Many ask the question, “Can growing a beard cause hair loss?” The answer is no, it does not.
Just because you grow a beard, it will not make your hair fall out. However, some scientists claim that there might be a relation between the beard and hair loss. This connection between the beard and hair loss is complicated. Every single part of your body reacts differently to hormonal changes. There is no doubt that while the increase in some hormones might promote hair growth on your face, the high levels of the same hormone might also cause baldness on your scalp.
Firstly, we need to explain the effects of testosterone and DHT levels on your hair follicles to shed light on the relationship between beard and hair loss.
Role of DHT on Facial Hair Growth
There are some ways to prevent hair loss, such as the following:
- Making changes in your diet
- Lowering the stress levels
- Taking good care of your hair
- Some prescribed medications
However, one type of hair loss—the male pattern baldness—is an irreversible situation. The high levels of DHT enzyme in your blood are the cause of the male pattern baldness.
Testosterone is a steroid hormone, and it plays a key factor in male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate. It also has a great impact on the growth of body hair. DHT, an enzyme of testosterone hormone, is more effective than testosterone itself. DHT levels on your blood promote hair growth.
However, high DHT levels in your blood might be responsible for your hair loss as well—if you have genetically DHT-sensitive hair follicles. In other words, while you are losing your hair due to too much sensitivity to DHT levels, your beard can get fuller and thicker because of the exact same reason.
Other Reasons
While it is an unquestionable truth that DHT levels have different effects on your different body parts, there might be other explanations that why the baldness on your scalp makes your beard thicker.
Men with beards have a different level of sweat evaporation compared to men without beards. Basically, bearded men’s sweat evaporates faster than others’. Evaporation is really important to stabilize a certain temperature on your body. This is why your body might make your beard thicker and fuller just to stabilize the temperature on your head in case of hair loss on your scalp.
In the end, there is a slight link between hair loss and beard hair loss. But it surely does not mean the loss of one causes the growth of the other. You might have a full and thick beard while you do not have any hair on your scalp. Or you might have voluminous, thick hair and might experience beard hair loss.
All these just means you do not have to worry about losing your hair if you have a healthy beard.