SKIN 
 

March 2023     Volume 7 Issue 2 
 

(c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by the National Society for Cutaneous Medicine. 745 

COMPELLING COMMENTS 
 

 

Hypertrichosis: The Werewolf Syndrome without a Wolf Pack 
 

Kripa Raj Ahuja MS1   

 
1Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA 
 

 
 

Hypertrichosis is defined as excess hair 
growth on the body that typically spares the 
palms and soles.1 While less than 50 cases 
are reported in the literature, it is important to 
recognize the magnitude of impact this 
disorder creates.1  
 
Sometimes colloquially known as “Werewolf 
Syndrome,” patients with hypertrichosis have 
been recorded since the Middle Age and the 
Renaissance.2 Historically, these patients 
were often exhibited in circuses for their 
peculiarity.2 Unfortunately, the stigma against 
excess hair continues into the modern age.3 
Patients with hypertrichosis not only face 
social isolation and bullying but face 
numerous difficulties finding a job as well as 
finding a spouse.3 Women face a higher 
burden, as it is less socially acceptable for 
women to have excess hair.3 Patients with 
hypertrichosis continue to work in circuses, 
often before they can even walk.3 Many 
women with hypertrichosis are single 
mothers due to partner abandonment.3 With 
no support, they have no choice but to be 
exhibited as a sideshow attraction and 
subject their child to the same fate.3 

 
While there is no permanent cure for 
hypertrichosis2, the lack of an advocacy 
group, patient support network, or formal 
organization presents even greater hardships 
to patients with this disease.3 In a disorder 
characterized by an extremely high social 

stigma, a social network with others facing 
the same difficulties may make a world of 
difference.  
 
As one patient with hypertrichosis 
commented about wolves living in a zoo: 
"Both of our faces are covered in hair, and we 
both live trapped - them in the zoo and me in 
this body," he says. "At least the wolves treat 
me the same as they treat other humans.”3 
 

 
Figure 1. Historical depiction of hypertrichosis. 

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None 
 
Funding: None 
 
Corresponding Author: 
Kripa Ahuja, MS  
Eastern Virginia Medical School  
Phone: (407) 417-1983 
Email: ahujak@evms.edu 

 



SKIN 
 

March 2023     Volume 7 Issue 2 
 

(c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by the National Society for Cutaneous Medicine. 746 

 
References: 
1. De Raeve L, Keymolen K. Congenital 

Hypertrichosis Lanuginosa in a Father and 
Son. Arch Dermatol. 2011;147(6):746. 
doi:10.1001/archdermatol.2011.137 

2. Pavone P, Praticò AD, Falsaperla R, et al. 
Congenital generalized hypertrichosis: the 
skin as a clue to complex malformation 
syndromes. Ital J Pediatr. 2015;41:55. 
doi:10.1186/s13052-015-0161-3 

3. The struggles of the world’s hairiest family. 
BBC News. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-
33978116. Published August 31, 2015. 
Accessed December 17, 2022.