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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffSelf-care methods to remove unwanted body hair include:
- Plucking. Using a tweezers is a good method to remove a few stray hairs, but is not useful for removing a large area of hair. While plucking may hurt a little and doesn't last forever, it is the most common method women use to get rid of unwanted facial hair.
- Shaving. Shaving is quick and inexpensive, but it needs to be repeated on a regular basis since it removes the hair only down to the surface of your skin.
- Waxing. Waxing involves applying warm wax on your skin where the unwanted hair grows. Once the wax hardens, it's pulled back from your skin against the direction of hair growth, removing hair. Waxing removes hair from a large area quickly, but it may sting temporarily and sometimes causes skin irritation and redness. Hot wax can also burn your skin.
- Chemical depilatories. Generally available as gels, lotions or creams that you spread on your skin, chemical depilatories work by breaking down the protein structure of the hair shaft. Some people are allergic to the chemicals used in depilatories.
Bleaching
Instead of removing unwanted body hair, some women use a technique called bleaching. Bleaching removes the hair pigment, so the hair is less visible against the surface of your skin. Bleaching may cause skin irritation.
- Hirsutism (excess hair). American Academy of Family Physicians. http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/hormone/210.html. Accessed Nov. 14, 2008.
- Bulun, S, et al. Physiology and pathology of the female reproductive axis In: Kronenberg HM, et al., eds. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 11th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: W.B. Saunders; 2008.
- Evaluation and treatment of hirsutism in premenopausal women: An Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. Chevy Chase, Md.: The Endocrine Society. http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/93/4/1105. Accessed Nov. 14, 2008.
- Chang J, et al, eds. The Hormone Foundation's patient guide to the evaluation and treatment of hirsutism in premenopausal women. The Hormone Foundation. http://www.hormone.org/Resources/Patient_Guides/upload/Hirsutism_Patient_Guide.pdf. Accessed Nov. 14, 2008.
- Hirsutism. The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec10/ch124/ch124c.html?qt=hirsutism&alt=sh#sec10-ch124-ch124c-989. Accessed Nov. 14, 2008.
- Hormones and the skin. American Academy of Dermatology. http://www.aad.org/media/background/factsheets/fact_hormones.html. Accessed Nov. 14, 2008.
- Azziz R. Hirsutism. In: Goldman L, et al., eds. Goldman: Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:1853.
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.4woman.gov/faq/polycystic-ovary-syndrome.cfm. Accessed Nov. 14, 2008.
