PCOS Awareness Month – September

September is Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome (PCOS) awareness month worldwide. It’s estimated that 1 in 10 women in the UK have it. It’s thought that over 50% may not know they have it due to lack of symptoms.

WHAT IS PCOS?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work.

THE THREE MAIN FEATURES OF PCOS ARE:

If you have at least 2 of these features, you may be diagnosed with PCOS.

SOURCE: NHS (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos/)

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS TO LOOK OUT FOR?

• irregular periods or no periods at all
• difficulty getting pregnant (because of irregular ovulation or failure to ovulate)
• excessive hair growth (hirsutism) – usually on the face, chest, back or buttocks
• weight gain
• thinning hair and hair loss from the head
• oily skin or acne

It’s important to note that not all women with PCOS will have all the symptoms and each can vary from mild to severe. Talk to your GP or health practitioner if you have any of the above symptoms and think you may have PCOS.

EXCESSIVE HAIR GROWTH – HIRSUTISM

One of the common symptoms of PCOS is hirsutism, where women have excessive hair growth usually on the face, chest or back.

At SmoothSkin, we’re all about ‘your hair, your choice’ and to celebrate every bit of your uniqueness. Although, we fully appreciate the struggles women who have hirsutism experience. As there’s currently no cure, the only suggested treatments are short-term solutions of hair removal such as shaving, waxing or plucking. Or expensive salon treatments such as laser.

CLAIRE’S STORY

Claire is 35 and lives in Swansea with her 3-year-old son. Claire took part in a recent study with SmoothSkin over a period of 12 weeks. Originally, Claire took part to test the device on her underarms. Of course, she’s super happy with the results and also tried SmoothSkin Pure on her face and neck.

Like many women, Claire has hirsutism through PCOS, before using SmoothSkin Claire had to shave her neck daily, before the day was up, she would see dark hair under the skin and in the morning the hair growth had started.

Claire documented her journey with SmoothSkin below.

HOW SMOOTHSKIN CAN HELP

SmoothSkin Pure features the very latest in Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) technology to tackle hair growth at the root, disabling the hair follicle and disrupting the hair growth cycle to stop hair from growing back.

IPL is suitable for use on the body (including arms, legs and stomach) as well as the face, giving you the freedom to treat in the comfort of your own home. And it’s much less painful, and more purse-friendly than in-salon laser treatments.

For tackling PCOS-related hair growth, we’d recommend our most powerful device – SmoothSkin Pure.