Beards are all the rage lately. Rather than sticking to Movember or No-Shave-November, they’re sported all year round now. A full, thick beard, in particular, has gained popularity.
Something that’s also been quite noticeable is that some men with beard don’t have a head of hair to match it. Is it possible that having a beard increases your risk of hair loss or is this just a wild conspiracy theory?
Not All Hair Is the Same
You would think that your ability to grow a head of hair would be in direct proportion to your ability to grow a beard. You’d be wrong though. As it turns out, facial hair and scalp hair are different.
The hair on your face comes from testosterone levels, meaning if you have higher testosterone levels your beard will be longer. The same can’t be said for the hair on your head though. The hair on our head comes from the quality of our hair follicles.
How Are They Linked Then?
The idea that having a beard increases your risk of hair loss is not as wild as it sounds. The scientific evidence has to do with temperature rates.
A 1988 study was conducted to determine whether having a thick beard threw the body temperature off. It’s thought that this led to baldness or thinning hair. The researchers found that sweat evaporated quicker on their bearded test subjects.
They found that this was due to temperatures in the face affecting the frontal lobe. Apparently, having a thicker beard can make your face hotter, which would raise that temperature. The researchers hypothesized that this higher temperature is what caused bearded men to go bald or develop thinning hair.
In Conclusion
So there you have it. It’s possible that having a beard increases your risk of hair loss.
