Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin

For as long as I can remember I've always had more hair on my body than I care to admit. My arms were a little hairy after hitting puberty and I started to get peach fuzz on my stomach. My hairy arms never seemed to bother me but my happy trail was something different. That was a little too furry for my liking. So what does a self-conscious teenager do to remedy the situation? She shaves it! I remember when I first started shaving my stomach my sister laughed at me and said that it would only get worse. I didn't believe her but boy was she right. That was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. Of course, that was all before I found out that I had PCOS.

I'm sure there are other PCOSer's who can relate to my current situation. Now that I've gotten older I feel like I've turned into the She-Man. My hairy problem has gotten exponentially worse over the past 5 years. I've started developing little stray hairs on my chest, hairs under my chin and the sides of my face. Not little blond hairs that nobody notices, dark thick hairs like the ones you see on the chins of old women with missing teeth and greasy hair. I find myself in front of a mirror plucking these tiny Christmas trees at least twice a week. I started using Nair on my arms about twice a year, although it sometimes eats through my skin and leaves tiny scabs. Ack! Needless to say, this is getting old. I tried laser hair removal once, I got it free as a first-time visitor. It worked for about 6 weeks which is customary, but visits normally cost about $100-200 depending on how many areas you need to have done (and I need a lot). You go for 6-8 treatments and the hair supposedly stays gone for about 2 years. Then it's time to go back again. It seems like a waste of money to spend $1500 to remove hair for only 2 years but I'm seriously considering it. I'm tired of having to bring my tweezers on every vacation I go to. I'm tired of the pain of plucking and the annoyance of occasional ingrown hairs. I'm tired of feeling unfeminine. I want to feel like a real woman, not self-conscious that people might see my hairy chin and think I should apply for a job as the Bearded Lady. Hirsutism sucks, no matter how bad you have it.  I've heard there are medications available that can prevent you from morphing into a werewolf but it can't be taken while you are trying to get pregnant. So no meds for now. I think I might just bite the bullet and get the laser hair treatments. I'll rationalize the expenditure by saying it improves my self-esteem and reduces my stress. And hopefully there will come a day when I'm not standing in the bathroom next to my husband checking my own 5 o'clock shadow.