What Are the Causes of Unwanted Facial Hair?
Excessive, unwanted facial hair in women has its own medical term. Hirsuitism is used to describe a condition in which women experience male-pattern growth of coarse, dark hair, says the Mayo Clinic. Unwanted facial hair is a symptom of hirsutism, but hair can also be present in other parts of the body as well, such as the chest and back. According to a June 2003 article in the “American Family Physician,” hirsutism in women is common, affecting some 8 percent of the female population. High levels of androgen, a male sex hormone, accounts for 50 percent of women with mild hirsutism, but severe hirsutism is almost always due to high androgen levels, says the Mayo Clinic.
