Hair Growth Changes
Locations
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Facial:
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Oestrogen, combined with anti-androgens (like spironolactone or cyproterone acetate), can slow down the growth of facial hair, allowing you to go for longer between shaving if this is a typical part of your routine.
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Body:
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HRT typically reduces the growth rate and thickness of body hair. Hair may become finer and lighter over time.
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Areas Affected: The most noticeable changes are often seen on the chest, back, and abdomen.
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Arm and leg hair may also become less coarse and increasingly sparse.
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Pubic:
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There can be a reduction in the density, coarseness and the rate of growth of your pubic hair.
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More info:
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Timeline:
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Changes usually begin within a few months of starting hormone therapy, but it can take a year or more to see noticeable reductions in body hair; and some people may never see them.
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Changes may range from significant to unnoticeable and it’s impossible to predict what your results will personally look like
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Hormone therapy alone typically only has a minimal to moderate effect on facial hair beyond slowing the growth of the hair, and sometimes making it less:
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Coarse
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Dense
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Dark
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But even this can take several months to years to see noticeable changes, and even then, there is no guarantee you will see any at all.
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Some people find that with the right anti-androgen, facial hair growth is limited enough to only be visible after two or three days
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In some cases, shaving is only needed once or twice a week.
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Other people, especially with darker/black hair will still have it visible daily.
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- For visible stubble directly after shaving, using colour corrector makeup (shade dependent on skin colour) beneath foundation can help to avoid visible stubble beneath makeup.k hair, will still have it visible daily
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It’s very rare to find that HRT has a significant effect on hair growth, and if that is something you’re seeking you will likely need something like laser hair removal or electrolysis to reach the results you’re hoping for.
Reduced Hair Growth
Will any reduction in hair growth revert if I stop taking E?
Yes, any thinning of your facial/body hair or any reduction in how coarse, dark or dense it is would stop and your hair would return to how it appeared before starting E. Also, if you had experienced any slowing in the rate of growth, this would return to what it had been previously.
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If you have begun to experience balding, taking HRT should likely result in your hair loss slowing and then stopping entirely
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This is because "male-pattern" baldness is driven by DHT (a product of testosterone) and so surpressing your testosterone removes the cause of the balding
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If stopping balding is a top priority for you, finasteride is likely one of the best choices of anti-androgen for you as it blocks the conversion of testosterone into DHT
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Not only will you stop losing further hair, but a significant number of people report the regrowth of hair that had been lost due to balding.
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This is typically quite a slow process, with fluffy baby hair style hair growing in the areas affected by balding first, and then these falling out and thicker hairs that match the hair on the rest of the head growing in
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Of course hair grows quite slowly, so it is just a case of being patient as this new hair grows in, but slowly it will fill the bald area completely and then grow out alongside the rest of your hair, slowly undoing the effects of balding on your hair.
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Cessation of Balding & Regrowth
Will the changes to my balding revert if I stop taking E?
Yes - unless you take finasteride - you will begin balding again, which includes starting to lose hair in the areas where you may have experienced regrowth. Besides finasteride, you can also try applying minoxidil to the areas of hair loss, which many people have had success with using to regrow hair lost to balding and prevent further loss.
