Medical Questions » Hair Questions » Question No. 462
| Question: | Like many men, I am suffering from a rapidly diminishing head of hair. I can live with that, but I have found it very difficult to live (for the past 25 years!) with an excess of hair on my arms, chest and back. The problem has become so acute that I an ashamed to take my shirt off in front of others. Can medical science offer any hope? |
| Answer: | The same genetic factors that cause baldness also cause excessive body hair, and virtually all balding men have far more body hair than men with a dense growth of hair on their scalp.
You certainly should not be ashamed of your body hair as it is seen by some as a sign of virility and masculinity. Some men without body hair have been known to have hair transplants to give them some hair on their chests, while others love to have a tuft of chest hair showing at their collar.
Unfortunately, medical science has no more effective treatments for excessive body hair than it has for a lack of scalp hair.
The depilatory (hair removing) creams that women use for excessive hair on their legs, can be used on other parts of the body, but not extensively. Using it to remove excess hair on the neck and in the collar V on the front of the chest would be reasonable, but mote extensive usage would not.
Shaving of body hair gives only temporary results and the hair grows back as a rough stubble. Waxing of the hair would be very painful and could lead to skin rashes and infections.
Electrolysis of each individual hair follicle can be performed to limited areas by plastic surgeons, but this is a very intricate and time-consuming task, as each hair must be dealt with individually.
The best solution may be changing your attitude towards your body—be proud of what you have, and don' t hide it from the admiring eyes of the many women who like their men to show a bit of masculinity!
|
|
|
