Re: New with questions

> I am 23 years old and I have been noticing more and more
> hair growth. I have hair on my chin, cheak, thick hair on
> my sideburns that is basically starting to connect with my
> chin, I guess it is making a beard. Luckily the hair on my
> chin isn't as thick.

You may wish to get a doctor to check that you haven't got a tendency to PCOS, but having said that, any doctor will tell you that a large proportion of women have beard growth that approaches that of men. It's usually a bit slower to develop than in men, but it's not in any way a rare thing. It often has no other "abnormality" associated with it. It's been discovered that women who have ring fingers longer than their index fingers have a natural tendency towards male-type beard growth, so that's an easy check for you to make yourself in two seconds (it's all to do with early fetal exposure to testosterone of which the relative lenght of the ring fingers is a simple and reliable indicator).

> Does anyone have any ideas about what I can do, this really upsets
> me and is making more and more depressed because it has been progressing
> over the past three years.

No point in getting depressed about it. It doesn't need to spoil your life at all -- I got a boyfriend, married and have a large family. And I've been shaving since I was 14 and every day from when I was 15.

> I have gained weight in that period of time but I am not obese,
> I don't consider 5' 7" and 180 lbs to be obese.

It's worth checking for PCOS, as I've suggested. PCOS tends to be associated with weight gain.

> I am actually considering laser but I believe it will be quite
> expensive.

Laser works well if your skin is light and your hair growth is dark AND your hormones are absolutely normal. If all three conditions are not met, it isn't nearly as successful. Long-term effects on the SKIN are unknown, as it's relatively new technology. Remember that at one time they used X-rays for depilatory purposes with unaticipated long-term effects that didn'tshow up for decades but proved rather fatal. Laser's certainly not in that category, but what destroys hair can very readily damage skin, which is very similar in composition to hair.


> My only choice for now is shaving and I hate doing that and on my
> chin and sideburns it is starting to look strange when I wear makeup
> after I shave, I think the shaving is starting to irritate my skin.
> Please any help or advice would be much appreciated. I just don't know
> what to do anymore.

You don't say how you're shaving, so I take it that you're shaving with a wet (blade)razor. I've found that the best, non-irritating shave is with a (men's type) electric razor and the least-irritant of these are the Norelco models (assuming you're in the US -- if you're outside the US they're known as Philishave).

Hope this helps.

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