PCOS & Hair
Often cried about, often debated. Yes, PCOS, thyroid conditions, menopause and even perimenopause can cause bizzare things like hair-loss (from your head or even eyebrows) OR worse yet, excessive hair on your arms, below the belly button, and even on the face of women. I often chat about it with other gals suffering from PCOS, and those who I work with regarding nutrition, because the symptomology is something that many are often uncomfortable speaking about, particularly in public unless it is with someone who either treats PCOS or has ‘been there’.
As women, we cherish our hair, which frames our face, and makes us feel ‘feminine.’ So, if suddenly you woke up one day and your hair started coming out in droves, well, it would be not only frightening, but certainly humbling. Likewise, if you started growing excessively dark hairs on a ‘happy trail’, ie: the fuzzy patch of hair on the belly between the navel and the pubic bone, you would no doubt head straight for a razor or laser. Luckily, modern tecniques such as natural hair wigs, make up and laser treatments have brought solace to women on both sides of the problem.
I am truly thankful that I don’t have the worst of symptoms of PCOS like male pattern balding, but, then again, I have managed to keep my weight in check which for many women keeps the worst of the symtoms at bay. Because PCOS, thyroid and other imbalances cause female hormones to be out of balance, whatever one can do to keep your hormones in check will help you keep the hair loss to a minimum, and the ‘monkeyish fur’ on arms & face at bay. (Of course, paying a dermatologist hundreds for laser hair removal helps too! There are also natural and pharmaceutical treatments which can help with the imbalance. Bioidentical progesterone is often used, as are topical products like Vaniqua, or for hair loss medicated shampoos and cleansers.)
Here are some comments I’ve posted about the ‘hideous hair factor’…
Hair in unsightly places is common with PCOS, Thyroid and Menapause, being totally related to the hormone levels in our body. Feel free to read my other articles where I wrote about laser hair removal & my own experience with PCOS.
I have noticed that the thicker (although not darker) hair on my legs, and the excessive fuzzy upper lip has subsided a lot since I have cleared the estrogenic foods (such as soy, non organic meats & dairy plus pesticides) from my diet. I have also used the progesterone cream to help regulate my cycle, although I have not needed it much since going raw in 2003. Generally speaking, for me it’s about keeping my estrogen and DHEA levels down, and my pregesterone levels higher .
Typically, when you are estrogen dominant, or have low progesterone levels due to insulin resistance, elevated androgens (such as with PCOS or thyroid imbalances) you see unsightly facial hair or execessive hair on the arms and legs. Some woman even start to see male pattern baldness. It is common to certain genetic strains I think, unrelated to the issues which face women with PCOS, but it is also, some believe, a result of modernity and the excessive xenoestrogens found in the environment from toxicity, chemicals and pesticides and soft plastics.
I was reading in Bruce Fife’s book “the detox book” where he was quoting a doctor’s experiences finding pubic hair & menses in girls under the age of 5! They credited it to the high hormones in modern meat & dairy, as well as the estogenic mimics found in chemicals and pesticides. Can you imagine? But these days it seems that menstruation starts earlier and earlier, and estrogen fed cancers are also on the rise, both in men and women.
Personally, I think this explaination is why my PCOS has diminished since I went raw and began to detoxify…. Cassy.:)
For more information, read my subpage ‘PCOS and laser hair removal,’ and many of the other articles I’ve written about cleansing and detoxification.
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