Woman With PCOS Suffers Eye Lash-Like Hair Growth Inside Her Mouth

Unwanted facial hair has been a concern for several women, especially those with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In an unusual case, a 25-year-old woman with PCOS suffers from hair growth in the oral cavity.

According to the case report published in Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology, six years ago, when she first encountered hair growth in her gums, she underwent her first intervention, which included intraoral examinations that revealed brown hair similar to eyelashes. They were then removed and the underlying tissue was histologically analyzed.

Recently, she has returned with an even more widespread presence of oral hairs distributed on both her gums.

“Since the finding recurred six years after the first observation, this led to our understanding that this was not an occasional finding but that it was probably a structural defect and hormonal imbalance that persisted, giving rise to this phenomenon,” Gizmodo quoted Khrystyna Zhurakivska, a clinical dental researcher at the University of Foggia.

When the patient was 19, the doctors whom she had consulted for hair growth in her gums said that it could be caused by PCOS. Women suffering from this hormonal disorder tend to produce excess amounts of testosterone, which can lead to increased hair growth -- a complication known as hirsutism.

However, in hirsutism, hair growth occurs typically around a woman’s face, chest or back. Hair growing inside a person’s mouth is a very rare phenomenon that has been documented only a handful of times.

Back in 2009, the patient was treated with oral hormonal contraceptives and her oral cavity hair was removed. She noticed no hair growth for the next six years.

The recurrence of oral hair growth has led to the understanding that it wasn’t an occasional finding but a structural defect and hormonal imbalance. Given that the woman’s oral hair issue seemed to get dormant, it is likely that continuing her PCOS treatment might help mitigate the condition.

According to Zhurakivska, it is not biologically unlikely for hair growth in the oral cavity. The tissues of the mouth develop in the womb from the same layer of cells that give rise to our outer skin. They have the potential to grow structures that are typically found in the skin including hair and sebaceous glands.

Hair growth in the oral cavity is an exceedingly rare event and only 5 cases have been documented in the literature so far.