Does Aloe Vera Help With Hirsutism Symptoms?
Aloe vera is widely known for its healing properties, but it can it help with the symptoms of hirsutism? The answer is yes, it can. It doesn’t prevent the hair growth. It can help to smooth out the underlying skin, help wrinkles, and moisturize, which can reduce the appearance of excess hair.
What Is Hirsutism?
Hirsutism is often caused by a hormonal imbalance. This often means that there is a higher level of “male” hormones in a woman’s body than is needed. Symptoms of hirsutism include male pattern hair growth, acne, oily skin, and a deepening voice. In most cases, there is an underlying cause, such as PCOS, or a tumor, however, there are cases of idiopathic hirsutism, which means that there is no cause that could be identified.
Depending on the underlying cause, some cases of hirsutism can be treated with medications, however, many women find that they need to use hair removal methods to deal with the excess hair on the face, abdomen, shoulders and back. Hair removal can be expensive, and painful depending on the method you chose. It’s always a good idea to find a gentle, soothing skin care routine for after hair removal.
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is a plant that originated from the Arabian peninsula. It’s an evergreen succulent, and grows widely in tropical climates. It can be successfully potted and raised indoors. It’s used in many cosmetic and skin care products, because of its healing and moisturizing properties.
Aloe Vera and Hirsutism
The excess hair caused by hirsutism can be removed using traditional hair removal methods, but these can be damaging to the skin.
Shaving is one of the least expensive ways to remove excess hair from the body, but it is also very damaging. Men shave almost daily. Their facial skin is thicker than a woman’s facial skin, but even they can suffer from aftereffects of shaving. Women need to be especially careful if shaving facial hair.
Shaving can cause ingrown hairs, lumps, bumps, and razor burn. Razor burn is red, sore and irritating on the skin. Ingrown hairs can become infected. Aloe vera can calm, cool and soothe these irritations. Using an aloe vera balm after shaving can be very beneficial and refreshing for the skin.
Waxing tends to last longer than shaving, but it is more painful. It can also cause redness, and skin irritation. Aloe vera is very effective at calming this redness. Most experts recommend that you don’t put any commercial products on the skin for 24 hours after waxing. However, you can put some aloe vera gel on the skin to soothe it.
Laser therapy is expensive, and can be painful. It’s not permanent, but it is extremely long lasting. It can reduce the hair growth, and future hair growth tends to be finer, and lighter in color. However, it can be very damaging for the skin, as it is intended to damage the hair follicles. Again, aloe vera can provide a calming effect on the skin.
Aloe vera gel can be purchased commercially, or you can take it straight from the source. If you have an aloe vera plant, you can cut off a leaf. Leave it to drain out the sap for a few minutes. Pare off the thorns, and remove one side of the outer skin. Scoop the gel out with a spoon, and store in an airtight, sterile container.
Hirsutism, while a technically painless condition, can be incredibly frustrating and cause a lot of anxiety. Many women who have hirsutism do want to reduce the appearance of the excess hair as much as possible. Medications, hair removal, supplements, and bleaching can all have an impact on the skin, so it’s also really important that you have a good skin care routine. Aloe vera is widely lauded in skin care applications for its ability to moisturize skin.
