THE BEARDED LADY

Greetings ladies of hive, how's it going with y'all?...it's my first post on this community and it feels good being a part of a community that has the interest of women at heart. I've always wanted to be a part of a community just for girls/women,where we can share our interests ,passion ,fears ,wins, failures and other stories about our journey in life and also help and encourage each other to grow in every area of our life and become the best version of ourselves, here I am, on hive and in a community that stands for that,I hope I'm welcome here.

THE BEARDED LADY

Growing up as a child,I was told that any lady that has beards is a "wicked" person and I believed it because it was weird seeing a lady with beards and hairs on her body like a guy. Also, when we were taught on the symptoms of puberty in boys and girls in school,we were taught that guys start developing beards during that time so all these made me believe it and it has been that way for me till...

Few years ago I noticed that I have hairs growing on areas that are supposed to be for guys like moustache, under chin hair and my chest , although the chest hair and moustache ain't so visible but my under chin hair is and I felt bad and didn't want any one to know so I decided to hide it by shaving. I actually thought I was doing the right thing by shaving only to find out that I was only making it worse 😣...I felt terrible ,the hairs were growing fast and added in numbers.

One day,a friend saw it and advised me to pluck it off instead of shaving,I took the advice since he is a guy, he'll know better,I thought. I started plucking it out but it did me no good so I went back to shaving but this time I added shaving cream...it won't just stop growing.

All these while I didn't know it had a name (medically),I only found out not long ago that it's called HIRSUTISM and there are many women out there who has it.

For those who don't know what HIRSUTISM is .... it's a condition in women that makes them have excessive hair growth especially in areas that are supposed to be for men..it is caused by having high ANDROGEN levels. This ANDROGEN is actually a male sex hormone and these high levels are caused by PCOS( polycystic ovarian syndrome) which can actually cause infertility, medications,tumors on the andrenal glands or ovaries, anabolic steroids etc.

Sometimes, most women would have the normal level of this male sex hormone called ANDROGEN and still have this condition, that's because it can be inherited like genetically. I think mine is inherited because my mom has it ,her younger sister has it too but they didn't shave and there's is just one or two strands of hair while mine is more than that.

Is there a cure for it?

I don't know for sure but all I know is, that if you are overweight and you have it,it is advisable to loose weight to reduce it but there are medications like :

Birth control pills- which lowers the level of ANDROGEN.
Spironolactone - which blocks the hormone from being present on the body and

Eflorinithine (vaniqa) - it's a cream that slows the growth of unwanted hair ,it doesn't stop it permanently,it only slows it down.

Also,there are other methods of removal which involves using laser and electrolysis. These treatments are effective,expensive and can be painful.

I don't think there's a permanent treatment for it , what all these treatments does is to slow the growth and reduce the amount of unwanted hair so the treatments will be ongoing.

Apart from the hair being uncomfortable, this condition also lowers the self esteem of women with it ... whenever someone looking at my face when I haven't shaved ,I start thinking about lots of things like what's going on on their minds,do they see me as a man, weirdo or like a 'wicked' person 🤭.
There was a day my little cousin saw it and she said I'll be a wicked aunty ,I was embarrassed honestly.

One day, I came across this HIRSUTISM support group on Facebook, honestly it felt good to know that I'm not alone,we are not alone. The truth is so many women have it but we just choose to hide it because of what the society has to say about it.

Also, Because I've seen so many women with it,I won't say I don't feel embarrassed or uncomfortable but me feeling that way has kinda reduced.

Recently someone saw it and shouted do you have hairs growing under your chin and I said yes I do and she asked why ,I said because I'm special, God created me specially 😜. It's the truth actually,we are special, God created us specially and beautifully so if you have it know this truth and if you don't know this and don't treat us indiffently please.

Thank you.

Some women have found the courage to post pictures of their face without shaving to make HIRSUTISM known which is actually a good thing, although I've not had the courage to do that yet!!
Till then ladies,

If you connect to this,feel free to share your own story.

Stay jiggy❤️

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