Hairiness

Each person has about 2 million hairs and only about 100,000 of these are on the scalp. We have hairs over our entire body, except the lips, soles of the feet and palms of the hands. In the UK, £25 million is spent every year on hair-removing products

Hairiness in women

25% of normal middle-aged women have unwanted facial hair
After the menopause, the face becomes hairier, while the rest of the body’s hair is slowly lost
10% of 65-year-old women have noticeable chin hair

Hairiness in men

Research among medical students in the USA found that 45% of male medical students were very hairy, compared with 10% of the general population
In Kerala, in southern India, research among medical and engineering students and manual labourers found that the students had more body hair than the labourers; the top six in the class of engineering students were far hairier than the bottom eight
A study of 117 male members of the brainy society Mensa (you have to have an IQ of over 140 to join) showed that Mensa members had a tendency to thicker body hair – and the most intelligent had hair on their backs as well as on their chests

Written by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Edited by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Last updated: Friday, April 30th 2010

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Comments on this article

Posted by To the comment posted on 25/06/2010 on 09/07/2010 at 12:37:02 pm

I am a 24 year old woman who has suffered with hair on my upper lip, nipples, chest and abs! I have had my hormones tested and they all come back fine. If you haven't done this yet, arrange to be tested. I would recommend IPL. It has reduced the hair on my abs slightly after about 6 sessions. My nipple hair seemed to reduce and then sprouted back so I'm not too sure what to do with this as I have had 10 IPL sessions on this area. My IPL therapist is very honest and did tell me from the start that in some cases it does not work. If you are in the North London area I would suggest the North London Epilation Clinic in Aldermans Hill near Enfield. I use Ranjit. It makes me very depressed sometimes but you have to face the problem. Avoid bleach & hair removal creams as these make the skin sore. Get waxed, do some research and most importantly if you can't afford IPL (my abs are £100 a pop) go to your Doctor and get checked out!!!! Just do it, it can't make you feel any worse then you do with the hair! Tackle the problem head on and just a word of warning IPL can give you permanent hair reduction if successful not permanent hair removal. You need at least 10 sessions too.

Posted by Optional on 25/06/2010 at 07:53:19 pm

There's nothing anyone can say to make me feel better. I have hair all over my body. I'm a seventeen year old girl. I don't want to deal with this. I have hair on my face. I try to get rid of it but no matter what, it doesn't work. I hate this. I look worse than a boy. Even boys don't have this much hair on their body. I always wear clothes so I can cover up all my body. I don't go swimming. I can't do anything. I can't have fun. I hate my life.

Posted by Optional on 15/06/2010 at 11:55:57 am

I have very thick dark pubic hair that grows rapidly and onto the inside of the upper thigh. When I shave the area it is ok for around 1-2 days and then when it grows back it is itchy, painful and and usually ends up reddening the area and causing ingrown hairs which are very sore. Please help.

Posted by Optional on 30/05/2010 at 02:05:11 pm

i have hair on my penis and its really emabarrassing

Posted by Optional on 21/05/2010 at 08:14:41 am

I've been shaving since I was 40

Posted by Optional on 19/05/2010 at 03:20:50 am

Hey there! I have heaps of hair all over my body, I usually just cover it up. Its a problem but I guess I began to realise that everyone is hairy and that it isnt so bad.

Posted by Optional on 19/04/2010 at 02:42:01 pm

I have so much hair. I had armpit hair by age 6

Posted by Optional on 12/04/2010 at 02:46:36 am

my face is soo hairy..wat shall i do to lessen my hairy face?

Posted by Optional on 12/03/2010 at 07:01:14 am

i have hair on one cheek of my bottom what is the cause

Posted by Optional on 27/02/2010 at 09:22:59 pm

I am 21 and I have hair all over my body as well, I mean all over (back,neck,stomach,butt...). when I was a teenager I would shave one day and the next day I could feel the hair growing again. Because I am very light skin and have very dark hair, even when I shaved the dark hairs can still be seen! To resolve this problem, I became addicted to tanning in the summer so I can get some color and hid the body hair. It helped but once summer was over, shaving didn't help at all. I began Laser treatment about two years ago. I started with my sideburns and now almost three years I am about 70% satisfied. For people that are looking to get LASER Hair Removal: it is not a permanent resolution. People seem to think that the Laser will get rid of the hair forever and it doesn't . At least not for me. Though it has done an amazing job at reducing the hair growth and appearance. I upgraded to full body last year and I am very happy. I also saw an Endocrinologist for this issue. He did some blood work and found that I had high level of male hormones. He prescribed Sprinolactone which has helped a lot. This issue has not gotten in the way of any relationship. I have been with my boyfriend for 4 years now and he is not bothered by it because I have taken care of myself. I haven't deprived myself of socializing and I think every women with excessive body hair should do something about it if it is bothering her.

Posted by Optional on 19/02/2010 at 11:00:36 am

im 16 years old, and over how many years i dont know im experiencing this problem. i dont have too much showing hair on my face.... but my body.. urghh just disgusting. i cant remember since when i had this hair problem.. but its really annoying. i shave my arms- which i think is normal.. but i also recently started shaving my stomach and back! it just started by just trying it out.. and then i completly lost control now.. and if i dont i feel.. just dirty.! the other they i was out with my friends, and they had decided to try on some prom dresses... but i just felt so stressed out of the fact that i didnt wnat them to see the nastiness on my body.. i tried it on top of my jumper... i really feel really sick about this.. and idk what i should be doing.. planning to get it off by laser.. but im too yound..and its gonna cost tooo much.. =( heellp

Posted by Optional on 19/02/2010 at 06:50:37 am

wow this is very useful stuff, thanks. i feel much better about myself now :)

Posted by Optional on 19/02/2010 at 06:13:08 am

I have hair that grows around my nipples. I find this very embarrassing. I had the hysterectomy many years ago is that the reason I have this problem.

Posted by Anonymous on 10/02/2010 at 12:25:00 am

Hey I've just been reading through youe post and I have exactly the same problem with being hairy! I used to bleach my facial hair, however I found this made the matter worse so I then resorted to waxing which has improved my problem dramatically. I do wax regularly and thread facial hair as you do, but I have now looked into IPL which is a treatment for unwanted hair growth. As I am quite fair, I opted to have this treatment done instead of laser as I wanted minimal scarring on my face. A friend conversely did opt for the laser treatment. It just depends upon where you go for the treatment and the advice you are given in relation to your skin specifically. Just a word of advice....DON'T let this problem get you down...accept you are beautiful...because that was the breakthrough that helped me combat this issue! I hope this helps!

Posted by Anonymous on 15/03/2009 at 07:56:00 am

I have black, coarse hair all over my body. I wax hands and legs, and thread forehead, eyebrows and upperlip. Occasionally,bleach my face because there are hair near side-burns, also some on nose. Looks very embarrassing. Most embarrassing is hair on stomach, chest and back. It is not always possible to wax it, then you need to let it grow back. There's this fine, black hair on stomach and back which is very much visible. I cannot go for swimming impromptu or wear a sari. I really hate it, and it does occupy my mind, 95% of the time. My periods are normal, get it every 28th day.

Posted by jo on 08/02/2009 at 06:24:00 pm

Since approx last July, i have had a line of new hair which has grown along the line of my parting, it has taken ages to grow to a length where i can flatten it down and the colour and texture are completely different from my own hair. I had just started to come to terms with it and was putting it down to the stress of two very sudden deaths in the family in March. However in the last few weeks i have noticed more growth, and also a patch of alapecia (which is what the doctor thinks it its) Does anyone have any idea about this condition and if there is anything i can do to rectify it.