Armpits 4 August

Women growing armpit hair for awareness

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – You've heard of No shave November, or Movember where guys grow out their facial hair to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. Well now there is something sort of similar for the ladies.

For the whole month of August, there's a movement encouraging women to let their hair grow... In their armpits.

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It's appropriately titled 'Armpits 4 August'. If you're first impression is 'no way', 'I would never', give it a second because when you hear more about why this is happening, you may give it a second thought.

"I think it's awesome I think more awareness should be brought up about it," said Melissa Wilson.

Wilson suffers from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS. And through 'Armpits 4 August', women across the globe are hoping to shed light on what she is going through.

"It's not that easy with PCOS cause of all the medication you take and people don't understand the pain... You get painful cysts... The facial hair you can get and all of this and that. People just don't understand that and can be judgemental," said Wilson.

Spikes in hormones are one of the main side effect of PCOS, and that leads to excessive hair growth. That's the reason they want you to let your armpit hair grow. As a way of showing empathy.

"So this one month just to see this is how it is.... It could be... To be in our shoes a little bit to see," said Wilson.

The other side effects from PCOS are much more painful and severe. In fact, Wilson's gorgeous daughter, and the one on the way, are nothing short of a miracle.

"I was told one to two percent chance that would happen. It was a complete blessing cause we spent thousands it can cost alone going to fertility doctors," said Wilson.

So while getting fuzzy and letting it grow during the hottest month of the year isn't ideal, Wilson is hoping some women are brave and kind enough to give it a try.

"We have to deal with all of the time; the hair. It's not just a month for us, it's forever. Laser treatments that cost a lot of money and lots of us don't have that option," said Wilson.

Around one in fifteen women have PCOS. The exact cause is unknown but early diagnosis and treatment may reduce the risk of long-term complications, such as type two diabetes and heart disease.