Hello , I noticed that my finger hair has reduced dramatically lately and I was wondering if the rest of my body hair might do the same. Do any of you think that might happen? Btw I didn’t have laser done on my fingers.
Hi Maybelle,
I hope you dont mind, but I took a few moments to review your post history because I didnt feel there was enough information to really determine what your concern is or what exactly you were asking. So I got a bit of a feel for for the basis behiind your question so it didnt get ignored and left with no answer ( which it has for a day now).
It’s actually a question I dont think there are any firm answers to so I want to begin by saying I am not a medical professional, these are just my opinions based on what I know of hair growth patterns and behaviour.
The appearance of “somewhat lesser hair” on your fingers could be echoed in your body hairs. It’s a bit of an illusion to be honest . In transpeople who are male to female , its often noticed that in 3-4 years after they begin hormone therapy body hair seems to “thin” to almost female levels. The hair doesnt actually die, there is no mechanism that kills the germination cells in the follicle, but it does thin the diameter of the hair, and in many cases lighten in color so it is less noticeable and perhaps grow somewhat more slowly. An anogen hair will always produce another anogen hair but if the hormonal balance has changed it can have this effect of lightening and thinning in diameter, giving the illusion of there being less of it. When I started in my own HRT, I had thick as nails dark colored hair, and now 3+ years later, my body hair appears more like that of a female, than a hairy guy. and I expect this will continue .
With a Normal CIS-gendered female, often there are conditions such as genetic disposition or a issue related to diet and exercise, that can cause such females to have more body hair due to elevated levels of Di-hydra-testosterone. These females seem to get the same pattern of hair growth that a guy would experience, in some of the same places. They have newly generated Dark colored hair across their bodies, and sometimes their faces as well. Sometimes this is associated with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, but anything that causes testosterone to be higher can have the same effect.
In going through your posts, I found you asking a lot of questions about some newly experienced darker hairs across your shoulders and other parts of your body. This sounds almost to me like the same kind of hormonal issue I was describing above. But depending on the exact cause of that elevated testosterone, something could easily have occurred to correct the issue and they are now decreasing. Specifically what I am getting at is if you perhaps in the last couple years changed diet or exercise regimen appreciably what you could be seeing is the fruits of those efforts, and that more of the same is warranted. Also if you have had a tumour removed, or been undergoing treatment with an antiandrogen drug, these could also do this.
I will say, this doesnt mean the hair on the finger is gone, only electrolysis ( and maybe laser though that wouldnt be my recommended route) can do that. It means its thinner in diameter and less pigmented so somewhat less noticeable.
So, if you’ve in the last couple years taken on a better diet and exercise, good job! keep doing that!
Seana
The Question Bitch . ( I think I’m going to start using that as my title!)
anagen is a phase of hair growth (in fact, the growing phase), I believe you mean a terminal hair (thicker, darker hair versus a vellus hair which is the clear/blonde wispier hair), but even then, just because something is a terminal hair this cycle doesn’t mean it will be a terminal hair next cycle.
Hair growth is controlled by availability of testosterone (which natal females produce as well). Reduction of serum testosterone availability will reduce body hair but it doesn’t really have much effect on facial hair once facial hair starts growing. Over time, as our body ages, the amounts of hormones we produce and how our cells react to them changes. Pregnancy can change all kinds of hormonal levels, triggering temporary (or permanent) hair growth, causing gestational diabetes, etc. DHT can cause hair follicle miniaturization, effectively cutting off future hair growth (see male pattern baldness), so it’s an oversimplification to say that natural hormonal changes, modifications to genetic expressions over time, etc can’t cause hair to go away without intervention.
All of this is to say, hormonal changes can affect hair growth. These can include pregnancy, as Emancipated points out, changes in diet and exercise, a myriad of factors.
And you are right Emancipated I did present an oversimplification. I struggle sometimes with accurately descibing a technical detail or two.
But yes anything that affects these levels, ( even age) can affect hair growth.
Seana
While I was pregnant with my second child my chin hairs became very thick. They weren’t thick and black before I got pregnant. My finger hair has gotten lighter in color and density. I had black finger hair all my life and i’m surprised the hair ever reduced this much. I try to eat healthy and lose weight and I did lose a couple of pounds. I had laser done on my chin and the hair has been gone for about 10 years, they say women with high testosterone cannot have success with laser without meds but I did. I have thin hair on my shoulders and chest. They didn’t turn into male thick pattern hair but they still are hard to deal with. I have been studying my hair growth for years and I can tell when the hair gets thicker or thinner. I think I have idiopathic hirsutism because if I didn’t I’m sure I would be hairier than the average man. I’m middle eastern to which contributes to me being hairy but my sensitivity to hormones have made my hairiness worse. I admit I have not been eating healthy for most of my life. I had a very stressful marriage and I’m sure that worsened my hirsutism. Also, when I was 18 a doctor prescribed me estrogen which made my body and facial hair ten times thicker and grow faster. Since that bad reaction to meds I never tried anything else for fear the hair will become worse again. I cannot afford laser and electrolysis for all my body if that would ever happen again, God forbid.