On most areas of the body, hair is "peach fuzz" - thin, fine hair that is called "vellus" hair. On the head, eyebrows, underarms, and pubic areas, the female body has thick, darker hair that is called "terminal" hair. All women have hair follicles below the skin surfaces of their face. Facial hair growth is completely normal and natural. The color and thickness of naturally growing hair is mostly determined by heredity.
Unwanted hair growth is much more common than you may realize. In the United States millions of women (upwards of 50 million, in fact) seek treatment to remove unwanted hair. The majority of these women undergo treatments at least on a monthly basis, if not weekly. Roughly 5% will even manage their unwanted facial hair on a daily basis.
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Unwanted facial or bodily hair, for some patients, can be a few individual hairs on the chin, a light growth on the upper lip, peach fuzz on the cheeks, or coarse, dark hair in any of these areas. One patient may find the slightest growth on the lip or chin terribly bothersome, while another patient may have visible hair on her upper lip and not be bothered at all.
The Aging Process and Hair Growth
Another reason facial hair may begin to grow in women is the natural aging process. Every woman has a normal amount of male hormones (called "androgens") in her body. As women age, the body produces more of these androgens which may cause an increase in hair growth on the face and neck areas.
Underlying Medical Conditions and Hair Growth
Though heredity and age are the most common causes of extraneous hair growth, there are some medical conditions which may also be a source of excessive hair growth. These conditions usually result in elevated levels of androgens which in turn stimulate terminal hair growth. One cause of excess androgens in the body is obesity. Fat retains androgen, so the more overweight a person is, the more androgen is kept in the body, potentially causing some male-patterned hair growth. Other medical causes for excessive hair growth can be polycystic ovary syndrome, or hormonal fluctuations due to pregnancy or menopause.
VANIQA and Facial Hair Removers
VANIQA (eflornithine HCl) Cream, 13.9% is the only prescription cream clinically proven to reduce the growth of unwanted facial hair in women. It does not stop the growth of UFH, so you'll still need to manage your UFH with your usual facial hair remover, but because VANIQA reduces facial hair growth, over time you should be removing hair less often.
Facial Hair Removers
For the millions of women who manage their UFH, the large number of facial hair removers should come as no surprise. There are products that cut, dissolve, lighten, remove and even alter the biological production of facial hair, including chin hair. Of all of the different management methods available, most do not permanently remove hair.
Although you may have tried many different ways to manage UFH, you may want to find out more about all of the options available - almost none of them are permanent hair removal methods. Just choose a method from the following list.
Are There any Medical Treatments That Can Help?
Vaniqa (eflornithine HCl) Cream, is a unique prescription cream that works right at the source of the unwanted facial hair problem, in the hair follicle. It is thought that Vaniqa works during the growth stage of the hair cycle by blocking an enzyme in the follicle that is necessary for hair to grow.
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