The causes of excessive hair growth pattern are many and varied, including:

• Heredity
• Pregnancy
• Glandular and/or hormonal imbalances (possible PCOS condition for women), including diseases causing these effects
• Insulin resistance issues
• Reactions to certain medications
• Normal aging processes
• Excessive temporary removal methods like waxing, tweezing, creams and depilatories, etc

Every laser hair removal candidate should explore a possible underlying reason of the extreme hair growth before starting laser because if there is something in the body consistently triggering hair growth, laser treatments might seem ineffective because the body will keep developing new hair. So, it will always seem like there is not reduction, when in fact it’s NEW hair your body is producing that you are seeing, not that treated by laser growing back. Women with PCOS hair growth patterns (upper lip, chin, cheeks, etc) should see an endocrinologist and have hormonal tests taken. Men can get tested for insulin resistance etc. Talk to Dr. Sudy if you suspect you might have an underlying medical condition causing excessive hair growth before starting laser hair removal. Once the condition is control through treatment/medication, laser hair removal can then be performed. Laser can affect the hair that’s currently present, but cannot prevent NEW hair from developing. 

Last updated on February 6, 2010 by Sarah Yousuff, MD