I shaved my legs three days ago, like I do every week, and tonight I was touching my left lower leg and felt this unusual soft smooth hairless spot from about 3 to 6 inches that wasn't there before. It starts at my ankle and then goes up. It's so soft and smooth that it's fascinating and almost scary, the rest of my legs is stubbly because of shaving three days ago. I'm on hormones since august. Could this possibly be the start of hairloss because of the hormones? Please say yes :)
hmm, that doesn't seem typical to me. Usually body hair reduction happens on the chest, belly, back, upper arms, etc. But I've never known lower leg hair to be greatly affected, at least not to that extent.
For myself, my chest/belly hair thinned out significantly, though it's still there. And my little bit of back hair has completely disappeared. But my leg hair, both lower legs, and thighs are all completely unaffected.
Hormones DO NOT result in hair loss. Though, it may make the hair lighter in color or coarseness.
Well, after reading Samantha's post I realised that I did lose most of my chest and belly hair during the past six months. I didn't have much there to begin with, but most of it is gone. So if hormones do not cause hair loss, then I wonder what did cause it?
Quote from: girl_ashley on May 03, 2011, 03:20:15 PM
Hormones DO NOT result in hair loss. Though, it may make the hair lighter in color or coarseness.
Sorry but from 30 years of direct experience on TWO people, myself and my partner, I can assure you that they absolutely DO! So the good news is you are mistaken, (and if it hasn't happened for you yet come back when you are at least five years postop and see what you say then.)
It is true that they don't do anything to facial hair - but body hair does diminish over a period ranging from a few months to a few years. It usually starts by becoming lighter - but sooner or later after HRT when you wax it it simply doesn't grow back.
I never had much to start with - and within a few months what little I had was gone. My partner had rather more - but by the time she was five years postop hers had all gone too.
Perhaps I should have qualified my statement further...HRT alone won't cause loss of hair. You just added another variable into the mix: being post-op and I do not believe it was the intent of the original poster to mean a post-op woman on HRT.
Also, you still can't say from two persons' experience that it is true for all people. Your sample size is too small to make such a statement.
Quote from: rejennyrated on May 03, 2011, 03:41:43 PM
It usually starts by becoming lighter - but sooner or later after HRT when you wax it it simply doesn't grow back.
I am SO gonna use my epilator next week Jenny :)
For me it has affected the growth rate and density. Before hormones I would eipliate my legs and it would all come back within a coupole of weeks. Now even after a couple of months of not epilating, they still look okay, although there is still some hair there. It's a lot finer. The hairs on my arms went from being thick and dark to pale and fine.
Quote from: girl_ashley on May 03, 2011, 04:13:23 PM
Perhaps I should have qualified my statement further...HRT alone won't cause loss of hair.
Um, it quite clearly does reduce body hair, that's one of the more common results.
It doesn't really affect facial hair and hair in some body areas, is that what you mean?
I was lucky and started HRT without a single hair on my chest, back, or shoulders, except for three or four fine hairs around my belly button and two or three around my nipples. After 4 months, those are gone. My leg hairs appear to have thinned out a tiny bit, but not an overwhelming change by any means. My arms only had light blond, fine hairs, except for a couple of dark ones around the tops of my wrists (which were also really thin hairs, just dark). Though they were fine, there were a lot of them and they made my arms pretty fuzzy. See? (http://www.theforestatnight.com/susans/ugharms.jpg) I still shave them and they haven't shown any sign of diminishing.
What HAS changed lately has been my armpits. Been shaving them for a few years now and it used to be that they were so coarse that I couldn't shave them but once every two or three days. The razor would otherwise scratch across the hairs and cut me. In the past month or so, the hairs have become so soft that I can shave them almost daily without incident, but I still only shave every two days. They grow slowly enough to get away with that (and they're light-colored).
I look like Wolverine.
Looking forward to HRT and it's affects :)
While I was on hormones, after a few years, not a single chest hair, now, being off of them again I gotta be careful to remember to check before I go out, stray thick black hairs on upper chest and around shoulder blades, they can get long pretty fast, don't want anyone seeing those unsightly weeds, as well as around nipple area, and a whole tummy full of hair. For some it may only slow body hair growth, for others almost completely get rid of it, but it also depends on where on the body, while it was gone on my chest and belly when on hormones for a few years, it only slowed growth on legs, arms didn't seem to change whatsoever, still lots of hair.
I now have fine hair on my legs and bottom. The chest and belly hairs are now less coarse and less visible. The facial hair is finer, the wiry, coarse sandpaper stubble a few months back has an almost velvet feel to it now at 5:00pm. I was gorilla!
Joelene
I wasn't super hairy to start with, but I was far from hairless. I used to have to shave my arms because all the hair on them would make me want to wretch and I saw them all the time with short sleeves on D:
Now though, from two feet away my arms look totally hairless and I don't shave them. Part of that is because the hair is blonde so it's cammoflauged, but mostly it's because it's so fine now, it only grows about 1/4" and there just isn't much hair there period.
Regarding leg hair, I saw a MAJOR reduction here. I can actually stop shaving my legs, like never shave them again, and from 3 feet away you couldn't tell. I know this because I got lazy this winter when I was wearing pants every day and I didn't shave them for a few weeks (eep!). The hairs once again are fine and light blonde but they're even more spread out on my legs. In large areas there is at least 1/2" between little invisible hairs.
My body hair is almost completely gone except for like 15-20 hairs on my chest, but those are pretty fine too.
So that was maybe more info than you required lol, but I def experienced major body hair reduction, and all of it happened within maybe 5-6 months of starting HRT. If some people don't experience any loss at all, then I will consider myself very lucky I guess.
Oh to answer the original question, the hair loss was more like the whole of it just got finer and more sparse over time. It wasn't like a bald spot that spread out like you were talking about.
Quote from: Rabbit on May 05, 2011, 12:48:23 AM
I am getting random bald spots (on my chest and back and things)... it has been a month and half so far, so... either I am dieing, or the hormones are doing things :P
heheh, Your post made me giggle! :P
Left to nature, I'm a wookie. one of the things i INSIST HRT do for me is get rid of back hair. it can't happen fast enough.
Quote from: girl_ashley on May 03, 2011, 04:13:23 PMAlso, you still can't say from two persons' experience that it is true for all people. Your sample size is too small to make such a statement.
Make that FOUR then.
Both myself and someone else I know well both transitioned and had SRS in the 70s, had some body hair that disappeared after SRS. As a teen I used to shave my legs and my pits but within a year of SRS I no longer needed to shave anything. By 5 years post I have far less body hair than most women and haven't owned a razor in over 30 years. (Really PO's some of my women friends LOL!)
Quote from: girl_ashley on May 03, 2011, 04:13:23 PM
Perhaps I should have qualified my statement further...HRT alone won't cause loss of hair. You just added another variable into the mix: being post-op and I do not believe it was the intent of the original poster to mean a post-op woman on HRT.
Also, you still can't say from two persons' experience that it is true for all people. Your sample size is too small to make such a statement.
Well, I'll make it one more who says it does. Pre-op HRT took away all my back hair (ICK), all my lower leg hair, a lot of my upper leg hair, nearly all of my chest and stomach hair and I'm stopping there. No need to get gross, here.
The hair I have left is quite fine and much lighter in color. I was a very hairy little dog and this kept me from transitioning for a long time. I finally reached the point I didn't care any longer.
I know someone that said that hrt took all her body hair...and it did..because i seen her legs nd arms :). Shes also pre op
I sure hope so, I'm in the same boat as Lexia. In fact I can't even find a good place to put on a climara patch because of all the hair growth. It's only been over a month and so nothing too noticeable has happened. Then again I am also taking a biotin supplement so my nails stay strong and hopefully my scalp hair grows back.
for me and im in my 40's it was a slow process but the results again were the same the hair on my legs has diminished back and chest hair has departed not to be seen again arm hair has significantly disapeared. The added bonus i dont need to shave face every single day i still get the shadow it takes 2 days to come in now. cant wait to finish electrolosis. To quantify this last statement i use to shave in the am and by 6 the same evening it would look like i never even touched it. just keep using whatever diploratory your using and eventually there will be nothing to remove.
jessi