I've been seeing various stuff about body hair and head hair effects from castration - (either surgical or chemical, which is why I'm asking in Central) but not as much on what happens w/ facial hair... I've seen stuff that it gets a change in texture and grows more slowly but the net effect is not clear. (I did find a couple of very old posts that mentioned having beards post chop, but nothing real specific)

I haven't shaved in over 30 years, in part because I like having a beard most of the time, in part because when I did shave my skin reacted badly to it. I do occasionally trim my mustache, especially if I know I will be talking w/ folks that need to lip read, but I don't shave it....

As you can imagine this has led to me having a LOT of facial hair, to the point where it is probably the second thing people use describing me (after the wheelchair) and losing it would be a major high visibility change.... I'd rather not lose the face fungus though I'd be more or less OK about it if that is part of the entire MtE package....

So what happens with face hair when the T goes away?

Based on the descriptions of effects, my inclination for HRT is likely to be in the direction of low-dose E rather than trying to do a lot of T...

Does the HRT choice make much difference to face hair?

WheelyCurious

WheelyCurious wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 4:23 pm I've been seeing various stuff about body hair and head hair effects from castration - (either surgical or chemical, which is why I'm asking in Central) but not as much on what happens w/ facial hair... I've seen stuff that it gets a change in texture and grows more slowly but the net effect is not clear. (I did find a couple of very old posts that mentioned having beards post chop, but nothing real specific)

I haven't shaved in over 30 years, in part because I like having a beard most of the time, in part because when I did shave my skin reacted badly to it. I do occasionally trim my mustache, especially if I know I will be talking w/ folks that need to lip read, but I don't shave it....

As you can imagine this has led to me having a LOT of facial hair, to the point where it is probably the second thing people use describing me (after the wheelchair) and losing it would be a major high visibility change.... I'd rather not lose the face fungus though I'd be more or less OK about it if that is part of the entire MtE package....

So what happens with face hair when the T goes away?

Based on the descriptions of effects, my inclination for HRT is likely to be in the direction of low-dose E rather than trying to do a lot of T...

Does the HRT choice make much difference to face hair?

WheelyCurious

There are other discussions with this mentioned. The consensus is no change to facial hair, from what I've read. Hopefully someone can confirm for you.

I have almost no body hair below the neck. The beard doesn't grow. A thin stubble appears, which I shave off with an electric razor. It's like a cheek massage.

On the head hair grows normally. No baldness, although I get my hair cut and dyed regularly at the barbershop.

I've grown a full beard since castration.

I do use a minimum amount of testosterone gel.

Sounds like reasonably decent news in that regard... Currently I find that I have a more or less stable length / amount of beard, where the hairs break / fall out / get pulled out as they reach a certain length, and get replaced by new hairs growing in to replace them...

What it sounds like is that if I cut the existing beard off, it would take longer to grow back, but I'd still have it. If I don't cut it, it would possibly get to a shorter 'stable point' since the replacement hairs would take longer to grow in, and I might get some change in texture, but it wouldn't go away...

I know that the historical eunuchs seem to always be portrayed as beardless, but presumably that means that they either got chopped before puberty so never grew facial hair, or possibly (though I haven't seen mention of this) they were made to shave in order to mark their state....

WheelyCurious

Heya! I have been off of hormones for 10 months now. I have noticed my facial hair is now a little softer, thinned out and slow to grow, but once it gets back to a quarter inch those things are hardly noticeable. Makes it easier to shave.

Back in the days when eunuchs were more common and much more visible, it was recognized that post-pubertal eunuchs had beards. “Bearded eunuchs” were a feature of the Caliphate, Ottoman and Qajar Empires. Especially so in the early Caliphate. The Muslim conquest of the Near East proceeded before there were even words developed in the Arabic language for large-scale bureaucracy. Even as late as the reign of al-Muqtadir, the 18th Abbasid Caliph (reigned 908 to 932 AD / 295–320 AH) the central administration was run primarily in the Greek language by Greek-speaking eunuchs, captured as eunuchs from the Byzantine Empire, captured and castrated separately, or purchased as eunuchs from slave traders, such as the Venetians. The Vikings preferentially raided monasteries in the British Isles to capture educated monks who could be castrated for sale east. It was assumed (falsely) that eunuchs would not attempt to overthrow the government to take power.

It is recorded that the central administration of the Caliphate consisted of 4,000 Greek-speaking eunuchs, all literate and many castrated as adults. Some appear in artwork to be bearded. (There were an additional 7,000 eunuchs, primarily of Indian or African origin who did the menial tasks and watched over the harem. The so-called “Black” eunuchs in the early Caliphate were primarily from eastern India, mostly Hindu Bengal.

I have been a eunuch for over 18 months and am not on any HRT. I still shave my beard every day. My body hair has greatly reduced and is much finer.

JesusA (imported) wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 3:26 pm Back in the days when eunuchs were more common and much more visible, it was recognized that post-pubertal eunuchs had beards.

“Bearded eunuchs”

JesusA (imported) wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 3:26 pm were a feature of the Caliphate, Ottoman and Qajar Empires.

Thanks for the better historical background Jesus - all I'd ever seen was beardless, but that may have been my misinterpreting some of the art and so forth.

I am wanting to keep my beard as after so many years of not shaving I think I'd feel more naked w/o it than I would w/ no clothes... Sounds like it may look a bit different after getting fixed, but would still be there....

WheelyCurious

It is great to hear the range of different experiences people have had.