Help :(

[Anonymous98]

I am a 18 year old girl and I have recently noticed that I’ve started to get black hairs on my face. It’s making me really insecure. What is the cause of this? I’ve plucked some of them cause I don’t want to look like a man

[Sam W]

Hi Anonymous98,

I'm sorry that these changes to your body are leaving you feeling insecure. Body hair changes are often related to hormones (think about how people start to get body hair during puberty), especially testosterone, so that could be what's going on here. It's absolutely up to you whether you want to pluck or otherwise manage these hairs, but something that may be helpful to know is that plenty of women deal with a similar phenomenon. While we generally assume men are the only ones who have facial hair, in reality people of all genders may develop some hair on their face. So there isn't anything wrong with your body for doing it. Does that make sense?

It sounds like reading this article may be really helpful for you right now: http://www.scarleteen.com/the_sex_godde ... r_grooming

[Heather]

I do just want to add, especially if there aren't other women in your family with similar hair patterns, that if you're having a lot of new body or facial hair growth or darkening, and also having any of the other symptoms listed here -- http://www.pcosaa.org/pcos-symptoms/ -- it's probably worth checking in with a healthcare provider about. Not because of the facial hairs being a thing that need to be solved (because like Sam says, it really isn't likely a big deal or problem), but in case they're a signal of something afoot where you would benefit from diagnosis and treatment for other, bigger reasons, but also including this, if a health issue is at the root of it.