Hrt, Body Hair, and Genetics

[Keira]

I was wondering what to expect in regards to how much hrt will affect body hair; in particular for people who have a family history of having a ton of body hair.

Also, what about chest hair, is it best to get it lasered or just wait for the hrt to kick in?

I'm just not sure what to expect...men in my family have a ton of body hair...so far I have a decent amount, but I'm afraid that hrt won't reverse it even at 19...

Did I mention how much I hate body hair? Lol

[Donna Elvira]

Hi,
I had relatively little body hair but have a brother who sounds just like the members of your family. Anyway, with HRT, pretty well all of my body hair disappeared and I don't have any more hair removal to do than your average cis woman, maybe even a bit less...
Based on that, unless you are in a huge hurry, I suggest you let HRT work for a couple of years and see what you need to do afterwards.
Cheers.
Donna

[Keira]

I'm pre-hrt so I was just curious about how it affects body hair...I'm just trying to consider the pros and cons before a decide I want to start it.

I've done a bunch of reading before this on hrt...but I was just curious in particular about first hand experiences.

Thanks for the reply

[ZoeM]

Well, I can tell you it doesn't do much in three months.

I'm hoping I get good long term results, but I also wonder if laser now and hormones over time mightn't be the best of both worlds in terms of overall effect. Not sure about that one, tbh. You might have to just wait and see.

[XchristineX]

Well, I can tell you it doesn't do much in three months.

I'm hoping I get good long term results, but I also wonder if laser now and hormones over time mightn't be the best of both worlds in terms of overall effect. Not sure about that one, tbh. You might have to just wait and see.

Perfect strategy....HRT...laser early...laser hard...

I did a full body brazillian wax one week before starting HRT...
I'm now just seeing some more pop out of my skin...was gonna wax...
But so slow I think I might kick some hair arse and laser body

[Silvrnite]

before hrt, chest hair was quite dark and while it wasnt A LOT there it was it was still there.......>.< belly hair was fairly dark and kinda full where it grows, leg hair is leg hair, a pain in the ass...would grow kinda fast and irritating. there were random back hairs not alot, but one or two randomly mostly on shoulder areas.

1 year on hrt, chest hair is "there" its sooo fine now and transparent that you cant tell even if your looking up close at it. belly hair has lessened, getting finer and lighter, still has a ways to go tho. but i can see differences from pre-hrt. arm hair hasn't changed much. grows a lot slower now was shaving it off once a week. i can let it go easily couple weeks now before it becomes bothersome. leg hair. hm. leg hair hasn't changed much in thickness color or density. it does however grow at an extremely slow rate now tho, before it would grow out and be visible quickly and it would get shaved every 4-5days. now it grows so slowly it doesn't really show for at least a week. and all the random hairs have gone away.

just my experience with hrt so far.

[Keira]

before hrt, chest hair was quite dark and while it wasnt A LOT there it was it was still there.......>.< belly hair was fairly dark and kinda full where it grows, leg hair is leg hair, a pain in the ass...would grow kinda fast and irritating. there were random back hairs not alot, but one or two randomly mostly on shoulder areas.

1 year on hrt, chest hair is "there" its sooo fine now and transparent that you cant tell even if your looking up close at it. belly hair has lessened, getting finer and lighter, still has a ways to go tho. but i can see differences from pre-hrt. arm hair hasn't changed much. grows a lot slower now was shaving it off once a week. i can let it go easily couple weeks now before it becomes bothersome. leg hair. hm. leg hair hasn't changed much in thickness color or density. it does however grow at an extremely slow rate now tho, before it would grow out and be visible quickly and it would get shaved every 4-5days. now it grows so slowly it doesn't really show for at least a week. and all the random hairs have gone away.

just my experience with hrt so far.

Cool...I do have hope then lol

Thanks for the replies so far

[Silvrnite]

its prolly one of those ymmv things, as with all things hrt related. but only time will tell, just try not to think about it and notice things as they happen.

[XchristineX]

My advice....
If you have dark hair...you can strip a full front on
Under an hour....use lightsheer diode for face...duet for body..

If your hair isnt dark dark..look for nd yag lasers...
Benefit of nd yag is its a 1064 laser...means deeper
Penetration..

Diode...12m x 12 m laser coverage...duet same as diode with
Six diode lasers...it fricking hurts...but or works

[Keira]

I would rather spend the money on a therapist, some clothes, and hrt than have to do full body (ouch) laser. I also don't want to find out that I paid thousands of dollars on laser when hrt could have done the job...

Plus...hrt + epilator = should be good to go.

[Nicole]

the only place I didn't see a change in body hair was on my arms, which I wax now.
Leg hair went from little from foot to hip, now I get some on my shin, but very very light if any on the rest of my legs.
Didn't have a hair on my upper body other than the arms

[Cindy]

I had my face lasered pre HRT, and did my chest and tummy as well. On E my hair cycle didn't change much. I went onto Spiro just for hair control (my T <1 just on E) I now have a normal female hair distribution, some spots on my legs, just patches. None on my arms, fingers or toes, pubic hair has gone to a female pattern as have my pits. Chest hair has gone, back hair gone ( I used to get it waxed). Even nose and ear hair has gone, I used to have to trim nose hair (yuk). Most facial hair went with laser, the remaining has now gone as well.


I'm obviously very happy with the results, so I would suggest facial laser if you are compatible just for the passing, then let it ride while you adjust to being you.

[NJade]

I had something like full body coverage. Emphasis on had. Some 3 1/2 years later with nothing but hormones, surgery and regular use of an epilator, there are still some lingering visible hairs on the front of my torso (perhaps 5% left) and my legs are equally bare of hair. Back? Arms, Shoulders? Just wispy blond, if that.  It takes work, though. You need to encourage the hair to leave, sometimes violently.

And, yes, the epilator hurts at first. But over time, it hurts less and less. I really do recommend it as it does help the process and is ever so much cheaper than laser if you have better things to spend your money on.

[XchristineX]

Haha forgive if I'm sounding noobish....
What is an epilator?

I suspect its a slow manual way of waxing?
If thata the case why not laser full body three times?
Less time less hassle never miss hair

[NJade]

Haha forgive if I'm sounding noobish....
What is an epilator?

I suspect its a slow manual way of waxing?
If thata the case why not laser full body three times?
Less time less hassle never miss hair

LOL! It's a small mechanical device that is basically a bunch of spinning tweezers that yank the hairs out at the root. A good one will cost you a hundred dollars. Full body laser? This is not cheap even once and if you think three times will suffice, I'd dare say you haven't learned enough about hair growth just yet. There are something like 15 cycles. Even now, I'm still in electrolysis cleaning up the hairs laser didn't kill on my face.

[Carrie Liz]

I suppose I might not be the best one to answer this question, as I didn't really have too much body hair to start with... just a light covering of coarse dark hair, and not a huge amount of arm or leg hair...

But let me tell you, for me HRT almost COMPLETELY knocked the stuff out. I'm talking at least 70% reduction. A significant portion of it went back to being those soft transparent blond vellus hairs that I used to have as a kid, and the hairs that remain have gotten MUCH thinner and lighter in color. After only 3 months, it's already reached the point where I don't ever have to shave my arms anymore, only need to do my legs every week or two, and hell, I haven't shaved my body hair in over 3 weeks now and I still pretty much can't even see it when I'm looking in the mirror anymore.

Before HRT, I could never shave my chest hair, because it was so coarse that every single time I did it, I would get TERRIBLE razor bumps all over. The best I could do was cut it down with a pair of trimmers and shave it VERY carefully with the grain. Well, now I don't have to anymore. It's gotten so much lighter and thinner that I can just whip out the razor, shave it completely against the grain with no anti-razor-bump precautions whatsoever, and it's completely fine. So yeah. The thickness has gone WAY down.

I'm not saying that everyone will get these results. Some get lots of reduction, some get almost none. I got a lot. It is possible.

[XchristineX]

LOL! It's a small mechanical device that is basically a bunch of spinning tweezers that yank the hairs out at the root. A good one will cost you a hundred dollars. Full body laser? This is not cheap even once and if you think three times will suffice, I'd dare say you haven't learned enough about hair growth just yet. There are something like 15 cycles. Even now, I'm still in electrolysis cleaning up the hairs laser didn't kill on my face.

I understand...doing my fifth full face pass next month ...

I only want to thin hair on my body....and it's been waxed since I was 16
My body hair is kinda fine...

I might also add my laser tech uses a diode on me...and full face and chest was
130 canadian...I just lucked out....I am aware of the costs...
Downside is the laser is in Whitehorse Yukon....

[Shantel]

I never was very hairy, but when I started transitioning I used to shave my legs and now don't have to do that anymore after several years on HRT. I recall having had a few hairs on my chest and a little fuzz on the backs of my shoulders, but that went away a long time ago. I still have some rather stubborn facial hairs and sadly the grey ones are coarser and tough as wires. Though I've had 60% of my face cleared, the area just under the chin is the worse. So unless you are a real gorilla it would be best to start on the facial clearing right away and adopt a wait and see attitude about the rest and see what HRT will do for you there before spending your precious resources.

[Joanna Dark]

There are something like 15 cycles. Even now, I'm still in electrolysis cleaning up the hairs laser didn't kill on my face.

Aww man [calls everyone man] 15 cycles! I also heard there are something like 30,000 hairs on a typical male face? I know this isn't true for me. There is no way I have 30,000 facial hairs. I would doubt I have much more than a couple thousand. Even that sounds like a lot. But it is thick and I needed laser like yesterday.

Funny story: I clean a firehouse on Saturdays and the two guys were standing there when I was cleaning and talking about how the one guy had his face lasered after he won some money and that it didn't grow back. So, a lot of people are doing it now. Must men i know hate shaving.

[ZoeM]

The hairs on your face at any given time are 1/4 or so of the total active follicles, Joanna. That's why they kill 'em in stages.