In this empowering episode of PCOS Unfiltered: Nourish, Heal, Thrive, I sit down with Hannah, a licensed electrologist and laser technician who specializes in helping women with PCOS tackle one of the most frustrating and emotional symptoms: unwanted hair growth. Together, we dive into how chronic stress, hormonal imbalances, and lifestyle factors contribute not only to PCOS symptoms like hirsutism but also to the bigger picture of women's health. From the connection between cortisol and insulin resistance to the emotional toll of shame, Hannah and I offer both personal stories and practical strategies to break the cycle. We explore holistic approaches for managing stress, from meditation and movement to float tanks and daily mindset shifts, while reminding listeners that healing is not just possible—it’s deeply personal and absolutely worth pursuing. Whether you're newly diagnosed or have been on this journey for years, this conversation will leave you feeling more seen, supported, and empowered to take the next step toward healing.
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🔗 Connect with Hannah at Tampa Bay Laser if you're in the Tampa Bay area — click HERE.
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🎧 Recommended Episodes to Pair With This One:
Episodes 1, 2, and 3 (3-part mini-series) on insulin resistance & its link to PCOS
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Let’s keep nourishing, healing, and thriving—together.
#UnfilteredAndUnstoppable
(0:01 - 0:53) Hey there and welcome back to PCOS Unfiltered, where we ditch the fads and get real about healing with PCOS. I'm your host, Lindsay, and today's episode is extra special because I'm joined by Hannah, a licensed electrologist who specializes in PCOS. We're diving into combining laser hair removal with other wellness practices, and you're going to walk away with real-world insights, a few laughs, and lots of empowerment. So let's jump in. Hello, hello. So today we are addressing a topic that I feel like comes up, like it always kind of intertwines with a lot of stuff, and that's stress along with the PCOS and unwanted hair growth.
(0:53 - 7:59) So as if you're here, you might be, you might have had a diagnosis of PCOS. You may have kind of heard it tossed around and might be thinking you might have something like that. So polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS is a condition that affects, I mean, I've heard anywhere from like 8% to like 20 some percent of women of reproductive age. I honestly think it could be even more than that, but yeah, right. And one of its most distressing symptoms is hirsutism, which is that excessive hair growth in areas where men typically grow hair. I feel like for women, it especially manifests on the face, but it could also be on the chest or the back. And studies indicate that it occurs in about 70 to 80% of women with PCOS. So what's the link between stress and this symptom? Chronic stress can exacerbate hormonal imbalances leading to those increased androgen levels, which is androgen is something like testosterone, which can in turn trigger or worsen hirsutism. So joining me today is Hannah and she's a licensed esthetician specializing in laser hair removal for women with PCOS. And together we are going to talk about how stress influences hormonal health and hair growth, share some personal stories and just discuss holistic approaches to managing these challenges. So Hannah, do you want to also kind of just tell us a little bit about yourself as well? I'm a licensed electrologist that specializes in laser. I am a laser certified technician also, and that can be hair removal, tattoo removal, skin rejuvenation. It's kind of a variable certification. I've been in the, in this industry for 19 years. I've been in the beauty industry for 27, 28. So I've, I've seen a lot. I've been around a lot. I've heard a lot. It's, it's rough out there. I started my business doing laser hair removal four years ago. It's called Tampa Bay laser. And I am so honored and privileged to be able to help people on my own terms and do it how I feel is best and in a very comfortable, safe, loving environment. And it's not a cold medical office, medispa feel it's, I want it to feel like you're walking into a home and you're hanging out with me basically. And I get that a lot from clients. Clients are like, you know, I really feel like I could go just grab a beer with you and just continue this conversation. And that's really what I want. I want people to come in and be able to talk to me about things that they don't normally talk about with others. And that's, that's been my goal and intention for this. And then I get to meet amazing people like Lindsay, and we kind of keep that conversation and we're trying to make this all more public and help people be more aware and to be less vulnerable about whatever the situation is, not just hair growth, but just life in general. Yeah. Very true about the space too. I love the space. Yeah. It is very welcoming. I just feel like you get that holistic feel like you're not just, yeah. Getting treatment, you know, for a symptom, like you try to cover all of that. So I love that too. So let's get started. So first question from your perspective, how often do you see stress show up physically in your clients, especially those with PCOS? Well, in my experience, there's always some sort of traumatic experience that happens to someone that really brings on symptoms for them. And I mean, stress could be work. It could be family related. It could be your spouse. There's so many different stress variables and it really can trigger a lot of things, but cortisol is one of them. And that triggers that your cortisol level to kind of rise. I personally have been in that boat for a long, long time. And that's why I, why I like talking about this with people, because a lot of people don't connect things and don't connect what's happening with them. So when I sit and have a consultation with someone, I actually will ask like, what's stressing you out? You know, where can we shift that and help take away that stressor? And everybody has a major reason, death in the family, a divorce. It's always something very, very significant that's causing them stress. It's just a matter of them learning ways to help their body not hold onto the stress. For sure. Yeah. There's, I want to say a theory, maybe a theory, I guess, but there is some tie, especially as you talk to more women, but there can be some tie to a loss and the manifestation of PCOS, which we can go down that road hole and I'll have that safe for another, another episode, but yeah. And you kind of hit it on as well. So you kind of have, I kind of put them in like three categories where you kind of have like environmental stress, emotional stress, and physical stress. And so the environment could be just some of the things that we can't even control, just what's in the air, that type of thing, but even just your laundry detergents, your soaps, your cleaners that you use at home. And then emotionally, like you kind of touched on with could be a spouse, just personal life, you know, work life, whatever's going on there. And then you have the physical, which I feel like is where the nutrition plays a role and where you're eating, maybe some of the foods that could be increasing your stress levels because either you're sensitive to them or they're overly processed. And then of course you can tackle that in the other sense of eating the foods that can help, you know, decrease your stress. So, so yeah. And then you mentioned cortisol, excuse me, which yes, that's that stress hormone that I feel like gets talked about a lot. I feel like I've just been seeing, I don't know if it's like kind of becoming the big thing or maybe it's maybe I'm getting targeted ads for my age, but I do feel like I'm seeing more talking about cortisol, cortisol, and I'm like, this isn't a new thing, but yeah, for women with PCOS, especially it plays huge that huge phase way up there. And it's really, if you don't pay attention there, it's really hard for it to be brought down. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And yeah, I mean, it's elevated. It can actually increase insulin resistance. We could talk more about that of course, as well. Check out my first few episodes to learn all about insulin resistance instead of going down that rabbit hole as well. But yeah, that can actually worsen insulin resistance. And as we know, it's insulin resistance is a, can be a root cause of a lot of PCOS symptoms. So let me see. So yeah, well it could be, I mean, the daily stress, like I talked about, it just, it kind of like, I feel like just forms this vicious cycle because yeah, you're not getting enough sleep, helping your body recover, actually like, you know, promoting the, you know, the normal cycle of your cortisol levels.
(8:00 - 16:11) And then you kind of start the day and what do we do? A lot of the times we jump on our phone first thing in the morning, right? Turn on the TV, like start thinking about all these things that stress your body out more and your body just can't ever seem to recover. And then you go to bed like that. And again, you don't get the rest and yeah, it just keeps going on and on. And all that of course contributes to the insulin resistance as well. And that leads you down the symptoms of hormonal imbalances, you know, leading to irregular cycles and all that stuff as well. So yep. Yep. And of course acne, all that stuff, hair loss too on our heads. That's another thing that can happen there. I mean, our body is a very amazing machine device, however you want to look at it. And it really knows what to do and how to function. And it adapts as best as it possibly can, depending on, you know, I mean, but it's always knows we need to be surviving. So it's trying to keep us surviving. So it's really fascinating how it will adapt. Even if you look at someone and you go, you're eating diet, diet Coke and McDonald's every day, how is it possible that your body is functioning? Well, your body is adapting because it has to, it's going to survive. It has to no matter what. So, but keeping it there, eventually that's when heart disease, heart attacks, high cholesterol, blood pressure, depression, anxiety, when that's when all of those things start to come into play. I just heard a clip or watched a clip. I was on the Jay Shetty podcast and I loved, I don't know, I didn't catch like who the guest was, but I loved what she said because she said a lot of the times when we have all these symptoms, you know, the acne and the, the hair changes and rashes and eczema and like a variety of things, especially on the skin, instead of saying, what is my body trying to tell me? Right. Right. We just get angry and we want to like isolate it and try to like figure out when we should be like thinking, okay, so what's going on internally. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Our body's constantly showing us stuff and it's just a matter of being aware and knowing. Yeah. And I have to say, you think outside, you have to think outside the box. You can't just think like, oh, I have a rash. It needs ointment. Like you need to think what else is happening. Is my gut okay? Are my poops going good? Is that normal? Like, is it my gut? Like you really have to start being proactive for yourself and your health. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I get like so frustrated when I hear these commercials for these like body sprays, they're like by like formulated by gynecologists and stuff. And it's like, no, yeah. Like let's not just cover it up. Like let's work to actually find out what's going on. And instead they're promoting a product that's just covering up a symptom that could be telling you something is really going on here. Definitely. Yeah. I mean, I've had my own, like before I realized I couldn't have gluten for the longest time I was having, I get like just kind of red blotchy, like feel like my face was on fire. Sometimes I remember even like my hairstylist, sometimes like my scalp would be like a little red and inflamed. They would say, you know, didn't really think a whole lot of it. But now like looking back, I'm like, I think those were some of those early signs and I just wasn't listening. So I don't know if you, you know, I'm sure you've had lots with your clients and maybe even yourself if you want to share some that stick out to you. Yeah. I mean, I feel like I'm having this conversation almost every day with clients when I'm working, you know, they come in and, and I'll ask what other symptoms are you having? You know, I, it's almost like I'm having like a medical or a physical consultation with them, but I want them to be aware that there's connections to things. So when they tell me, you know, oh, I have this hair growth and I asked, well, you know, when did it start? How long have you had it? What do you think triggered it? And then, you know, I'll do like a full quick exam, physical exam on them, you know, visual exam. And, you know, they might have acne. They might have, you know, they might be a little overweight and, or they seem stressed out. And so I talk about that, all of that with them. And I always, you know, how can we fix this art? And a lot of it is based on nutrition. You know, what are you eating? What are you consuming? Are you, what are you drinking enough water? Are you drinking proper water? That's actually hydrating you. That is a huge thing. Are you drinking out of plastic all the time? I mean, it's so interesting what's happening right now out there in the world that we have to kind of combat and recognize and understand that there's so many things that are not really good for us that we're consuming or doing on a regular basis. And again, back to the body showing you like, Hey, something's not right. And people don't know about a functional medicine doctor or physician or NP that they could see and talk from a functional medicine standpoint, not just going, you know, they'll tell me, oh, I went to my guy and she said, don't worry about it. That's age or, oh, we don't do hormones. You don't need them. It's fine. You know, there's a lot of blowing off in the medical community. They have, you have your list of things and they're like, well, that's just, you're over 40. So it's normal. Like, but is it normal though? Yeah. Yeah. That's one thing I was talking to my gynecologist and I told her like what I was doing and she's like, you know, yeah, they can just be managed. They can just be managed. Well, you know, as long as they take their medicines and I was like, okay, I don't, I'm not going to have this conversation with you clearly, because yeah, I think like the first step is just having an open mind and being open to exploring whether, whether, yeah, whether you work with a functional medicine doctor or not, there's so much stuff out there that you can still learn on your own. And once you kind of start like having an open mind and yeah. And start digging in, you start realizing like, oh yeah, there is more I can do on my own without just taking this pill and all the side effects along with it for the rest of my life, you know, and then dealing, like you said, with all the emotional things that go along with that, you know, too. So yeah. So what about shame? Like, how does like, do you see a lot of shame that kind of plays a role in this too? And of course that can tie into the stress aspect too, because if these women are feeling shame as they're experiencing this and thinking like they're stuck with this, you know, like prison sentence, basically. So yeah. What kind of conversations do you have around that? I mean, well, shame starts when we're little, right? Like it, it starts in our childhood and we're trained on a certain way, a certain thing. You know, when I was little, I wasn't allowed to be naked. Like it was not, it didn't happen. You know, you always stay dressed and stay clothed. So I was very ashamed of my body becoming an adult because that's how I was taught that it wasn't really normal and okay to accept my body as is without clothes. We have done that with social media, unfortunately, and with movies and what's normal and what's not normal, you know, is a size 12 normal or a size zero normal? Is hair growth on the underarms normal on our legs? We've developed this, what is or what isn't. And so yes, is hair on your chin as a woman normal? No, it's definitely not something that we should have. One hair will populate every now and again from some sort of hormone fluctuation. That is normal. Our bodies hormonally change about every five years. So it is completely natural for your body to show you like, Hey, something's going on. But for you to have a full goatee or a full beard, definitely something that is not normal.
(16:11 - 18:10) So of course, because it isn't normal, we are going to be ashamed about it. Is it wonderful to have facial hair as a female? No, absolutely it is not. Is there something we can do about it though? Absolutely. We definitely can permanently remove the hair growth on any body part, but definitely on the face in different ways. But it's really digging in and learning to just really love ourselves as we are. And things will flow and be taken care of normally and naturally as long as we do accept that. And then all of a sudden we won't notice the hair. I had one client come in and even after just one session, she, you know, I, with laser, you're removing about 10% of growth. She had one session with me. I saw her a month later and she would let the hairs grow for like a week or so before she would see me because she felt so confident in the way I made her feel when she came in for her first session with me that she didn't have to worry as much and be so self-conscious about the hair growth. And just that one, one month period that she was with me and it, but again, it's back to just learning to love yourself as you are. And then things, shame and guilt will kind of just fall away and not be present anymore. Really. I love that. Yeah, it does. It goes back to how we're raised and you know, yeah, which that can even go back generations when you think about it. So yeah, I mean, it's really just about being empowered and like being able to advocate, you know, for yourself. And like I said, you don't have to I'm still learning tons of stuff every day. I mean, I'm sure you are too. Right. And so, yeah, but just, just being able to accept that. Cause the more you stress out about that stuff, it's like, even like what I tell when I work with women, you know, trying to lose weight, I'm like, the more you stress about the scale, you're not going to be able to lose the weight. You're stressing your body out more. You're raising those cortisol levels.
(18:10 - 23:02) Your body does not feel safe to release the weight. So yeah, similarly, they have to accept it and know that yes, it can get better, but it doesn't happen overnight either. Yeah, for sure. So what are some of your like go-to stress management tools that you recommend to your client? Good. So I definitely love my massages. That's one of the things that I realized has helped me, but I have so many random things that I love that help relax me. I make sure I go on a walk every day, even if it's for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. I throw my earbuds in. I listen to music. I listen to a podcast. I listened to a really good book to just kind of get out of my mind and just kind of get present in my body and walk and moving my body around meditating. That is a huge thing. It has been my lifesaver really over the last five years or so. I've really been digging into meditation. There's so many guided meditations that are free on YouTube and you literally can do anything that you could possibly imagine. If you're angry, you could do an anger meditation to help release your anger. If you have anxiety, you can do an anxiety meditation. They don't have to be long. They can be five minutes. I love a 15 to 20 minute meditation because I feel like I drop in and can really fully relax in that timeframe. This is a weird one because not a lot of people have heard of it, but I love a float tank. It's really, really concentrated salt water that you're floating in that your body just naturally will float in. Usually it's in a pod. You can keep the lid open. You can close the lid. You can be in with the light on, with the lights off, with music on, with music off, but I have actually slept in a float tank. I have fallen asleep in there and it has helped calm my nerves and my nervous system so incredibly deeply. You just have to be okay with water, but if you're a water baby and you love being in the water, then once you close your eyes, it's just the most relaxing, amazing experience ever. I love that. I've not done the float tank, but we definitely did, I don't remember, I think it was somewhere in California, but it was similar, but it definitely wasn't like that. Oh, it's so good. Man, I want it dark. I want no music on. I want silence. I start meditating for myself while I'm in there and I just get in the zone and I literally feel like I'm floating out the door when I'm leaving and my whole body is just like, it hits so much harder than a massage has ever hit for me. I have to have massages for my physical body, for my muscles because of what I do and they have never been relaxing for me. I have never been so deeply zen before a float tank. This is just like next level relaxation. So there are places floating around that you have to find, but a lot of wellness places will do like a sauna. They do red light therapy, the cold plunge, the freezer, the cryo, and then the float tank and really all of those combined together. If you really start getting on a really good regimen with that, that's very life-changing for all parts of your body. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Those are all great ones. I've done the cold plunge with the sauna, like kind of alternating back and forth. One for me, so I kind of like go through spurts. I feel like where I need like yoga to cope with stress. And then other times I want to just like run because I run most days anyways, but sometimes I'm like mentally, I just need to run. But either way, it's usually like walking, like you said, even if it's just a quick walk, that's great. Put on something that you enjoy, whether that's the music or podcast or book or something that you can just kind of like tune out to, or if it's actually some type of exercise, more intense, like that's great too. And then yeah, breathing, which I think I talked about on the last one, but even just taking those deep breaths. Yeah. Like a minute, like two, three times a day, at least to start, because while I do recommend meditation as well, sometimes jumping into like 10, 15 minutes isn't always ideal for people. So just taking those deep breaths a few times a day and journaling, again, that can be like a love-hate relationship for some people, but just jotting down a couple things, like just a couple of things. You don't have to fill up a page. You can do it on your phone, even if that helps, you know, that's always great too, just to kind of get some of that stuff in your head out for sure. Yeah. I did probably one of the, like, yeah, one of the best things I did, it was a yoga and hypnosis session. Oh my gosh. I don't think I've like, kind of like you probably in the float tank, like some deep, my heart rate was probably the lowest it's ever been.
(23:03 - 23:12) That's amazing. Yeah. So definitely, I mean, there's options where you can, you could do things for free or you can, you know, pay a little bit and treat yourself for something like that.
(23:13 - 28:16) Save up and treat yourself down the road, but there's definitely a lot of free options too. You don't have to go out and spend money to still help with your, you know, with your stress too, for sure. Absolutely. So I think we've covered a lot of stuff here. I mean, anything as far as like, you know, kind of going back to this, tying in the stress thing, but as far as like either harsh chemicals or harsh beauty products that anything like that sticks out that you would not recommend or that you talk to your clients about that can add to the stress and the environmental sense, you know, that you find that like women are using a lot of or anything like that. Yeah. I mean, I definitely touch base about skincare products. Usually sunblock is the main thing that I talk about because, you know, during laser procedures process, you have to avoid the sun and be cautious of sun exposure. So I definitely encourage and push a mineral based sunscreen, but I definitely am kind of a hippie. So I prefer anything as natural as possible. So even in all the skincare world, something that's very, very simple and it doesn't have a lot of ingredients, I'm really tapping into a lot of local small business options. I mean, our skin is our biggest organ, right? So I mean, it absorbs anything that we put on it. So when you think about our skin being a sponge, it is really crucial that you're putting good clean products, like she was talking about environmental stresses with your laundry detergent, with the household cleaners, all of those play a role in stress and in our body. Yeah. Yeah. To kind of wrap it up, do you have any final message that you want just any woman or any woman with PCOS to hear to connect kind of the hair growth and, you know, and or hair loss piece to stress? It's really okay to be where you are. It's not a forever thing. It's temporary. You just have to be able to find the right people that can help you in your journey. And once you do find those people, I mean, it has to it can be anyone and everyone will play a small role. But once you find those key people that can can kind of leave you and help you and and like you said, there's options nutrition, you know, feed yourself really, really well. I mean, that's a that's a huge thing. And just looking at your regimen, your daily routine of things that you're you're using, you're consuming, you know, if you're on your screen 50 hours a day, you know, and you're eating McDonald's every day, then you need to look at that and think, you know, how can I become my best self? And yeah, it sucks being in the stress of it and feeling icky and feeling all the feels with PCOS. But once you find people that that are in tuned and can really help your body and can help your mind get into a more positive mindset, knowing that this is only temporary, and that there are things that you can do to help yourself and have long term benefit, then I mean, it could be completely life changing for you. You just have to know that yes, it is temporary. It's just a phase in your life that you're going through. And who knows that phase could be something that you could use and help towards another person down the road. You know, every part of my journey that I've been on has led me to amazing mentors and has led me to amazing people that I'm able to reach and touch and have a conversation with. So you have to look at it from a bigger picture too, that it's not just like, oh, I'm feeling really bad in this moment. And I, how can I get out of it? There are people and resources that will get you there. And once you do, you'll, you'll, you'll be amazing. Yeah, that's great. I'll piggyback off that a little bit. Yeah, definitely like just one small change every day. So whether that means taking the minute to, you and seeing the benefits from that, you know, maybe getting off your screens first thing in the morning, limiting your screen time or bedtime at night to just some of those like small changes and can accumulate and you're going to start feeling better. And then you're going to make the next small change. And it just kind of keeps going from there. But I love what you said about also just surrounding yourself with the right people, because that is huge, huge. I feel like, especially for women with PCOS, because you kind of get in this like victim mindset, doctor says you have PCOS and they're like, yeah, it's a lifelong condition. So you're already kind of set up in that mindset, but you can do so much. But if you continue to talk to other women that have that same mindset, you're going to be stuck. You're going to just going to feel stuck there. So you've got to really open your mind and then start, start exploring and seeing who else is out there that has that, that same, you know, thought process and is willing to heal and, and go on that journey with you. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, I think that's all we have for today. So I really, really appreciate you taking the time to do this with me. If you are in the Tampa Bay area, I will post Hannah's information to go check out her location in the show notes.
(28:17 - 28:56) And yeah, until next time. Thanks again. Have a great one. I love our talks. They're so good. Wow. What an amazing conversation. I hope you're feeling as inspired and empowered as I am a big thanks to Hannah today for sharing her time, her wisdom, and her heart with us. She will be back for future episodes. And if you are in the Tampa Bay area and would like to connect, I will post her information in the show notes. If you love today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, share it with a friend who needs to hear it and leave a quick review. It helps us even more amazing women just like you until next time. Keep nourishing your body, healing your heart and thriving unfiltered and unstoppable.