The Queen actress Zandile Msutwana recently got candid in an Instagram post about her struggles with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
PCOS is a fertility condition caused by hormone imbalance and metabolism issues which, according to WomensHealth, affects one in 10 women of childbearing age.
But it wasn’t until Zandile noticed that she had excessive hair growth on her face, which was quite pronounced on screen, that she decided to see a doctor.
“Results were back with PCOS, and the first thing he said was I won’t be able to conceive,” she wrote.
The 39-year-old King William’s Town-born actress goes on to reveal how she wasn’t too bothered by her PCOS diagnosis because she wasn’t, “ready to start a family yet anyway” .
READ MORE: Fertility and PCOS
Although she was put on a contraceptive, which was meant to balance out her hormones, Zandile stopped taking the pills and started doing research on how to manage PCOS holistically as well as naturally.
“I’d wax my face to manage the hair, I had a bad reaction to wax then started threading,” Zandile wrote on the different methods she tried in an attempt to manage her excessive hair growth which is caused by PCOS, according to Mayoclinic and scientifically known as hirsutism.
“This was the hardest part for me. So stressful.”
Zandile isn’t the first local celebrity to openly disclose her challenges with PCOS, in an interview on Metro FM TV personality Lalla Hirayama revealed she was diagnosed with the condition at the age of 27.
READ MORE: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
SOURCES: WomensHealth, MayoClinic
