The ESK blog

Does menopause cause unwanted facial hair and what do I do about it?

21 October 2022

Dr Ginni Mansberg

Why the hell does the already terrific package of anxiety, insomnia and hot flushes have to come with chin hairs?

Perimenopause sees 50% of us sprout hair on our face which just continues and gets worse with age!

The culprit?

Your hormones!

Male hormones, AKA androgens can transform your hair follicles from the soft fuzzy ‘vellus’ hair follicles you used to know and love to thicker, coarser and darker ‘terminal’ hair follicles (much like pubic hair!)

These ‘terminal hairs’ have double the diameter of the softer, fluffier ‘vellus’ hairs.

Oestrogen on the other hand makes facial hair softer and smoother.

The determination of what hormone receptors grow on which hair follicles on which body parts and in what number is determines largely by your genes.

So the hormones coursing through your body may be normal in their levels but if there are more receptors on follicles to be activated, you can get facial hair growing anyway!

Oestrogen naturally counteracts androgens in your body.

More oestrogen means lower androgen activity in the body.

Less oestrogen at the end of perimenopause and after menopause sees more androgen activity.

One of the other things oestrogen does is increase the production of SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin) by the liver.

This in turn “binds” up androgens like testosterone and keeps them from being too active.

As oestrogen falls, so too does SHBG, and as a result, androgens just float around in the blood stream unbound.

That means they are available to start activating testosterone receptors everywhere.

More free-riding androgens means more chin hairs (and hair loss from your head!)

By the way, your SHBG levels are also impacted by your insulin levels.

The higher the insulin level, the higher lower the SHBG so being overweight can cause more chin hairs to sprout as well.

So if your perimenopause or menopause has come packaged up with weight gain around the middle, that’s a double header for your chin hair!

Sadly, once primed, testosterone receptors on hair producing cells can continue to be active long after testosterone levels fall.

So the hairs continue to grow!

What can you do?

Easy hair removal techniques!

Shaving, bleaching and chemical depilatiors are really effective to temporarily nix those unwanted hairs.

Now shaving can lead to a blunt hair end. And while that can feel like stubble, it does not encourage extra hair growth.

Don’t knock bleaching either.

If you only have a few hairs, localized to one area, it might be all you need. Depilating agents aren’t always as effective.

For a start, they can give lots of women a nasty skin irritation studies have found it actually can make rebound hair growth worse!

Doctors warn you against plucking and/or waxing because of the risk of a little folliculitis infection. Plus trauma to the hair shaft can cause the subsequent development of ingrown hairs and skin damage.

Permanent hair removal works a treat.

Laser hair removal is best on dark hair so if you have grey chin or face hairs it mightn’t be as successful.

You might be better off with electrolysis which damages the terminal hair follicles.

The problem is in this day and age, finding an experienced beautician who can do it for you!

Eflornithine

Eflornithine is a cream you rub on hairy parts of your face twice a day that slows down the hairs growth.

It’s not cheap and as soon as you stop using it, the hairs start growing back. It starts working in around 6 weeks and it takes 6 months to get a full effect. It can be used with laser or electrolysis.

Medications

You can get androgen receptor blockers, like the diuretic spironolactone or cyproterone acetate on prescription from your GP. They can help to reduce your chin hairs reasonably effectively but aren’t without side effects.

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Menopause / Perimenopause Kit

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