Like a lot of Ladies of a certain age I have been a bit bothered by the extra hair I seem to have inherited with my menopause! I have been trying to find out what the best way of dealing with this would be and this is what I found out.

Shaving, threading, waxing, using depilatory creams, electrolysis and laser epilation or photo-epilation do not exacerbate hair growth and are effective, at least in the short-term.

•Shaving: Removes all hairs superficially but regrowth produces a rough stubble. Most women prefer not to shave facial hair.

•Chemical depilation may be suited to treatment of large hairy areas in patients unable to afford more expensive treatments such as electrolysis and laser epilation.

•Temporary epilation:

Plucking: May result in irritation, damage to the hair follicle, folliculitis, hyperpigmentation, and scarring.

Waxing: Painful and sometimes results in folliculitis. With repeated treatments it may reduce the number of hairs permanently.

Home epilating devices that remove hair by rotation or friction: May produce traumatic folliculitis.

Permanent epilation with Electrolysis and thermolysis:

Thermolysis (diathermy) is much faster than the traditional electrolysis method.

Electrolysis and thermolysis can be used on all skin and hair colours, but they require multiple treatments and the results very much depend on the skill of the operator. These treatments can be uncomfortable and may produce folliculitis and post-inflammatory pigmentary changes in the skin.

◦Laser epilation can treat larger areas faster than electrolysis and thermolysis and is most effective on dark hairs in fair-skinned people and multiple treatments may be necessary for long-term hair destruction.
Again, Folliculitis, discomfort and pigmentary changes may occur.

So far, systematic reviews of randomised trials of systemic treatments for hirsutism found that the following drugs were effective: metformin, finasteride, oral contraceptive pills, thiazolidinediones, cyproterone acetate and ethinylestradiol in combination, spironolactone, and flutamide. However a systematic review of trials of insulin sensitisers concluded that this group of drugs is of limited use as sole treatment for hirsutism.

If you have this problem severely or it is really bugging you go and talk over your options with your doctor.