Causes of Excess Hair Growth
There are two types of excessive hair growth: hypertrichosis or hirsuitism.
- Hypertrichosis – This can affect men and women. It may be inherited, or be caused by medications, hormones, malnutrition, tumors or metabolism problems.
- Hirsuitism – This only affects women and girls, and usually means there is an excess of the male hormone androgen. It can be due to hormone problems, medications, tumors or heredity. It causes hair to grow in places where men get it but women usually don’t, such as the chin, upper lip and lower abdomen.
Next: Hair Removal
Photo references:
Hypertrichosis: This photo was previously published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2006 Jan;54(1):64-67. Kontoes P, Vlachos S, Konstantinos L et al. “Hair induction after laser-assisted hair removal and its treatment, 05 December 2005.” Copyright Elsevier (2006).
Hirsuitism: This photo was previously published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2003 Feb;48(2):161-179. Wendelin D, Pope D, Mallory S. “Hypertrichosis.” Copyright Elsevier (2003).
