How To Fix Your Patchy Beard: Tips for Overcoming Uneven Growth
When you're growing a new beard, nothing can be more demoralizing than the dreaded sight of patchy hair. All you want to see on your face is a nice, full beard, but instead, you're met with bald spots that seem like they won't fill in. Don't worry; you're not the only one who deals with this.
Plenty of first-time beard growers constantly ask themselves why their beard looks so patchy at the beginning. It's a normal part of fostering a beard for most men, and there are multiple explanations as to why.
Do you ever catch yourself staring in the mirror, trying to figure out why your beard looks so patchy at the beginning? You might be your own worst enemy here. We naturally expect everything to come in uniform and look the same across our entire face.
That may be how a painter works, but our faces aren't flat canvases. Growing a beard is an art form, and sometimes art takes unexpected directions! Faces are shapely and can create the impression that your beard hair isn't growing in right when, in fact, it looks just fine to everyone else.
Your disappointment may be ill-founded. Facial hair grows differently on your face depending on where it sprouts. The hair on your cheeks grows straight out and falls. The whiskers on your chin will grow straight down. This dynamic variety can give the false impression of patchiness in the early days of a beard.
Your beard hair may be sprouting evenly but falling differently due to its direction or the inevitable power of gravity. Depending on how you shift your sight and move your face, spots causing concern might disappear. In other words, you may be fretting about something that no one else even notices!
Give Things Time
One of the simplest explanations for patchy beard growth issues is "time." Just as with the hair that grows on your head, you may find that some portions of your beard grow slower than the rest. Yes, this can be completely annoying, but the good news is that there's an easy cure: Patience.
If you have a spot that looks a little barren, you may just need to give it some time to fill in on its own. After a few weeks, you may not even notice that troublesome patch anymore. You may need a lot of patience, though.
It can take up to a full month for your beard to grow in fully. One month tends to be the point at which those patches finally get their act together and begin to grow out properly. Again, don't be discouraged by a little unevenness early on in your beard journey. There's no sense in pulling your hair out about a spot that'll grow in on its own.
Get Proper Exercise and Nutrition
If you think what you put in your body and what you do with your body does not affect your beard growth, then think again. Eating healthy food and working out regularly are essential to providing the nutritional elements and blood flow necessary to stimulate hair follicles and promote hair growth.
Everyone knows that eating right and exercising are vital to staying in shape, but did you know that a healthy body also means healthy hair? Exercising induces blood flow throughout your body, and this transports nutrients everywhere it needs to be, including your hair roots. It also promotes your testosterone levels which directly affect hair growth.
What you eat affects your hair growth as well as your hair loss. If your diet consists of junk food, fast food, and a lack of nutrients, you’re not doing yourself any favors in the patchy beard department.
Let’s take a look at what types of exercises and foods are best for beard growth.
Exercise
Staying active affects you physically and mentally. A clear head and increased confidence go a long way when you’re worried about a patchy beard.
Not everyone has time or money for the gym, so we have a few exercises that you can do on your own:
Walking and running are two fairly obvious exercises, but they’re important enough that they bear repeating. Cardiovascular exercises will get blood circulation up and running (pun intended) in no time. Biking is a great alternative if your feet hurt too much.
If you’re not able to walk, run, or bike, then yoga might be for you. This is great because there is a plethora of content online that you can watch in the comfort of your home. In the same hemisphere is strength training. Hit the weights, or just use your body weight.
Whatever you choose to do, the most important thing is to just DO IT!
Nutrition
We are not saying you need to eat less, but we are saying you need to eat more balanced to work on those patchy areas in your beard. Let’s begin with some necessary vitamins and minerals: vitamin B, biotin, vitamin C, vitamin D, iron, and zinc. These nutrients promote hair growth and are typically found in a multivitamin.
Taking a multivitamin supplement isn’t enough, though, because the nutrients need to be paired with substance. Protein is the key ingredient in hair, so it makes sense to include eggs, chicken, turkey, fish, and occasional red meats in your diet.
Eating food like fruit, nuts, cereals, peppers, potatoes, vegetables, milk, spinach, grains, and liver can cover most of your daily intake. If you want to help your beard, eat right.
Other Potential Routes To Look Into
There are plenty of false advertisements out there claiming they have a secret cure for treating hair loss or patchy beards, but we’ll warn you now that people have been saying that for centuries. The truth is there is never a quick fix, but there are ways to help the process along.
We already discussed the big two: exercise and nutrition. However, more remedies have a track record of working for some people. If you’re getting worried, then these are worth looking into.
Peppermint Essential Oil
Buy some peppermint oil-based beard products (diluted to 3%) and apply it to the patchy spots of your beard. Peppermint is shown to not only promote healthy beard growth but also is often used for various illnesses. It’s a great resource to include in your daily skincare and beard care routine.
Microneedling
This is a treatment that continues to gain traction across the world. If your skin is sensitive, this might not be the best route, but it uses tiny needles to stimulate the skin. It is used to promote beard growth as well as keep skin young and smooth.
For an at-home treatment, try a derma roller. The .3mm titanium-coated needles encourage the body to produce nutrient-rich blood and collagen to boost beard growth.
Infrared
This is one to talk to your doctor about, but it does exist. Infrared light therapy promotes hair growth and could help with those stubborn patchy pieces of beard. As with anything, its effectiveness varies from person to person, but it may work for you!
The Beard Club Is Here to Help
Sometimes the answer you get is the one you don't want to hear. If all else fails, your beard may look patchy because that's just how it is. Your beard genetics play a major role in how your face’s furry friend will turn out. Millions upon millions of men suffer from patches around the sideburns and jawline, and it's nothing to be ashamed of.
We know: It can be disheartening news.
But you don't have to give up hope. Unless you’ve got a condition like alopecia barbae, or hair loss of the beard, there's no need to admit defeat and accept a lifetime of patchy facial hair. There are ways to stimulate growth.
The Beard Club is all about conquering basic beard struggles like this. That's why we've come up with a selection of beard accelerators to try and remedy the situation. The Beard Club offers a great array of growth accelerator products, including Beard Growth Vitamin Spray, Beard Growth Oil, and Beard Growth Vitamins.
All of these work to promote healthy beard growth and create the perfect environment for stimulated facial hair growth. If you feel you need a little support in conquering your patchy spots, or you just don't want to deal with the annoyance of looking at that little awkward place on your face, our beard growth kit may be the key to a happier life.
Summary
It's hard not to be your own biggest beard critic. You could be fixating on areas that no one else can see or worrying about a bald spot that'll fill in on its own after a few weeks. But it never hurts to call in reinforcements, and our products may just be the facial fill-in you're looking for.
At The Beard Club, we've got you covered with all the essential men’s grooming products, offering beard wash, beard oils, beard balms, boar's hair beard brushes, beard trimmers, and more to help you in your quest for healthy hair growth. Ultimately, any beard is worth being proud of.
You decided to grow out your facial hair and make it a part of your look, and whatever form that takes gets a round of applause from us. Even if you find it doesn't grow in the way you'd like, all it takes is choosing the right beard style to turn your patchy spots into a custom look to make everyone swoon. Don't give up! We believe in you―and your beard.
There are plenty of styles that work around patchy beards, such as goatees. However, it is understandable if those looks just aren’t what you’re going for, and you want a fuller beard. You’re not alone!
No solution works for every single person, but keep trying, and eventually, you’ll find something that works for you. And if you don’t find something that works, remember that it is not the end of the world. People are unique, and that includes you.
Sources:
Exercise And Your Hair | Family Medicine Center
Peppermint Oil Promotes Hair Growth without Toxic Signs | SpringerLink
