PCOS Is Not My Friend: The Hairy Stuff

The PCOS saga continues: this time focusing on the fairly hairy (oh ha!) subject of body hair. One would think that having a whacked-out cycle and a tendency to put on weight like nobody's business would be as awful as it gets, but no. It's not. Another common symptom of PCOS that I have found myself suffering from is excess hair growth.

{Image source here}

When I was on the pill, I didn't really have any noticeable problems with body hair. I have fair skin and fair hair for the most part, and I didn't have anything to complain about. It wasn't until I stopped using the birth control pill that things went a little haywire; obviously the shift in hormones was to thank for that.

I began noticing that my leg hairs grew back seemingly thicker and darker after shaving, and at a faster rate than before. I started paying more attention to the fuzzy blonde hairs that were on my cheeks {I like to call them my mini-sideburns.} I saw hairs that had started growing on my belly. I began playing with the hairs that had sprouted out of my chin and neck, without even realising I was doing it. I remember Jase calling me out on it for the first time, and feeling absolutely mortified. How long had I been doing that for? Was I drawing people's attention to my lady-beard? Was it noticeable? I began constantly examining my face in the mirror & wondering what to do next.

The hair growth started off fairly mild. But as I'd began plucking them out, they grew in quite coarse and again, seemed darker. I've never waxed any part of my body before {let's not talk about my one ill-fated home waxing strip experiment, remember that one?} and I was petrified of taking any step that would result in me having to constantly remove the hair for the rest of my life. I'm a low maintenance kind of girl.

It took me a while to figure out what to do, but I eventually went with a hair removal cream, which worked out quite well. I use it sparingly on my chin, and it helps get rid of the nastier dark hairs - I only do it every couple of weeks, and it makes my self confidence soar afterwards! There's not much I can do about the hairs, to be honest - much like acne, it's hormonal and will probably settle back down again if I were to go back on birth control.

But, thanks to the never ending random cycle of annoyance that is PCOS, I'm trying to avoid being back on those for the moment, to monitor my natural cycle and to eventually figure out the best way to conceive.

Boo to the hairyness!

And it doesn't even stop there. Unfortunately, as I've found out for myself, women with PCOS are prone to ingrown hairs, due to the coarser hair that grows on our bodies. That explains why I've suffered from more of those in the last few months than I can ever remember. They're painful and they're gross and I hate them.

Now, I should add here that I also suffer from a different dermatological problem that I've had for as long as I can remember; I'm fairly sure it's hereditary, as my dad has always had it too. It's called keratosis pelaris and it's basically a skin condition that presents itself as lots of dry, lumpy spots all over the back of my arms and my upper thighs. It's one of the reasons why I have issues with my arms, because those bumps often lead to pimples which lead to redness and scarring. Add in the pre-disposition to suffer from ingrown hairs, and it's not a pretty sight.

I have scarring on my arms, on my upper thighs and on the inside of my knees. I exfoliate all the time, especially since I shave my legs - but it doesn't seem to help. I've read somewhere that tea tree oil can help with ingrown hairs, so I may try this next. I've never been a skin baring kind of girl, but it's still hard not to feel embarrassed by all the marks and wobbles and other quirks that I've discovered as I've gotten older - and I haven't even gone through the pregnancy stage yet! But it's the only body I've got, so I'm learning to love it anyway.

Looking back, these posts do appear to be all about me complaining and whinging about the problems I'm facing - but let's face it, this syndrome sucks. I'm hoping there will be more positive outcomes as the months progress, depending on how things go with diet changes in particular. But for the meantime, this series is documenting how I'm feeling right now, which I think is important. Thanks for following along with me, I appreciate you letting me vent it out.