Is Excessive Hair Growth A Kind Of Medical Condition?

Posted on Mon, 17 Dec 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 Answered on

Mon, 7 Jan 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Is excessive hairiness a sign of pathology? I have hair on shoulders back and front while most people my age don't seem to have.

Answered by Dr. Pavan Kumar Gupta (25 hours later)

Hello,
Thanks for the query.
Although being hairy is mostly genetic and is a sign of testosterone activity in you but sometimes it can be pathological .
One should be worried if he finds a recent spurt in the growth of hair or if you have associated acne flares or change in voice or there is increase in muscle mass.This may indicate a hormonal problem like a cushing's disease where increased amount of cortisol is produced in body resulting in more hairs.
If there is nothing of this sort,then there is no need to worry but if you have some associated symptoms ,like I mentioned above,then you may consult your doctor for the investigations and find the cause.
I hope to have answered your query however you may revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar