In some women, age can cause hair to grow on the chin or upper lip, around the nipples, the breast cleavage, and above the pubic area. Many women, particularly in North America, find this hair unacceptable and seek to have it removed. One out of three women in North America does something for facial hair.
The majority of women with superfluous hair have no obvious underlying medical reason for this problem. It is usually the result of a hereditary predisposition. For example, excess hair is commonly seen in people of Mediterranean and Semitic descent and much less often in people from Northern Europe. Circumstances other than heredity, such as certain types of drugs, the overproduction of male hormones (androgens), or a hypersensitivity to normal amounts of these hormones may also account for unwanted hair.
The options for the removal of unwanted hair are many and varied and have been discussed in detail in Chapter 12. The most recent and significant breakthrough has been the use of lasers for hair removal. Although still in its infancy as a method of hair removal, lasers promise to replace more traditional techniques, such as electrolysis, in providing a solution to unwanted hair.
The intensity of the battle against unwanted hair is cultural to a certain extent. For example many women in mediterranean regions are unconcerned with body hair, whereas their middle eastern neighbours laboriously pluck all the hair from their body. In North America it is estimated that consumers spend $1 billion dollars a year on electrolysis alone.
The first step in solving the dilemma of excess or unwanted hair is to determine its cause. If the problem is not medical then once again lasers are leading the way to new and more effective ways of eliminate unwanted hair. Other more traditional methods of hair removal include electrolysis, waxing, shaving, plucking or chemical depilatories.
A combination of the techniques may be the most ideal approach depending on the goals of the individual. The alternative to removing unwanted hair is camouflage by bleaching.
