Chin hair in women: causes and what to do

Two kinds of hair grow on a woman's chin. Vellus hair is light, fine, almost invisible; it covers the whole face and everyone has it. Terminal hair is dark, coarse and grows from a deeper follicle. One or two such hairs on the chin are common in a great many women: as Cleveland Clinic explains, androgens are what turn vellus hair into terminal hair, and how sensitive the follicles are to them is set genetically, higher on the chin in some people.

It is a different matter when vellus hair turns terminal on a large scale. The NHS calls it hirsutism when a woman has thick dark hair on the face, neck, chest, tummy, lower back, buttocks or thighs, and advises seeing a GP about it. It advises an urgent GP appointment if such hair suddenly starts growing, your voice is getting lower or your muscles are getting bigger. The reasons to see a doctor are below. Why brows and the skin around the eye are never lasered is covered separately: lasers and eyebrows.

• The amount of chin hair has visibly increased over a few months, and it has darkened and coarsened.
• Hair has also appeared on the cheeks, neck, chest, stomach or around the nipples.
• At the same time your cycle became irregular, acne appeared or your hair is thinning.
• Urgent: the hair started growing suddenly, your voice has deepened or your muscles are getting bigger.

Sources: NHS, hirsutism, Cleveland Clinic, vellus hair

The cause is looked for in the balance of hormones and in how sensitive the follicles are. The most common one is polycystic ovary syndrome, which the NHS now calls PMOS: alongside excess hair growth it brings irregular periods, acne and difficulty with weight. Less often the cause is the thyroid, the adrenal glands, or medication: hormonal drugs, steroids, some epilepsy treatments.

In some women, though, the tests come back normal and the hair still grows. That is called idiopathic hirsutism: the hormones are fine, the follicles on the chin simply respond to them more strongly than usual. Perimenopause and menopause are a story of their own: oestrogen falls, the balance of hormones shifts, and chin hair appears in women who never had it. The same happens after childbirth, while the hormonal background returns to normal.

Hormonal growth and what to do when you already have a diagnosis is covered in laser hair removal for hirsutism and PCOS.

Sources: NHS, PMOS (formerly PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome)

If the growth has increased, start with an endocrinologist or a gynaecologist rather than a beautician. They usually look at the level of male hormones, above all total and free testosterone, and from there check the thyroid, prolactin and adrenal hormones as needed. The NHS says a GP may order a blood test to measure your hormone levels. The Endocrine Society guideline adds detail: it suggests testing androgen levels in every woman with a high hirsutism score, while for regular periods and a few isolated chin hairs it suggests against routine testing.

One thing matters here: laser and tests are not alternatives. The doctor looks for the cause and, if needed, prescribes treatment that stops new growth, while laser removes the hair that has already grown. Either one alone works less well.

Sources: NHS, hirsutism, Endocrine Society, hirsutism

The most common tactic with chin hair is to pull it out with tweezers. In the short term it works; in the long term it creates three problems:

So for 3-4 weeks before a laser session, tweezers, wax and threading are out completely. If the hair is in the way it can be trimmed with scissors or shaved, but on the face we do not ask for that: the specialist will look and shorten the hair if needed. Shaving and the myth that it makes hair coarser have an article of their own: does shaving make hair grow back thicker.

• The hair is pulled out by the root, the follicle is injured, and the new hair often grows crooked and ingrows. Ingrown hairs on the chin are one of the most frequent complaints, and they usually follow tweezing.
• Repeatedly injuring the follicle keeps inflammation going, and on the face that shows.
• After tweezing there is nothing for the laser to treat: it reaches the follicle along the hair itself, and with no root the pulse goes to waste.

Laser destroys the follicle through the pigment in the hair, so it works best on dark coarse hair, exactly the kind that bothers people on the chin. Light, red and grey hair is almost invisible to the laser: there is little melanin in it, and Cleveland Clinic lists these as the types laser works poorly on. If grey hairs have already appeared on your chin, laser will not remove them: electrolysis exists for those. More in laser hair removal for light and grey hair.

How many sessions. For the face the guide is 6-10, but the spread on the chin is wider than on the body: the area is hormone-driven. If hormones are the cause, it usually takes 12 sessions or more, and then maintenance three or four times a year, because the hormonal background keeps waking new follicles. If hormones are normal, the course runs like any other area and maintenance once or twice a year is enough.

The chin is almost always done together with the upper lip: the areas are next to each other, the hair behaves the same way, and there is no sense in coming twice. We wrote about the upper lip separately in upper lip laser hair removal.

Sources: Cleveland Clinic, laser hair removal

The area is small, few pulses are needed and the session takes a matter of minutes. Facial skin is thinner and more sensitive than on the body, but contact cooling of the handpiece takes away most of the discomfort: usually it is brief heat and a light sting. The eyes are covered with protective goggles, which is mandatory for any session on the face.

What the specialist will ask before your first session: whether you have had cold sores (Cleveland Clinic lists a tendency to cold sores on the lips among the reasons a session may not be advised without a doctor), whether you take medication that increases light sensitivity, whether you have a tan, moles in the area and a hormonal diagnosis. After the session, skip make-up on the treated spot for a day, avoid strong sun for two weeks and use SPF, because the face is always exposed.

Sources: Cleveland Clinic, laser hair removal, American Academy of Dermatology, FAQ

The chin is noticed most often, but hair also grows above the upper lip, along the jawline, on the cheeks and on the neck. When the cause is hormonal it appears in several places at once, and the chin is simply seen first.

The upper lip is the most common and the most stubborn zone: the hair there is fine, grows under hormones and returns more persistently than on the legs. We cover it separately.

The brows and the skin around the eyes are a place where a laser is not used at all, it is too close to the eye. There is a separate text about that too.

Light and grey hair stays invisible to a laser wherever it grows: it reacts to pigment, and there is almost none in it.

The chin is a separate area with us, from 450 CZK per session, often together with the upper lip in one visit. At the consultation we look at your hair: dark and coarse goes into a course, light and grey we advise against. You do not need to shave before a facial appointment, come as you are; the main thing is no tweezers and no wax for 3-4 weeks. If the growth increased suddenly or it is clear that hormones are behind it, we suggest seeing an endocrinologist alongside: we remove the hair, the doctor looks for the cause.