciated, thankyou.
You are not stupid to worry about this.
The first thing to do is purge artificial sweeteners Mono Sodium glutamate, and high fructose corn syrup from your life. The body metabolism of these things can often lead to increased hair for women. Most people who do this also find that they lose weight as well, so loss of so-called diet soft drinks and so-called lite foods will be a blessing.
Increase your water intake, your body can’t flush out toxins without being properly hydrated. You will go to the rest room more frequently (especially in the first weeks, but that will level off soon) but you will be more healthy for the effort.
You may also wish to see a doctor for testing, although it is likely they will tell youthat your levels are “within normal range.”
I am sure you will get lots more good advise here, I just don’t have time to go any further on the subject.
How old are you? Have you started taking any new medications within the past several months?
Thanks for that advice James, much appreciated.
I’m 19, and I dont take any kind of medications. I have had extreme depression for about 6 years now however- could that be causing it? The hair on my upper arms looks lanugo-like- I’m just concerned that its grown all of sudden.
My lawyer wants me to tell you that I am not a member of the AMA and I am NOT giving you medical advice, and I am not looking to cure you of anything bla, bla, bla, bla.
Frequenlty depression is a result of imbalanced brain chemistry. This can frequently be corrected by diet, and amino acid and essential fatty acid, and b vitamin complex supplementation, regulation of water, salt, and fiber intake and making restful sleep for the correct number of hours a priority. If that is the problem in your case, you could feel better and arrest this hair problem in a matter of a few days, to 3 months. The side effect is the rest of your body will be more healthy as well.
I should mention that I’ve been diagnosed with Body Dysmoprhic Disorder (or BDD) in the past. I’ve obsessed about everything from my toes to my forehead. I used to spend large amounts of time looking in mirrors in all different lightings, and once had 6890 photos of myself on my computer. That is not normal, I know.
My therapist said that I can see my body hair more than anyone else since i’m the one who has the time to look so closely at my skin- she says ‘hair is everywhere, the little blonde hair is everywhere’. She said if i had thick dark hair growing, then I’d have a concern. She says 'you’re looking for hair, you cant see it unless you look really closely under a magnifying glass, and you dont stop looking until you see it so then you can say ‘oh my god, i have too much hair’. Shes right. Now when i look at my body i dont see as much hair. Its like my mind before was saying ‘oh my god, theres a hair, thats so abnormal’, I felt like i was covered in it, that it was everywhere and growing more every day. Since i’ve changed the way i think, the hair doesn’t jump out at me anymore, I dont see it anymore. What an amazing and terrible thing the mind can be.
Frequenlty depression is a result of imbalanced brain chemistry. This can frequently be corrected by diet, and amino acid supplementation, regulation of water, salt, and fiber intake and making restful sleep for the correct number of hours a priority. If that is the problem in your case, you could feel better and arrest this hair problem in a matter of a few days, to 3 months. The side effect is the rest of your body will be more healthy as well.
Another study related to this:
From Science Daily June 2011
[size:14pt]Waistlines in People, Glucose Levels in Mice Hint at Sweeteners’ Effects: Related Studies Point to the Illusion of the Artificial
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ScienceDaily (June 28, 2011) — In the constant battle to lose inches or at least stay the same, we reach for the diet soda. Two studies presented June 25 and 27 at the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions in San Diego suggest this might be self-defeating behavior.
Epidemiologists from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio reported data showing that diet soft drink consumption is associated with increased waist circumference in humans, and a second study that found aspartame raised fasting glucose (blood sugar) in diabetes-prone mice.
“Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas and artificial sweeteners as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised,” said Helen P. Hazuda, Ph.D., professor and chief of the Division of Clinical Epidemiology in the School of Medicine. “They may be free of calories but not of consequences.”
Human study: The San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging
To examine the relationship between diet soft drink consumption and long-term change in waist circumference, the Health Science Center team assessed data from 474 participants in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging, or SALSA. This is a large, population-based study of the disablement process in elderly Mexican Americans and European Americans. Dr. Hazuda, senior author of the presentation, is SALSA’s principal investigator and has led the study for two decades.
Measures of height, weight, waist circumference and diet soda intake were recorded at SALSA enrollment and at three follow-up exams that took place over the next decade. The average follow-up time was 9.5 years. The researchers compared long-term change in waist circumference for diet soda users versus non-users in all follow-up periods. The results were adjusted for waist circumference, diabetes status, leisure-time physical activity level, neighborhood of residence, age and smoking status at the beginning of each interval, as well as sex, ethnicity and years of education.
Diet soft drink users, as a group, experienced 70 percent greater increases in waist circumference compared with non-users. Frequent users, who said they consumed two or more diet sodas a day, experienced waist circumference increases that were 500 percent greater than those of non-users.
Abdominal fat is a major risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other chronic conditions. “These results suggest that, amidst the national drive to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, policies that would promote the consumption of diet soft drinks may have unintended deleterious effects,” the authors wrote.
Co-authors include Sharon P. Fowler, M.P.H., faculty associate, and Ken Williams, M.S., P.Stat., adjunct assistant professor and biostatistician, in the Division of Clinical Epidemiology.
Mouse study: Aspartame consumption in diabetes-prone mice
In the related project, Ganesh Halade, Ph.D., Gabriel Fernandes, Ph.D., the senior author and professor of rheumatology and clinical immunology, and Fowler studied the relationship between oral exposure to aspartame and fasting glucose and insulin levels in 40 diabetes-prone mice. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener widely used in diet sodas and other products.
One group of the mice ate chow to which both aspartame and corn oil were added; the other group ate chow with the corn oil added but not the aspartame. After three months on this high-fat diet, the mice in the aspartame group showed elevated fasting glucose levels but equal or diminished insulin levels, consistent with early declines in pancreatic beta-cell function. The difference in insulin levels between the groups was not statistically significant. Beta cells make insulin, the hormone that lowers blood sugar after a meal. Imbalance ultimately leads to diabetes.
“These results suggest that heavy aspartame exposure might potentially directly contribute to increased blood glucose levels, and thus contribute to the associations observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes in humans,” Dr. Fernandes said.
These two translational research studies resulted from collaboration between Fowler and Drs. Hazuda and Fernandes and their research teams. The Institute for the Integration of Medicine and Science (IIMS) funded the work. IIMS is the Health Science Center entity that oversees the university’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), a National Institutes of Health-funded program to encourage the rapid translation of scientific discoveries from the laboratory through the testing process and to practical application for the health of communities.