Let’s talk about hair removal – beauty standards or esthetics?

The peculiar thing is the varying trend we have witnessed over the
years: as beauty ideals shift, so do our habits. Over the last century, fashion
has dictated many standards, one of them being the size of our swimwear – from
one piece jumpsuits to miniature two piece bikinis. Along with the excess naked
skin came another issue – excess hair. So it became almost natural to remove
hair from the public, or popularly known, bikini area. Now, what’s with the
back hair situation today?

These days, you might notice that every beauty salon has a solution for
the bikini zone – you can either go all the way and have everything removed or
have your ‘lower bush’ stylized in a certain manner. However, you cannot really
find ‘back hair removal’ on pricelists of many salons. Where is the root of
this problem (pun intended)? Let’s dig a bit deeper into the issue at stake.

Causes

There are many plausible causes of excess hair growth and in most cases
the exact cause cannot be precisely determined. Women usually produce lower
levels of male hormones called androgens, so if your organism has too much of
this hormone, it will result in unwanted hair. It may also come as a genetic
condition if it runs in the family. In any case, it is a very unpleasant
feature, even embarrassing to many women. There are a few conditions related to
this issue.

The medical term for the condition is hirsutism – it refers to
excessive facial hair along the lip line, on the chin, even breasts or chest
and it basically matches a male hair pattern on a female body. Men can also
suffer from this mostly harmless condition, but on hormonally dependent areas.

The next type of this condition is called hypertrichosis – it
signifies excessive hair which grows on places outside the pattern described
for hirsutism. A person who has a cast on their arm and grows unusually large
patches of hair in that region could be considered to have hypertrichosis
(hyper meaning excessive or accelerated; trich meaning hair). 

Finally, there is the state of superfluous hair or garden variety
“unwanted hair” – it refers to excess hair growth on various body areas which
are considered to be socially or culturally unattractive or undesirable. This
doesn’t refer to the amount of grown hair as it does to its location (for
example, beard line for women).

Any of these conditions could have one of the following causes:

·        
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)

·        
Tumor or
cancer of the adrenal gland

·        
Tumor or
cancer of the ovary

·        
Rare
endocrine disorders

·        
Side
effects of certain drugs

·        
Congenital
adrenal hyperplasia

·        
Hyperthecosis
(a condition in which the ovaries produce too much male hormones)

Although it may seem as a subject you would rather consult your
beautician rather than your physician, it is best to schedule a checkup with
your doctor before you undergo any type of therapy or medication.

Treatment

Luckily, hair removal today is a common thing and you have many options
for either temporary or permanent removal.

Some of the most popular temporary removal techniques are:

·        
Tweezing –
pretty tiring, it is most efficient for really small areas (for example, above
the upper lips)

·        
Shaving –
easy to do, but with rather short effect; hair will grow back in a couple of
days

·        
Waxing –
waxed hair can take up to 3 weeks to grow fully back, plus the hair root is
being weakened with every treatment so it grows slowly and is receding in time

·        
Hair removal creams – have a similar effect as shaving but they
are somewhat gentler to the skin than sharp razors.

Permanent treatments include:

·        
Laser hair removal – is the absolute best method used to cover
large affected areas. The laser beam is aimed at particularly dark colored
hair, so it may not work for blond or red pigmented hair.

·        
Electrolysis – uses electrical current to permanently
damage individual hair follicles so they do not grow back. This method is less
popular as it may lead to unwanted side-effects like swelling, scarring and
redness of the skin.

The most common temporary solution is waxing, almost all beauty salons
have experts trained in many different waxing techniques and the results last a
while. As far as permanent removal goes, it definitely requires a significant
financial investment as these procedures are costly but really do solve the
issue once and for all. Nevertheless, your physician will
prescribe you with the best treatment according to your skin type and specific
needs.