I had an appointment with a dermatologist yesterday, my first appointment with a skin doctor. Most specialists are booked solid for months so I had been waiting a good long while to see her and I was not disappointed.

She had a young male doctor with her, an intern who joins her on Tuesdays, and it was very delightful to have my face turned left and right, and have her point out all sorts of unpleasant things that my face was exhibiting, things like acne, pigmentation, pimples and enlarged pores (and she may have mentioned that most disgusting of words, pustule) to my potential boyfriend. How refreshing it would be to have a boyfriend who would know to avoid that particularly oily region of my face when cupping my chin in his hands before leaning in for a kiss! And I could continue with my daily regimen of not wearing a drop of makeup because he’d know exactly what was under that sheer layer of deceptively clear skin anyway.

He sat across from me, and seemed unaffected when I had to show off part of my chest to show that yes, that area has been known to produce a zit or two, was untraumatized as I went on to tell my doctor that I had also noticed some hairs cropping up on my face, usually in the chin area, in the last year or so. Not a lot of hairs but just enough to make me carry a pair of tweezers with me. I had had some blood work done a few months ago with my family doctor, and my dermatologist mentioned that if my testosterone and androgen levels were elevated, that could be a possible cause for the hair growth.

Then she segued quite suddenly into my weight, and asked if I my family doctor had ever recommended that I lose weight. She hadn’t, but I had brought it up with her about a year ago, and she had recommended Weight Watchers at the time. I still haven’t looked into it because I have joined WW in the past and had no trouble attending the meetings and being weighed. My problem is there is nothing that makes me feel like I have to stick to their food plan. I don’t feel guilty if I don’t. Knowing that being overweight can affect hair growth is yet another reason to shed those unsightly pounds. Good thing it’s already on my magical to do list of things that (will) actually get done.

I made a crack about how losing weight is a good idea because I don’t want to turn into a man, and I think my potential boyfriend gave a small chuckle (he knew I was joking). My derma seemed a bit taken aback that I’d joke about such a thing and wanted to make sure that I knew that she didn’t mean that things were that dire.

So, she gave me a prescription for three things that I hope a pharmacist can read, some moisturizer samples, a detailed explanation of how electrolysis (something she asked me to consider for my hairs) worked, asked me many times if I had any questions, and sent me on my way. Before I can undergo electrolysis though, I have to see a shrink who will say that having these hairs on my chin is causing me angst (and thankfully the fact that I check every other day to see if any new hairs have sprouted, and have a tweezer with me are adequate signs of said angst). What I’m wondering is if I can segue the permanent removal of a few chin hairs into a full removal of my sideburns, and perhaps some eyebrow shaping while I’m at it.

Filed under: Beauty, Health by jummy