Can Threading Get Rid of Facial Hair?

There are several ways to remove unwanted facial hair. One of the ways that have become popular over the past decade in the West to remove facial hair has been threading.

Does threading work to get rid of facial hair?

So, threading DOES work to remove facial hair. However, there are several factors you must be aware of if you go down this route.

Is Facial Hair really a Problem?

Excessive facial hair becomes a problem if it is causing you to be self-conscious about your appearance. If this is the case, you will probably decide that your unwanted facial hair needs to be removed to restore your confidence.

Male and Female Facial Hair

Men and women share the same problem. But for women, having excessive facial hair, especially in places associated with masculine hair growth, may be highly undesirable. Some of these places may be the upper and lower lip and sideburns. It is usually caused by either hereditary or hormonal factors.

Causes of excessive hair: hereditary or hormonal.

There are two causes for excessive hair growth on your face or other body parts, e.g., arms, chest, and back. It is either hereditary or hormonal.

Hereditary Factors of Facial Hair Growth

Hereditary factors are traits you are born with, i.e., your excessive hair growth is normal for people from your family.

Hormonal Factors of Facial Hair Growth

Hormonal factors, on the other hand, are triggered by drastic changes inside your body, e.g., ovaries or adrenal glands, resulting in hormonal imbalance. This may need the attention of a doctor.

In cases where excessive hair growth is caused by hormonal imbalance, your doctor must determine what is causing the imbalance.

In women approaching menopause, hair growth often happens due to the lack of estrogen (a.k.a. the female hormone). Estrogen is primarily produced in the ovaries.

During menopause and perimenopause, the ovaries produce less and less estrogen, and often in an irregular pattern. This results in a hormonal imbalance where androgen (male hormones) activity becomes stronger, often resulting in masculine hair growths and causing this excess and unwanted hair.

Important Warning About Hormonal Imbalance

If the hormonal imbalance is being caused by certain obstructions, then immediate action needs to be taken to deal with the obstructions. This may be growths or tumors in the ovaries or adrenal glands. Your excessive and unwanted facial hair is just a symptom of a more severe problem.

If your excessive facial hair is hereditary, either you live with it or get rid of it. Getting rid of it changes your outward appearance but will not change who you are by birth. Hair Removal is a decision you make to look better and feel better about your appearance. Or to satisfy your need for approval from friends and peers.

There are (at least) 6 popular methods to get rid of facial hair:

Shaving Facial Hair

Shaving is easy, practical, and very affordable. It involves a metal blade that cuts hair growth off of your skin. It can be done regularly with a great deal of success. The only risk associated with shaving is nicking or cutting your skin, which would expose you to infection.

Waxing Facial Hair

Waxing uses an adhesive (wax) applied on the patch of skin where the hair is to be removed. Before the adhesive dries up and completely hardens, it is pulled from the surface with another medium (e.g., paper or cloth), pulling out the unwanted hair. Waxing is a semi-permanent method of hair removal.

Threading for Facial Hair Removal

Threading involves the use of the manipulation of cotton threads to pull out facial hair from the skin.

Plucking Facial Hair

Plucking often involves the use of tweezers. It is also practical and very inexpensive, you can do it at home, and all you need are a pair of finger-operated tweezers.

Plucking is time-consuming since you need to uproot individual hair strands, one at a time. Also, it is painful. There is the problem of the hair strand breaking without getting uprooted, which could result in ingrowth.

Chemicals (depilatories)

Depilatories often come in cream. The cream is applied to the unwanted hair, and it dissolves the hair. Its action is limited only to the segment of hair growing above the skin, so hair regrowth appears 1 – 3 days afterward.

Laser (permanent) Hair Removal

Three laser treatment methods are considered permanent, including laser, IPL, and electrolytes. These methods attack the root or follicle growth and disable it, limiting hair growth to a very minimal and unnoticeable level.

Threading and how it is done.

Although threading has gained particular popularity over the past few decades, it is an ancient practice that originated in Turkey, India, and the Middle East. Women have been using this age-old method of removing unwanted hair for thousands of years before the practice was first known in the Western World in the 1980s.

Threading is a method of removing facial hair using a length of cotton thread (e.g., 2 – 3 ft) tied together at the ends to form a loop. The loop is held in tension by both hands and twisted several times. This creates a single twisted segment at the center of the loop. This then forms a sideways figure 8 (or infinity symbol.

This twisted segment slides left to right as the loop is manipulated on each side by the thumb and forefingers of the threading technician. This is similar to the open-close action of the thumb and forefinger when using scissors.

Sometimes the threading technician uses her/his mouth to hold the other end of the loop.

When the technician opens her right thumb and forefinger, the twisted segment (cutter) slides left. When she opens her left thumb and forefinger, the twisted part (cutter) slides right. When the technician passes (rolls) the twisted segment over hair strands, the hair strands get caught and get intertwined with the thread, yanking them off the skin.

This twisted segment pulls strands of hair from its follicles in quick action as it moves left to right or right to left. The threading technician guides the loop of thread carefully over your skin. In this way, he will remove line after line of hair until all the unwanted hair is removed or the desired shape is achieved.

Threading is one of the safest natural ways to eliminate unwanted facial hair.

Threading does not use chemicals. Many of the store-bought and salon-recommended wax treatments for hair removal contain chemicals that may harm sensitive skin and may be bad for your health. Also, these chemicals might trigger allergic reactions to your skin.
Threading is 100% all-natural, and the possibility of adverse or allergic reactions is quite remote.
Threading is ideal for sensitive skin. Your skin may not only react to the chemicals in the wax but also to the general pulling action involved in waxing. Waxing involves using sticky adhesive (wax) on the area of your skin where the hair is to be removed. If you have thin, sensitive skin, removing the adhesive wax on your skin may remove a layer of skin or irritate it. This could expose your skin to infections.
Although your skin is also touched during threading, only the hair is pulled and not any part of the skin.
Threading lasts a long time. Because of the complete removal of the hair follicles in threading, it takes longer for new growth to appear. Depending on your skin type or other factors, it usually takes 3 – 4 weeks before hair starts regrowing.
Aside from effectively removing facial hair from its follicles, threading naturally exfoliates the skin surrounding the hair strands through the rolling action of the twisted segment of the thread. The topmost layer of your skin is also cleared of dead cells and cleaned.

Disadvantages of threading.

Threading takes skill. Threading is an age-old tradition that is learned through lots of training and experience. It isn’t straightforward to do threading on your own, in the privacy of your home. Although threading is a very efficient natural way of removing unwanted facial hair, it isn’t that easy. It may look easy, but only because threading technicians are highly trained in the art. Don’t try threading your eyebrows at home if you have no training. You might end up ruining them!
Threading requires the skilled hands of a trained technician to be done right, so you have to spend more. This counteracts the inexpensive nature of threading, as it only requires a length of thread to be able to accomplish. But if you think you have the patience and talent to learn to thread, you can go for it. But even then, it’s best to have a skilled technician or practitioner to guide you.
Threading may cause pain and redness. The experience of pain during threading depends on your tolerance for pain. You may experience slight or sharp nipping sensations as your facial hair is yanked from your skin, but that’s about all the pain you’ll experience. The level of intensity of the pain doesn’t increase. Some women say they experience more pain in threading than in waxing. Still, others say the opposite.
Threading will cause redness in the surrounding area where hair was plucked out. This is a normal skin reaction. The redness (sometimes also swelling) will subside in a matter of minutes or hours, depending on your skin’s response. Applying cold creams or ice packs helps ease the redness and swelling.
Threading can be used only in small areas. This is one general disadvantage of threading. Threading is not such an efficient method if you want to get rid of unwanted hair on your legs or all over your body. It removes hair line-by-line, unlike waxing, which can remove unwanted hair from large areas at a time.
Threading is slow. Threading is not recommended if you are in a hurry. Unless you are an expert, threading should be done carefully and precisely, which is hard to do if you are on the go, running late, or under pressure. Threading is not time-efficient. Your threading technician needs to be sure that every line of hair growth has been passed and that no line has been overlooked. This will also ensure that your hair regrowth will come out evenly.
It causes ingrowth. An ingrown hair often results in hair that is not completely pulled out. This will appear as red pimple-like bumps on the skin, where the hair grows sideways or curls inside. If done right, however, threading will not cause ingrowths. But, there is a certain length of hair that is necessary for hair not to break and be plucked out completely by threading, i.e., there is a certain waiting period before which it is not advisable to thread; otherwise, you run the risk of incomplete pulling which may result in ingrowth.
It is not permanent. Threading is only a semi-permanent hair removal method. It uproots your hair strands right down to the hair follicles, but it doesn’t kill the hair roots. This is the reason your unwanted facial hairs will still grow back. Though they may grow finer (according to some hair experts), they will still grow back.

So, can threading get rid of facial hair?

Yes, but not permanently.

The only way to get rid of unwanted hair forever is to undergo the more expensive hair removal methods, like a laser, IPL (Intense Pulsed Light), or electrolysis. These are labeled ‘permanent’ compared to threading because of the minimal occurrence of hair regrowth in areas where they are applied.

Can threading get rid of facial hair?

In conclusion, there is no permanent way to eliminate facial hair completely. Threading can get rid of facial hair, but not permanently. It can get rid of facial hair for a while, long enough for you not to worry about its regrowth too much.

This is good enough for many of us.

This is the reason why threading has gained popularity as a method of getting rid of unwanted facial hair:

It is all-natural, it is efficient, it lasts, and it is safe.

SUMMARY:

Unwanted facial hair is a problem that both men and women face because it makes them self-conscious of their appearance.
Threading, as a method of hair removal, has grown in popularity in the past decade or so in the West.
Two major causes behind excessive and unwanted hair growth are hereditary and hormonal.
There are at least six methods to get rid of facial hair: shaving, waxing, threading, plucking, depilatory cream, and laser (permanent).
Threading is an ancient method of hair removal using cotton thread that is looped and twisted and passed over facial hair to remove them.
Threading is not only 100% natural but also one of the safest methods to get rid of facial hair.
There are disadvantages associated with threading, being an age-old method of hair removal, but these disadvantages can be easily overcome.
Threading can get rid of facial hair, but not permanently.
Threading should be done when the facial hair reaches a particular length for the pulling to be complete and avoid ingrowth.
There is no permanent way to remove facial hair completely, but only to minimize its apparent visible growth.

Menopause and Body Hair

Menopause is a time in a woman’s life where inevitable changes are happening to her body. One of her main superpowers of giving birth to a baby is about to be taken away. And it affects her. It affects her physiologically, psychologically, emotionally, and physically. The changes that take place inside her body also manifest themselves outwardly affecting her appearance, including her skin and hair.

When women reach a certain age, they enter their menopause.

It is important for a woman to understand what menopause is and what changes it may bring, so she can face it with confidence: To see it as a new phase in her life that brings new possibilities, new challenges, new opportunities, as well as new blessings. Menopause need not be feared or dreaded, albeit a really difficult phase, but welcomed, as you arm yourself with the knowledge of what it is and where it will take you.

What is menopause?

Menopause is the season in a woman’s life after she has had her last and final menstruation. There is some subjectivity to it since you can only tell if a monthly period was your last one if you no longer have another after that. However, menopause may be viewed in retrospect as the last monthly period you had in the last 12 months. The interval (12 months) between your last menstruation and the determination of menopause is part of a longer phase usually referred to as perimenopause.

There is the menopause and the perimenopause stages

Perimenopause or transition menopause is an extended phase that begins when a woman is somewhere in her 40s. It extends up until the last two years (including the 12 month interval) before she reaches menopause, usually in her 50s. It’s a long season when your body starts to slow down, particularly in its reproductive capacity. However, in the last year or two of perimenopause, you may begin to experience the outward changes associated with menopause with more consistency. The most significant being your long period of amenorrhea (absence of menstruation).

What happens inside your body during menopause.

A woman’s body slows down somewhere in her 40s. During this period her ovaries begin to produce estrogen in an irregular manner, particularly in terms of its frequency and intensity. This means either your monthly periods become fewer and far between or they vary in the strength and the amount of shedding (menstruation).

The role of estrogen and progesterone in the reproductive cycle.

Estrogen is the female hormone largely responsible for your ovary’s releasing of an egg cell during ovulation. Progesterone, another female hormone, follows suit and prepares the uterine lining for possible egg fertilization and pregnancy. During this stage, when the lining of the uterine wall thickens, estrogen levels are low. This prevents eggs from being untimely produced and released by your ovaries.

When fertilization occurs, progesterone will continue to support the maintenance of the uterine wall as well as the development of the placenta; progesterone preserves the integrity of the uterine lining and prevents shedding during pregnancy. Estrogen, on the other hand, stimulates growth in the breasts and stimulates milk production in preparation for child birth and breast feeding.

Progesterone prepares the uterine lining for possible egg fertilization and pregnancy.

When no fertilization occurs, progesterone level drops and the lining of the uterine wall and the blood break down and are shed. This is the start of menstruation. At this point, the woman’s ovaries are gearing up (anew) for the next cycle of ovulation. At the proper time, estrogen levels will once again peak signalling the ovaries to release an egg. This, basically, is the normal reproductive cycle of a woman.

This is how crucial the balance between estrogen and progesterone is in a woman’s reproductive cycle. Estrogen largely dominates the first half of a woman’s reproductive cycle; while progesterone does the latter, in non-pregnant women. Generally speaking. Many serious health issues result when an imbalance in estrogen and progesterone levels prevails. But during menopause, estrogen production significantly drops. This drop in estrogen not only affects your reproductive cycle, but other functions as well.

Estrogen is also responsible for the maintenance and support of other body functions, including:

1) Female phenotype structure. This distinguishes a woman from a man in stature and physical development. A woman’s bones are generally smaller and shorter than a man’s. A woman’s body normally has wider hips and thighs. Also, the voice box develops narrower to produce a distinctly female voice. Girls develop mature female breasts. This is largely due to the predominance of estrogen.

2) Fat storage. Estrogen controls and coordinates where women are most likely to store their fats. This is why a woman’s hips grow wider than a man’s.

3) Skin condition. During menstruation, when a woman’s estrogen level is low, the dermis (middle layer of the skin) becomes thinner. Also, estrogen is known to suppress sebum production (oil secretions), which makes a woman’s skin less oily than a man’s. This is the reason it is less likely for females to develop acne.

4) Hair quality. Women have finer hair than men, and the hair on their heads are more permanent than in men.

5) Also, generally, estrogen helps maintain brain function, bone strength, energy balance, and heart health.

Increase in androgen in menopause.

The significant drop in estrogen production during menopause also seriously affects these bodily functions. This drop in estrogen is responsible for many of the symptoms associated with menopause, including hot flashes, night sweats, and weight gain. It also accounts for the proportional increase of androgen levels in the bloodstream. Androgen is often referred to as the male hormone. Women may not be aware, but their ovaries also produce androgen.

Sex drive and libido.

The science behind the relationship in the decrease in estrogen and increase (in proportion) of androgen is a bit confusing and a little tricky. Some say that if this is the case, i.e. that there is proportional increase in androgen during menopause, why is it that a woman’s sex drive or libido diminishes? Isn’t androgen (e.g. testosterone) responsible for strong sex drive and libido? But general observation abounds that during menopause, there is a decrease in the sex drive and libido of women. This much is clear: menopause diminishes a woman’s libido and desire for sex.

Older people still make love and have sex. However the libido does reduce with age.

One of the reasons, it is suspected, has nothing to do with the interaction of estrogen and androgen; but has everything to do with the cessation of progesterone production in menopause. One of the roles of progesterone, it is believed, is to promote sexual desire in women. Also, it is believed that progesterone is actively involved in the sexual fulfillment of men. But another reason associated with the lack of sexual desire in women is the thinning and dryness of the vaginal walls associated with menopause; which makes sexual contact uncomfortable. This directly relates to the significant decrease of estrogen, since estrogen is largely responsible for keeping the vaginal walls thick, lubricated, and elastic.

Menopause and body hair.

The significant decrease in the production of estrogen is also seen outwardly in the loss of hair. This is because estrogen is responsible for hair growth, and hair follicle maintenance.

1) The hair on your head.

You may have observed your hair thinning out or falling as you take a bath or comb your hair. Also, you may have noticed more of your scalp showing as you look in the mirror. In some instances, women have experienced localized baldness beginning to set in near the hairline or at the top. There are two causes why your hair thins out all over.

One is that, estrogen deficiency causes a weakening of your hair follicles. It is estrogen that stimulates the nourishment and growth of your hair follicles. When this fails, your hair follicles weaken and eventually some of them die, causing hair loss. Another reason is: when estrogen level drops, androgen can still stimulate new hair growth; but the hair quality is inferior, not as thick and strong as the female phenotype hair, and easily falls off.

The proportional increase of androgen is also largely responsible for the occurrence of localized baldness in some menopausal women. Androgen dominance is something women share with men who experience baldness beginning near their hairline or on the crown of their head towards their temples. In many cases, this is also associated with terminal hair growth in menopausal women.

2) Armpit and pubic hair.

Armpit and pubic hair is another area affected (positive?) by the drop in estrogen. Armpit and pubic hair is strictly regulated. Their growth is controlled, in that their length has limits. But during menopause, some women’s armpit hair have completely vanished. The shave (wax) and regrow cycle has all but completely stopped. The absence of armpit hair you experience is similar to your pre-puberty days. On the other hand, it is common experience for menopausal women for the strands of their pubic hair to become thinner and more diffuse or sparse; though majority would have nothing left completely in more elderly (post-menopausal) years.

3) Body hair.

Body hair is less obvious in women, generally, than in other parts where terminal hair grow more distinctly, e.g., armpits and pubis. The loss and thinning out of body hair seems to be a result of ageing in general than it is of estrogen deficiency in particular; although both are the main contributory factors. As the body grows older, there is poorer circulation of blood and nutrients around the skin.

Androgen and masculine hair growth.

If you have observed masculine hair growth in certain parts of your body (viz. your face) during menopause, it’s most probably caused by the proportional increase of your androgen levels. You may have observed it under your chin, or you may have noticed you’ve grown a thin mustache, or some sideburns. Androgen are the main cause why men grow mustaches and have goatees; and why some men have sideburns and all.

Now that your estrogen levels are low, your androgen are showing signs in places where they are welcome. As nature has it, you were made to (also) receive androgen influence in those areas; but were prevented to because of the dominance (before) of your estrogen. But now that your estrogen has become latent and largely inactive, the androgen your ovary produces are exerting their influence.

Recommended treatment for menopause and body hair loss.

If any of this — hair loss and masculine hair growth — begin to bother you; you should talk to your health care provider or doctor. They should have a better understanding of the science behind menopause and body hair loss and masculine hair growth. They would be more qualified to recommend remedies or treatments to help you overcome specific issues. Also, they should be able to rule out other probable causes of body hair loss and hair growth not related to menopause.

1) Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is often recommended, but caution is advised in this course of action for its side effects, e.g. swelling of breasts, headaches, nausea, and vaginal bleeding. HRT is usually a combination of estrogen and progestin, and is designed to supply the hormonal balance to alleviate the symptoms of menopause and body hair loss. ERT (estrogen replacement therapy) on the other hand, is HRT that consists only of estrogen. Estrogen stimulates hair growth.

2) Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment. In PRP, blood is taken from your scalp and injected in areas where there is an absence of hair growth. The plasma that contains the growth factor in your blood is used to stimulate hair growth.

Have a positive outlook.

The outward changes often associated with menopause can have a psychological impact on women. Understanding the changes that happen inside your body should help you face the difficulties and challenges with confidence. Also, many of the inner struggles women face during menopause can be overcome with a positive outlook in life.

Live a healthy lifestyle.

Eat a balanced diet. Whatever diet plan you follow, choose health promoting foods.

Exercise regularly. This helps your blood circulate and your joints flexible.

Get enough sleep. Stop worrying too much, if you do. It doesn’t help.

Laugh. Go out with friends. No matter how old you are, you’re never old enough to laugh.

Travel. Travel while you still have strength in your bones. Seeing new places is refreshing and good for your soul.

Play with your grandchildren. They add a dimension of youth to you, and give a spark of daily happiness.

Believe. Have faith and live your life to the full.

Menopause has its difficulties and challenges. That’s why understanding how it works is important, because it frees you from fear of facing it. Embrace it. Menopause need not hinder you from living a rich and meaningful life.

Tag: Estrogen