16 year old DD with excess facial hair

[Moveonward]

has anyone experienced this? It’s really getting her down. We saw our GP who suggested trying the contraceptive pill as she also has debilitating periods and has requested an ultrasound of her pelvis to look for PCOS. Just wondered if anyone found the pill actually helped?

I was just going to ask about PCOS. The pill can help with symptoms and so can Metformin. Hope you manage to sort things.
Skin tags and darkening of skin especially on the thighs and back of the neck are symptoms. Look at the Verity website.

Likely to be PCOS. She needs to cut down on carbs to under 100g a day and eliminate processed carbs altogether.

Supplement inositol for PCOS and maintain a healthy weight. These two things are enough to eliminate symptoms for many women, without needing to resort to Metformin etc, which has side effects. Doesn't work for everyone obviously.

Yes, likely PCOS. I’d go for laser facial hair removal rather than drastic measures like medication with scary side effects or extreme diets.

If her hair is dark I’d definitely suggest laser hair removal.

Poor kid - mine started appearing at 17 (two horrid boys spotted my chin hairs in the 6th form common room).

Pill helped with me re periods and acne but not hair - I suffer particularly badly with that for 30+ years but not everybody does to that extent. Would recommend limiting processed carbs, moving to a mediterranean/low GI diet, and hit the laser hair removal early. It had a major effect on my self esteem and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Without addressing the underlying insulin resistance the hair will simply grow back.

I'd recommend the Phillips Lumiea IPL. I was extremely hairy with dark hair on my legs, arms and facial hair and it's significantly reduced the amount of hair. I only have to shave my legs once a week now and my arms are practically hair-free, same for my face. I wish I'd had it at 16.

Yes helps a lot

Thanks for all the recommendations.
the diet ideas are a good call as well as investing in a Philips Lumia. It’s really getting her down and she’s getting to point where she’s constantly vigilant about her facial hair

It can be lasered off again if the body generates new hair follicles.
The insulin resistance is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and is associated with skin tags and patches of darker skin rather than excess facial hair.

Sounds like PCOS.

for hair nowadays I think laser is good, options used to be electrolysis but laser is quicker and will cover more of an area quicker too.
Low GI Diet is good and aim to keep weight down which is bl**dy hard work. The pill may help.

What is her hair & skin colour? As IPL only works on white skin with hair that is dark blonde or darker. In other words if she’s got light blonde hair OR darker skin then it will not work at all (Some professional Salon IPL machines will work on light blonde or darker skin but not at-home machines like Lumea).
Also make sure she shaves before using IPL. She must not pluck the hairs first or wax. The IPL needs the base of the hair to be in the follicle for it to kill the follicle.

Take her to a clinic for laser hair removal (it’ll be faster than home IPL) then get the lumea to maintain. I had really bad facial hair (beard like) lasering it was the only solution, it does grow back but nowhere near as bad as before (I would say it took a few years to start coming back).

I'd already had electrolysis by that age. Nowadays much easier to buy a Philips Lumea and do IPL at home.

PCOS creates insulin resistance. If OP's daughter does have PCOS, it is almost certainly the cause of the facial hair.

Therefore while IPL will help control the hair, if you want to actual tackle the root cause you need inositol (tackles insulin resistance) and weight control (being overweight exacerbates the insulin-testosterone cycle which causes all the symptoms with pcos). Some people find these two things are not enough, and Metformin etc may be needed, but you definitely don't want to jump straight to that.

Note that it's really worthwhile getting pcos controlled early, from a health point of view, but also to help control weight gain and preserve fertility.

Just reading the comments and I want to address some things on how they impacted me.

IPL made my hair growth on my face worse. Please look this up before buying as it can in some cases make it worse. Lazer can also make it worse. It all just depends on the person. Which is soooo shit because all of these cost a lot of money and for it to backfire is soul destroying. Electrolysis is a permanent solution. Time consuming but is the only proven permanent solution. I will be saving to get this done myself.

Is the hair thick or thin? I wish I never started plucking and making it darker. If your daughters is fine hair and only slightly dark could you use the facial hair bleach and just trim it? That’s what I wish I did. Instead I plucked and plucked and it just kept growing back thicker. Then got the ipl and it made it so much worse. Could have been the ipl or my hormones who knows. But there is a condition where laser hair removal/IPL that causes new or increased hair growth in someone with pcos known as Paradoxical Hypertrichosis.

Spearmint tea and dietary changes can help.

I hope you find something that works for your daughter. I really really do. It’s such an awful condition. I was on the pill for my periods since I was 15 until I was 30 and it seemed to keep the symptoms at bay and I was a healthy weight. When I came off the pill when I was 30 that’s when I was diagnosed and then the weight gain, horrid periods and hair growth started. So maybe the pill or the implant can help your daughter.

If she is lighter skined with dark hair then the Philips Lumea Series 9000 IPL Hair Removal Device is worth every penny.

I’m happy to say that it really works and Philips offer a refund if it doesn’t work (they admit it doesn’t work as well for very fair haired women or very dark skinned women). I was skeptical but it really worked well and my male partner used it successfully to permanently remove some thick beard hair on his neck.

You have to shave first then spend a few minutes going over every inch of skin you want to remove hair from. Do this once every two weeks for a couple of months. Then you can just go over the area once every 3 months to keep the hair from coming back. Amazing bit of kit.

She has dark brown hair but fair skin so looks like the Lumea may help then. She is keen to lose a bit of weight as she has gained a bit recently and I’m keen to lose some too so healthy diets all round I think. I’ll also get her the supplements. She knows that this is a long term consistent approach rather than a quick fix

Spironolactone is meant to help with PCOS excess facial hair as well as acne and excess (head) hair shedding. Might be more targeted at her concerns than the pill. It’s contraindicated in POTS though as it’s a diuretic.

she may also have endometriosis as well as PCOS if she has very painful periods. Wouldn’t might show on an ultrasound or MRI.