As a woman, finding hair growth above your mouth and on top of your upper lip can be alarming.
But try finding hair growing outside of your gums, on the inside of your mouth.
For one 25-year-old woman from Italy, this was the case.
The rare condition of eyelash-like hairs growing in your mouth, through the gaps in your teeth has only ever been reported in five other people.
This unnamed patient first visited doctors at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Italy for the condition in 2009 and they were met with this very rare case of gingival hirsutism, reports Science Alert.
Doctors diagnosed her with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) which causes excessive hair growth when women show higher testosterone levels.
They surgically removed the oral eyelashes and put her on birth control pills to regulate her hormone levels.
But six-years later her eyelashes in her gums were back.
This time the medical team didn’t just remove the lashes but took samples of the skin where the growth occurred.
Under the microscope, they found hair pushing its way through extremely thick skin which occurs around teeth, according to a report published in the journal Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology.
While it’s hard to say for sure, the researches into her case suggest that since the mucosal tissues inside your mouth are closely related to the tissues that build our skin while we’re in the embryo, it could have resulted in this cross-over, reports Science Alert.
Doctors are still unsure what the exact cause is, but the POCS is definitely a catalyst.
It is unknown if the woman was treated or if she is still dealing with eyelashes growing around her teeth and through her gums.
