The Secret No Midlife Woman Will Share
It’s so terrifying that one generation of women rarely prepares the next. You may be safe today, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? I’m talking about women, menopause and HAIR.
Menopause does strange and unanticipated things to one’s body. Some women lose hair, and some gain it — in very odd locations.
Why does this happen? Well, when one’s hormone levels fluctuate, secondary sex characteristics come to the fore. The renowned Mayo Clinic says this:
Although your estrogen level drops, your body continues to produce small amounts of the male hormone testosterone. As a result, you may develop coarse hair on your chin, upper lip, chest and abdomen.
These menopausal effects can be disturbing to women, yet the problem is never front and center in resources about menopause. That’s why I’m here!
Ways to treat unwanted hair:
- Tweezing, shaving, bleaching, depillatories, waxing, electrolysis and laser
Info on Hair Loss and Unwanted Facial Hair
Facial Hair Growth After Menopause
July 17th, 2007 at 10:22 am
That’s why along with my monthly hairdressing appointment to get my hair back to it’s beautiful chestnut sheen (grin)…I also schedule an appointment for her to wax my brows and upper lip…so far…no problems elsewhere…yet
. BTW…do you mind telling me how you get your ’share this’ buttons on your posts? I have seen them on other blogs but yours are nice and simple and do detract from what you have written.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Ah, so THAT’s your beauty secret. Those Share ‘This’ buttons are from a WordPress plug-in called Sociable. http://sourceforge.net/projects/sociable
July 17th, 2007 at 11:08 am
And let’s not even talk about hair elsewhere!
Man, those 35 symptoms are HARSH! It’s a wonder you don’t hear about menopausal women killing people left and right!
July 17th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I was so not aware of this. Something else to look forward to.
July 17th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Janet: I can guess where you mean.
Midlife: Weird, huh? Who would have expected this.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
And men can’t grow wanted hair. Silly world.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Anvil: Totally!
July 17th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Let’s just say the Kay gives herself a spa day once in a while.
July 17th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I have less hair everywhere except on my face!
July 17th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
I guess that explains the long hairs growing out of my nose and ears.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
I’ve already gone through the change and, oh yes, it does bring an increase in hair. Annoying! I get tired of the waxing but really dislike the hair that much. Otherwise, you know, I’d probably ignore it.
Plucking it.. I don’t have the patience.
Peace,
~Chani
July 17th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
And it’s ironic too that blokes lose their hair on their head and start sprouting it every other orifice – well maybe not every, but certainly nose and ears
July 17th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I have sympathy for women who go through this, but of course that isn’t one of my curses.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Hair…oh dear…the dilemmas this stuff brings on. Just when we thought we had it tamed it rares its ugly head in a new form.
Considering the current wave of natural remedies, is there anything we can eat that will make it fall out…not ALL of it…just SOME of it?
July 18th, 2007 at 6:22 am
Thank you, Rhea, for looking at this subject. I pluck my chin but hadn’t – until a friend mentioned it! – even thought about my upper lip. I’m thinking about trying bleaching. Have any of your readers tried that? Any unpleasant effects?
July 18th, 2007 at 8:21 am
I tried bleach when I was teenager. It burned a little and smelled bad. Maybe these days it’s new and improved.
July 20th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
I get one long gray hair that suddenly grows from my earlobe from time to time. It is truly weird.
Rhea – I’m glad to see you’re real. You left a comment on my blog asking for a link to it, but didn’t say anything about the post you left the comment on. That always sends up a red flag for me and I immediately delete the comment so that if it’s a spammer or a hacker, my other readers won’t click on the link. And of course, I don’t click on it either.
But I’ve seen you around on some of my regular blog-reads, making real comments, so I thought I’d check you out. I’m barely a boomer (1962) but if you would like to include me, that would be fine with me!
August 21st, 2007 at 2:44 am
My hair has suddenly gone dank,thin and lifeless !!! any suggestions???? I’m due to go to the haridresser soon.
September 8th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Just when your vision goes bad, you grow hairs on your chin that you can’t see– but others can. I remember an otherwise stylish boss who had one or two long schin hairs growing. I always wondered why she didn’t pluck them. Now I know she couldn’t see them. :>)