Even a seemingly hairless body is covered in thousands of tiny, soft, light or even clear “vellus” hairs. Most of them will never grow longer than a millimeter or two, and be largely unnoticed. Even amid a full beard, many are simply not receptive enough to the hormones called “androgens” that signal for them to grow deeper into the skin, take on pigment, and become coarse and long “terminal” hairs.

However, every body has vellus hairs that -are- receptive to these signals, and everyone produces some amount of androgens, like testosterone to maintain a healthy hormonal balance. When this balance is disrupted, as happens during menopause or for people with PCOS, Cushing’s, or other imbalances, androgens are sent out and vellus hairs start responding as their individual hormone threshold is reached. Once a vellus hair has grown deep enough in the skin to connect with a blood supply, it can never regress, and will always regrow as a terminal hair. The only permanent option is electrolysis.

Because each hair has a different threshold for hormone response, the cause of the hair growth must be addressed to prevent new terminal hairs from growing once we treat the ones already present. It’s always important to consult with your physician if you’re experiencing new, unexplained hair growth. This may be a sign of a larger underlying cause that may start to affect other aspects of your body and overall health.

Electrolysis can treat all the terminal hairs you have, but if something is causing the vellus hairs to become terminal, and nothing is done (or can be done) to stop this, then treatment times may be greatly extended. However, with continued treatment on a regular schedule, eventually all of the hairs can be treated. Again, an in-person consultation is always needed in order to discuss your personal situation.