I am happy that I found this site to talk about the problem with others. I had no idea it existed but its a more than welcomed surprise. I'm 23 and still a virgin because I have hair on my arms, legs, chest, thighs, back, and butt. It has bothered me my whole life and I tried to fool myself into thinking it wasn't a big deal but it is. I've tried to have a girlfriend but the situation I'm in doesn't warrant an intimate relationship. Lately I've been hitting the gym hard trying to get a harder more cut body and I've lost some weight in doing so which is a plus. But everytime I look in the mirror I find myself asking "whats the point?". I'm still going to be a hairy ogre. Ontop of that I have gynocomastia which is another monster I have to kill. Its unbelievable what they charge to fix gyncomastia. I've been searching for a year now for places overseas to go and have the procedure done but no luck. I don't have $5,000 to spare. But this is a hair website not a gynocomastia website. About two weeks ago I finally snapped and went out bought some waxing supplies and waxed my arms. I can't believe how messy that is. I got wax all over doorknobs, on walls, stuck to the tile. Its like a syrupy caramel that permanently sticks to everything. It took 2 hours and lots of talcum powder just to get it off my hands. Theres got to be cleaner way. To make sure the hair didn't grow back I took a blowtorch and passed it along my skin on a low setting for about an hour. It seems as if much less hair are growing back now. The hair on my feet seems permanently gone using this blowtorch method. I am kind of sure that my legs and arms can be permanently fixed using my blowtorch method but its the thighs chest groin and butt that worries me. I don't fancy singing my scrotum. ouch. Only like 2 hairs grew back on the foot and im sure if I tweeze them and blowtorch the area again I'll be hair free on my foot! YAY! off to a good start! I know I am blessed with what I have been given but having a hairy body sucks. I am thinking about buying an electrolysis machine (for the difficult parts) and I want do my entire body. I don't care if I have to sit in the bathroom 5 hours a day for 3 months, I'll do it. And for the hard to reach parts I'll get someone else to do it. I'd like to know of a strong machine that is affordable to a college student who eats ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert but still powerful enough for a male's hairy chest thighs and butt. If theres one thing I learned about reading this website it is that there are a lot of scam artists and scam products out there that will leave you with a hole in your wallet. I dont want any holes any my wallet

I am attaching pictures to show you what my hair is like.

I know it seems like you're the only one, but those are pretty normal areas for a man to have hair. I would say most men have hair on their legs, arms, and chest, and probably more than half on their butt and at least some on their back (some have the full back covered). I know men who are completely covered head to toe, where their beard goes right into their chest hair and all the way down to their feet. It's really not as uncommon as you think.

First, you need to learn how hair growth works. You can't get rid of any hair permanently in 3 months no matter how many hours you put it. That is because hair grows in cycles, and it takes 9-12 months for all the hair you have to go through the cycles. So that's how long it would take for any type of permanent removal.

Burning hair is not really recommended. How long has it been since you've done this? It may be that the new hair is not back yet. I wouldn't advise you to do this because you can get pretty bad permanent burns and scarring doing this.

My honest advice to you would be the following:

- Start saving money if this is important to you

- Meanwhile, get professional waxing treatments on your back, butt and upper arms. Those areas probably bother you most as they're considered least "normal" to have hair on based on magazines etc (not a good measure for the norm btw. all those people are waxed and airbrushed). Shaving is also an option - and a cheaper one

- If you have at least a bit of money saved up or are willing to use financing or a credit card (most laser clinics offer financing and take credit cards), you can easily start laser treatments now (granted you have dark coarse hair). You can start on just the areas that bother you most - probably those above.

- Many men buy a clipper and clip the areas where there seems to be too much hair for their liking. It makes things look neater and less dense, i.e. looks like there is less hair.

Do read the FAQs below to learn more on how to get to where you want to be.

In terms of the other medical procedure, do you have medical insurance? Can you obtain it so it can help you pay for some of it? You can also get the rest financed if this is really important to you right now.

Lastly - please work on your confidence level and read through the posts on this forum. You'll see that many men are in the same situation and try not to let it affect their lives. From personal experience as a woman, I can tell you for a fact that many men have these same issues. It's just not something people talk about and it's something everyone hides because of what's supposedly not accepted in the magazines and media.

Blowtorching...what an interesting method. O_o FYI, two weeks are not enough to gauge the success of this method. Give it a month, it will grow back.

You have other inexpensive options besides waxing. There is sugaring, which is like wax but the base is sugar, and it washes off immediately. A rotary epilator is mess-free, about $50, and is good if you have a high pain threshold. Trimming, as lagirl suggested, is another option that you should not overlook. It makes a dramatic difference, and it is pain- and mess- free.

You should not perform self-electrolysis when you don't have to skills to do so.

BTW your pics do not work.

I am learning to do some of my own electrolysis right now and now I can see why no one really recommends doing it yourself. It is a huge commitment of time and money, much more than I initially thought.

I have spent over $500 on my used pro epilator, books, needles and other accessories (and it would have been far more if I hadn't got a great deal on the epilator.) I am still looking for a suitable magnification solution which may run me a few hundred more. Needless to say, make sure you are serious about learning before you spend all that money (which will buy 15-20 hours of pro electro depending on where you are.) It will also take many many many hours of reading, research, practice etc., time you may want or need to devote to other things at your age. I think it is fair to say learning electro even just for use on yourself is like taking a couple additional courses at college on top of what you already have.

Also remember you have areas of your body you can't really do yourself, such as your back, so you will need someone else (pro, or DIYer friend who would need the same electrolysis knowledge and skill as you will need) to do it for you.

Still, I understand the desperation you feel, and the expense of electro on an entire male body will cost a small fortune and take a long long time. Before you jump into DIY electro though, read the DIY electro forum. Especially the posts from the pros like James, Andrea and dfahey, I have found their advice truly invaluable. Good luck!

hey as a woman i just want to say--- soooo many women don't care. don't get sucked in by the media thinking that it is abnormal for a man to have a hairy body. in fact, it's pretty much normal unless you are asian, native american, or still in your teens. i totally understand the anxiety and depression over having a hairy body because i too have too much hair (for my gender anyway), but, i want to give you some hope in saying that a lot of hair on a man is NOT an automatic turn off. some women like it, many simply don't care. of course there will always be some that DON'T like it, but do you really want to be with a picky very high maintenance chick anyway?

i can't seem to see those pictures you posted, so i don't know exactly how much you have. but i've seen a lot of reeeeally hairy guys and as long as they act confident about themselves, no one gives it a second thought. we are related to apes after all!

Thanks for the responses.

I know it won't take only 3 months to achieve. I kind of forgot about the cycles but I understand. It has been about 2.5 weeks since I slow burned my arm and some of the hair is growing back. Right now its about 1/4 inch in length. But there are a lot more follicles that seemed to have stopped growing out hair. The hair is growing back but its much more sparse than it was before. I am going to save up i guess and find a fellow DIYer near me. I've been trying actually on Craigslist but the only replies i get are from gay dudes trying to get their rocks off. I am going to the doctor to get bloodwork done. When I go I will ask him if my insurance covers gynocomastia. The only problem is that money is something I don't have and won't have for at least 2 years which is a bummer. I had no idea that there were motorized epilators. Where can I buy one? I've neer seen one before. Do they work well? I'm assuming they pull the hair out rather than shaving it? I also read in another forum about a 50$ electrolysis diy home kit which i want to buy but i just dont want to be ripped off. Trimming in some areas I don't mind. But others, the more not so normal areas, i do mind because i want it gone permanently. To tell you the truth, I don't mind the hair because in certian places and certian lengths its ok. Like my lower leg is fine. But as you move up towards the thighs and groin and butt it doesn't dwindle fade out at all. It remains constant of not thicker. As I get into shape and more lean I want to have that surfer body, you know. I look at a picture now of when I was 17 and just can't believe how I've transformed for the worse over the past couple of years. I don't know why the pictures don't work. I will upload them again. note though on the picture how my feet have no hair. The last time I blowtorched was the 2nd time for my feet and nothing has grown back which is surprising because to me it seemed that of all the hair that might be strong and difficult to get rid of I thought it would have been my feet. When blowtorching I singed myself slightly a few times, but nothing more serious than as if accidentally singing my finger when lighting a cigarette. I will do much more reading but I appreciate you all taking the time to listen.

Motorized epilators rip the hair out, the are often called "epiladys". The hair must be a certain length for them to work.

The $50 home electrolysis units can work, if they use a needle. Do a search on "one touch electrolysis" to find such a device. Remember, it has to use a needle/probe, not electric tweezers. Based on the reports of others, they can work but don't last long and are difficult to work with and the needles they use are not standard electro needles.

The experts here could explain far better than I can, but I can't imagine burning your hair results in anything but temporary (and risky) removal; if you were able to burn the follicle enough with fire to cause coagulation in the follicle you would also burn your skin badly. Laser and electro heat the inside of the follicle. Remember, hair grows in cycles so it may just appear it is coming in lighter.

A rotary epilator has multiple 'tweezers' that rotate rapidly as they pluck the hair from your skin. I have the Braun silk Epil SoftPerfection model 5318. An old post of mine reveals that I purchased this in 2004 from drugstore.com for $60 (free shipping and no tax). It came with a shaver head, and a trimmer attachment which is perfect to get the hair the right length for removal. But, it seems that this model has been discontinued because it is nowhere to be found!

This epilator, however, seems to be similar but with newer features http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=153490&catid=36469

Looking at your pictures, I think you're an excellent candidate for laser because your skin is pale and your hair is dark and coarse. But I do not know much about finding a good laser technician, so I advise you to go through the hairfacts section of laser hair removal, and the hairtell section of laser hair removal.