Estrogen is the hormone that is generally responsible for producing female traits. Testosterone on the other hand is the hormone responsible for the appearance of male traits in a person—which includes facial hair.

During menopause, the balance of these two hormones is disrupted. Both men and women produce them naturally—it’s the production balance between them is interrupted.

This condition where women have an abnormal hair growth is called hirsutism. Note that this growth of hair is not restricted to the face alone; it can also grow elsewhere in the body.

Studies show that this condition affects 5% to 10% of women around the world. It can also run in families, which means if your mother or grandmother had it, then chances are you might see more hair in your chin sometime soon as well.

There are several potential causes of this face hair overgrowth in women:

• PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome
• Adrenal gland disorders
• Side effect of medication
• Hormonal imbalance

Excessive facial hair isn’t really a huge problem. In fact, it might not always be serious.

However, if it does bother you, and if you also have excessive hair growth in the other parts of your body, then you might want to see your doctor right away.

Overall, having excess facial hair is not a long term problem even for after menopause. If your doctor rules that it is due to hormonal imbalance then there are a lot of treatment options.

There are generally two types of treatment options for this condition. The first one is hair removal and the other is hormone management.

• Hair Removal: there are several hair removal options that you can consider such as electrolysis, laser hair removal, and waxing or shaving. The costs vary depending on the complexity of the procedure
• Hormone Management: you need to seek medical advice before considering this option. Your doctor may recommend the use of birth control pills, anti-androgen medication, or topical creams.

Note that hair removal procedures only treat the symptom and not the root cause of hirsutism—which is hormonal imbalance in post-menopausal women. If you’re looking for more permanent solution then hormonal management might just be what you’re looking for.

Hair removal is a laborious option. Some doctors may recommend them but only as a follow up or supporting treatment.

To treat the root cause of the problem, your doctor may prescribe hormone management. However, that procedure may require you to take androgen medications and combine that with birth control pills.

Note that the use of oral contraceptives is one of the most prescribed treatment options. However, it does come with side effects such as heart burn, dry skin, and fatigue.

If you want to avoid these side effects then your best option is to use estrogen creams.

Some may recommend topical creams like Eflornithine, which is sold under the brand name Vaniqa. Note that this drug doesn’t remove or reduce facial hair but it just slows down their growth.

It is not recommended for younger people. Observed side effects of this drug include swelling, redness of the skin, tingling sensations, stinging, and burning feelings on the skin.

This is not the case for an estrogen cream for facial hair. It is a medication that contains the female hormone and it is given to menopausal women or for post menopause treatment.

Note that this medication should not be used with progestin. This combination will increase your risk for dementia, stroke, ovarian cancer, and blood clotting.

However, when used for removing facial hair, estrogen creams appear to be safe. In fact, they can be quite effective for treating hirsutism (i.e. abnormal hair growth).

This is due to the fact that there are more estrogen receptors in the face than there are in a woman’s thigh or breast. Other than removing unwanted facial hair, estrogen creams also improves skin thickness and reduces wrinkles.