Do not rush for expensive hair removal treatments: Dr K S Prasanna

Treatment of Hirsutism 

Hair growth like males on the face and body, mainly hands and legs, worries young females, and they rush for different treatments. Instead of rushing for expensive treatments, Institute of Applied Dermatology (IAD) senior dermatologist Dr K S Prasanna says that this condition called Hirsutism should be treated only after conducting a detailed clinical analysis of the patient. The patient’s clinical history is crucial for the treatment of Hirsutism. Medical professionals look into details like: When did hair growth start? Is it growing slowly or rapidly? Does the patient have menstrual irregularities, acne, hair loss, weight gain, blackening of the neck, family history of similar complaints, and infertility?

 According to Dr. Prasanna, Hirsutism is the growth of excessive male-pattern hair in women after puberty. It affects facial and body hair depending on hormonal abnormality. As Hirsutism causes significant emotional stress and mental anguish in women, they become desperate to get it cured.  The key to treatment is finding the root cause and addressing it. There are four main sex hormone-producing glands in ladies. They are ovaries, adrenals, pituitary, and

hypothalamus. Excessive hormone production by any of these glands for any reason causes excessive hair growth.

A series of clinical diagnoses that include thyroid function tests, serum testosterone, Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), LH/FSH, 17-hydroxy progesterone, prolactin, sugar, lipid levels, abdominal scanning, and in some cases CT and MRI of the head and neck.

 When it comes to treatment, there are also different options right from oral medication to non-pharmacological methods like bleaching which makes the hair look less prominent, depilation which is removing the hair from skin surfaces by shaving or chemical treatment, and epilation which is the removal of the hair including the root such as plucking, waxing, electrolysis, Laser, and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL). While Electrolysis may help in permanent hair loss, it is time-consuming. A small probe is inserted along with each hair, and a small electrical or heat discharge destroys the hair root. A small area is treated at a time. It is expensive if the area affected is extensive. Treatment by an unskilled person may cause scarring. Laser and IPL are used to treat large areas of pigmented terminal hair in Idiopathic and PCOS for cosmetic purposes. We need multiple treatments from months to a year, and it is expensive. This treatment may cause side effects like swelling, redness, blistering, infection, hypo/hyperpigmentation, and occasionally scarring. If properly delivered, this treatment is safe, and effective, delays hair regrowth, and causes permanent hair removal in many patients.

 Dr Prasanna has a word of advice for patients: they should not make a hasty decision to remove unwanted facial hair. Consult a medical professional. If there is no underlying disease, use temporary hair removal methods before going for expensive treatments like laser or electrolysis. Also, if there is an underlying disease, take the treatment for it before going for laser treatment.