What you need to know about hairy toes/fingers: Gashumba shows off pedicure

Sheilah Gashumba touched down in Istanbul, Turkey for her upcoming show in the country's capital. The socialite posted on her Instagram story sharing a bottle of champagne with musician Rickman saying "Soo happy to see @rickmanmanrick after 6 weeks." The two will make appearances at the show.

She also posted a clip of her immaculate pedicured feet showing some hair on her hallux toe. For most people, hair growth on the digits is almost invisible unless given a close-up as Gashumba does in the video.

However, for others, while they might not be as hairy as hobbits, hair growth in these regions can indicate some concerns that can be addressed by medical professionals and also lead to embracing your family's characteristics.

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Causes

Talk to a medical professional about any of your concerns about hair growth on your phalanges. This way you can best deal with it and find out the best choice on what to do about these hairs.

Heredity

Genetics can determine how much or how little hair you have, as well as its: colour, texture, and location. If you have hairy toes, chances are you inherited the trait from either of your parents.

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Medication

Certain medications like danazol (Danocrine), fluoxetine (Prozac), anabolic steroids (synthetic or natural), including testosterone and corticosteroids such as prednisone (Rayos) have side effects that include increased body hair.

Ovarian disorders

With your ovaries contributing to hormone level balance in your body, some conditions affecting them could result in an increase in body hair. These conditions include ovarian hyperthecosis, ovarian tumours and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

Adrenal disorders

Your adrenal glands produce hormones, including those called androgens, that can trigger body hair growth for both males and females. Phalanges hair growth could be a symptom of one of the following adrenal disorders, adrenal tumours, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or Cushing syndrome.

Knuckle hair growth

What you need to know about hairy toes/fingers: Gashumba shows off pedicure/COURTESY Pulse

Your eyebrows are there to keep sweat from trickling into your eyes. The hair in your nose makes it harder for germs to invade your airways. And the hair on your head keeps you warm. So what biological purpose could hair on your knuckles possibly serve?

Anthropologists have studied what’s known as mid-phalangeal hair for the better part of a century, and to this day have not found a clear reason for its existence.

Why hair appears on knuckles

Researchers believe that the appearance of hair on your fingers may be the result of prenatal exposure to androgens, a hormone often associated with male traits, though everyone has it.

Women with mid-phalangeal hair often have negative side effects like mood changes and painful periods when they take birth control pills. And unfortunately, geneticists agree that mid-phalangeal hair is a dominant hereditary trait.

How to stop phalangeal hair from growing

Hair growth is natural and whether you have it depends on your genes. There is no medical reason to remove mid-phalangeal hair but if you prefer hairless digits, some removal methods, like electrolysis and laser hair removal, damage the hair follicle so hairs don’t grow back as frequently. For many people, repeated electrolysis treatments will eventually keep hair from coming back.

Other methods include:

Shaving
Depilatory
Waxing or sugaring
Epilator

If these methods don’t appeal to you, or if you’re concerned that the hair growth on your fingers may be related to another health condition, talk to a doctor.