Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an ailment that changes a woman’s hormonal levels so that she produces too much of the male hormones.
Women who suffer from this condition may find that they skip menstrual periods and have a more challenging time getting pregnant. Also, an excess amount of unwanted facial hair is a common symptom of PCOS. This is why hair removal for PCOS can be life-changing for those who are suffering from hormone imbalances.
To help you deal with this condition, read on for four tips for managing unwanted hair due to PCOS.
1. Experiment with dietary changes
To help change your body’s insulin resistance and hormonal imbalances, you need to start with looking at your diet.
In addition to a variety of significant health benefits, eliminating all refined and processed foods from your diet can help you manage your excess PCOS facial hair. Enrich your diet with fiber-rich vegetables and fruits and lean proteins, as well as healthy fats, nuts, and seeds.
For many individuals, eliminating (or significantly cutting back on) dairy helps as it contains IGF-1 (insulin growth factor) that results in higher levels of testosterone. Gluten also tends to cause inflammation, which causes you to be more resistant to insulin. This, in turn, also causes your body to produce more testosterone.
In other words, to ensure you are consuming foods that will help you to get your PCOS under control, make sure your meals are dairy-free, low GI (with a low glycemic load), balanced in terms of carbs and protein, free of refined foods and sugars, and low in saturated fats.
2. Include natural supplements into your lifestyle.
In addition to modifying your diet, it is also recommended that you look to add certain natural supplements into your lifestyle.
These can boost your androgen levels, which will help to tackle the underlying causes of your PCOS facial hair from inside your body. For example, over time, consuming two cups of spearmint tea per day can help to lower your testosterone levels drastically. Moreover, flax seeds and saw palmetto could be beneficial for treating hirsutism (male-pattern hair growth) and PCOS.
Opting to transform your diet combined with natural supplements can bring long-lasting results for individuals who are dealing with PCOS. As these steps aid in curing the underlying causes of insulin resistance and hormonal imbalances. What’s more, they don’t have any unwarranted side effects, which means that you have nothing to lose by giving them a go.
That being said, as these tactics can take some time to provide you with the results you want, you may also want to experiment with at-home hair removal techniques or professional hair removal treatments.
3. Choose from an at-home hair removal technique.
Shaving is the cheapest method for at-home hair removal; however, it is also the least permanent option, so you may have to do it daily. Shaving can also cause some adverse side effects (scarring, skin irritation, or discoloration), which is why many women choose not to use it for removing facial hair.
At home, you can also use depilatories, which are hair removal creams that eliminate hair through chemicals that destroy the hair shafts. However, be careful if you have sensitive skin, as these chemicals can rapidly irritate it. Bleaching is another option that works well for softer, less dense hair.
If you want something faster than bleaching or hair removal creams, then waxing or threading may be the way to go.
However, these can both be quite painful methods and may be cumbersome if you have a significant amount of body hair. Whenever possible, look to have your wax or threading treatment done by a professional to help decrease the risk of side effects and to speed up the process.
Last but not least, for those small areas of unwanted hairs on the eyebrows, upper lip, cheeks, and chin, use high-quality tweezers as regularly as needed.
4. Seek professional hair removal treatments.
Sometimes, no matter how diligent you are with your at-home techniques, you still need to bring in the professionals into the picture – particularly if you are looking for long-lasting solutions. Luckily, two professional hair removal treatments work exceptionally well for those suffering from PCOS – laser treatment and electrolysis.
Laser treatment works by beaming light at the hair follicle with the aim to weaken and sometimes destroy the hair from the root. Laser treatment is medically categorized as “permanent reduction” according to the FDA and the American Medical Association.
However, since laser treatment results are not permanent, it also can be expensive and requires continuous follow-up treatments, sometimes never getting rid of all hairs for good. It is also reported that in certain cases, laser has the opposite effect on facial hair, making it worse than before the laser treatment.
Keep in mind that this hair removal method gives better results for individuals with lighter skin tones and darker-colored hair. Laser does not work for blonde, grey, or white hairs.
Despite being the most successful form of hair removal, many people still seem to be asking, “how does electrolysis hair removal work?”
Unlike laser treatment, electrolysis is medically confirmed as the only method to permanently kill the hair follicles in all body parts and of all skin and hair colors. During this treatment, a small probe is inserted into the natural opening of each hair follicle, where it produces heat and or a chemical reaction. Both processes of electrolysis effectively get to the root of the hair and kill it forever.
While everyone’s pain tolerance is different, generally, electrolysis is not considered to be too painful and comes with no permanent side effects. There is only temporary pain that goes away within hours or days with proper pre- and post-care. This is why it is deemed to be the gold standard for the permanent and dependable removal of unwanted hair.
At Furless, we offer the highest quality and latest electrolysis treatments through our advanced equipment and highly-experienced electrologists.
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