Women’s facial hair caused from Androgen

Dear Doctor K: I’m a woman, but I have so much hair on my face that I look like I have a mustache and beard. Please help!

Dear Reader: The condition you have, called hirsutism, is not uncommon and can be treated.

Why does hair grow so extensively on a man’s face? Each hair grows out of a little pit in the skin called a follicle. Cells that live in the base of that pit cause the hair to form when androgens (“male” hormones) in the blood reach those cells. So two things are required: androgens in the blood, and cells that respond to androgens by making hairs.

Why would hair grow on some women’s faces the way it grows on most men’s faces? Women actually have measurable amounts of androgens in their blood. The levels are much lower than they are in a man’s blood. And the cells in the hair follicles on a woman’s face also make hairs in response to androgens.

When a woman has unusually high levels of androgens in the blood, she can start to grow hair in places that most women don’t. Such hair growth may also be caused by cells in the hair follicles that are more easily stimulated by androgens to make hairs, even when androgen levels are normal.

In some cases, the extra androgen comes from medications. Some birth control pills as well as certain steroids contain androgens, or have effects similar to androgens. Other drugs indirectly cause the body to make extra androgen hormones; these include some medicines to treat schizophrenia, seizures, migraine headaches, bipolar disorder and high blood pressure.

All in all, using <a href="http://www.products-for-women.net/2012/01/best-hair-growth-products-for-women.html" target="_blank">best hair products for hair growth</a> could help a lot.