This site is supported by our readers. We may earn a commission, at no cost to you, if you purchase through links.
If you’re one of the many men who suffer from beard itch, you’re probably wondering how to get rid of your itchy beard for good.
There are a lot of reasons why your beard might itch, from simple things like dry skin to more serious conditions like fungal infections.
But don’t worry; while there are many potential causes of beard itch, there are also a few simple steps you can take to get rid of it for good and get your beard back to being soft, smooth, and itch-free.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the most common causes of an itchy beard, and also, we’ll share 7 steps on how to stop beard itch for good.
Table Of Contents
What Causes Beard Itch?
There is no fight against itching unless you find out what causes this annoying condition in the first place. Several factors are known to cause itching.
Among them, there are two main reasons why an itchy beard occurs. The factor that determines this is the beard growth phase.
In other words, beard itch can occur when you grow a beard and when your facial hair is fully grown.
You get a beard itch when a beard grows after a long shave. Believe it or not, this happens because you’ve shaved your entire life.
Shave & New Beards
If you’ve been shaving your whole life, your skin is used to being hair-free. Regular shaving leaves a sharp edge on any cut hair. The closer you shave, the sharper the edge.
As long as you shave regularly, this is fine, and the problems start when you stop shaving and grow a beard.
Recommended Reading:
As the hair grows, scrape the sharp edges of the hair against the edges of the follicle.
That’s a recipe for itching. This itching occurs during the stubble phase.
Dry Skin
The skin under your beard becomes drier as your beard grows because the skin’s natural oils run out partially due to the sudden appearance of unshaven whiskers. The increased drought leads to itching, and the other partner in the crime: is beard dandruff. It is not a feel-good or look-good combination.
Ingrown hair
When a shaved or cut hair grows inward, back into the follicle, it is called ingrown hair.
The resulting irritation can ignite the follicle and cause itching. Ingrown hairs usually appear as red bumps that can be itchy and painful.
Other Reasons for Beard Itching
As you can see, the reasons behind beard itch are many.
Some of the most common are: dry skin, dead skin cells, ingrown facial hair, poor beard care, stress, poor nutrition, split beard tips, and no beard care.
7 Steps On How To Stop Beard Itch
Itching can be a problem if you’re just starting to grow your beard or it’s already fully grown.
Fortunately, fighting to itch is quite easy.
Here are the seven steps to keep your beard soft, healthy, and itch-free. These techniques work on beards of any type, age, and height.
1. Wash & Cleanse
You need to clean your beard regularly if you want to get rid of itching. First, your face sheds dead skin cells every day, and they come together on your beard if you don’t wash them away.
Then there’s the dirt, grime, food, etc. That will stick to your whiskers if you don’t do anything about it. And removed in the beard.
Use a high-quality beard shampoo or wax: don’t use your regular shampoo because the detergents are too harsh; scrub it deeply on the skin with your fingertips.
Rinse it off with lukewarm water (the same temperature as the water you want to wash it with), which helps open up your skin pores.
We can’t stress enough how important it is to use a shampoo designed for your beard, not the things you use on your head. The harsh cleansers and fragrances can take away your skin’s natural oils, which can easily lead to a dry, itchy beard.
2. Conditioning Your Beard
A beard conditioner has a similar function to a hair conditioner.
The difference is that a beard conditioner uses ingredients designed for facial hair that are different from your hair; your facial skin is also much more sensitive than the scalp.
Beard conditioners come in a variety of forms, the most popular being balms/butter and shower conditioners.
When choosing a conditioner, ingredients are more important than a brand. There are many essential / carrier oils, and I know it can be confusing. To make it easy for you, I recommend choosing a conditioner with Argan or Jojoba as the main ingredients.
Argan is an extract of the Argan tree that softens and thickens facial hair. Jojoba is a liquid wax that resembles your skin’s natural oils. Both ingredients help reduce tangles and breakage by making the hair thicker and more robust.
A good conditioner soothes your beard, reduces itching, detangles facial hair, moisturizes, and nourishes your beard.
Depending on the conditioner you chose: in the shower or balm. If it is a balm, it is a good idea to apply it before going out for the day.
3. Keeping Your Beard Moisturized
The job of a beard conditioner is to nourish a beard, while beard moisturizers are responsible for moisturizing the skin under the beard, which is often dry and prone to dandruff.
If your skin is not properly hydrated, your body will produce extra oil as soon as your skin is too dry to protect it. Pimples and beard itching occur at this point.
As so often said, in the early stages of beard growth, beard itching is a common thing. It usually lasts a week or two, but some men may take a little longer.
The good news is that you don’t have to clench your teeth and wait until the itching phase is over.
Good beard oil can even reduce or eliminate itching at first.
Less is more when it comes to beard oil, so a few drops are enough. After just a few days, beard oil reduces itching and softens your facial hair.
Recommended Reading:
Hydrate your beard daily with some premium beard oil. This keeps your beard hydrated and adds a great masculine fragrance.
4. Brush Your Beard
There are many, many reasons to brush your beard regularly, including that it can reduce itching and scratching.
- A top-quality beard brush, like a boar beard brush, has bristles of different lengths to ensure you capture hair at every level with every move.
- Beard brushes promote hair growth and help prevent hair loss. That’s because the bristles of a brush gently massage the skin while increasing blood flow to the hair follicles, allowing dormant hair follicles to become productive. Reduce and eliminate. A brush works as a useful conditioning tool.
- A brush loosens your beard’s knots, tangles, and curls and changes the texture to look fuller and straighter. Doing so will reduce irritation and itching.
- A brush also helps keep your beard clean by removing any loose dirt and debris left over after you wash your beard. As we discussed earlier, dirt, grime, and other impurities entering your beard can lead to itching.
- Beard brushes also have many other benefits, including making it easier to style the beard and give it a good shine. Because of the way it spreads your skin’s natural oils (or beard oil you applied manually).
You can and should also use a beard comb as part of your grooming routine. A quality beard comb: not the cheap plastic type: it is soft on your beard and makes it easier to shape your beard in your favorite style. However, a beard brush is more effective at fighting itching than a beard comb, at least in the long run.
Nevertheless, regular combing will remove weak hair that can irritate while stimulating hair follicles and blood flow to create a healthier way to help create a beard.
5. Trim Your Beard
Regular trimming will keep your beard looking neat and itch-free.
When you first grow your beard, you don’t want to trim for 8-12 weeks. That gives your beard enough time to develop thickness and fill in any patchy areas.
Beard scissors are great for detail work. Many men notice that their mustache grows slightly faster than the hair on their cheeks. A cutting (stache with scissors is an easy way to create a uniform look all over your face.
High-quality clippers with adjustable settings allow you to keep your beard at a fixed length.
A short, smooth cut is often a great look for a professional environment.
If you trim your beard with clippers, start with a more significant clip number and finish according to personal preference.
6. Medicating
If the cause of an itchy beard is an underlying skin condition, a doctor can prescribe medications to address the problem.
Common medications are:
- Ointment or cream containing lactic acid and urea. This helps treat dry skin.
- Mupirocin (Bactroban) to fight bacterial infections.
- Antifungal cream to treat fungal infections.
- Corticosteroid cream if the cause is non-infectious.
- Hydrocortisone, clobetasol (Cormax), or desonide (Desonate) can be prescribed to treat seborrheic eczema if the inflammation is non-infectious.
- Ketoconazole (Nizoral), if the cause of seborrheic eczema, is a fungal infection.
- Glycolic acid (Neo-Strata) for the treatment of pseudofolliculitis barbae.
- Topical antifungal treatment to treat mild cases of tinea barbae. Oral antifungal medication, such as itraconazole or terbinafine, is also helpful.
7. Eat & Live Healthy
The health of the beard starts from the inside. With a healthy body, you get a healthy beard.
Good general habits help your beard get a full, luxurious look.
First, you want a diet rich in beta carotene, vitamin D, and biotin.
Your body converts beta carotene into vitamin A, which promotes healthy sebum. Vitamin D stimulates new hair growth by creating new hair follicles. Finally, biotin helps your body make keratin, a protein found in hair and nails.
You can find these nutrients in various fruits and vegetables. If you don’t like plants, many supplements and vitamins on the market will work well too.
Healthy living helps create a healthy beard.
- Avoid excessive stress
- Rest sufficiently
- Drink plenty of water
- Avoid smoking. Not only is smoking terrible for your health but the smelly cigarette
odors can get stuck in your beard hair long after the cigarette is extinguished
FAQs About Beard Itch
How Long Does Beard Itch Last?
The good news is that itching is temporary in the vast majority of cases. It may seem like it lasts forever when it’s at its peak, but it’s usually over in one to three weeks as your whiskers grow longer and are replaced with new follicles that don’t have sharp, jagged edges due to shaving.
That is not to say that itching cannot return as it happens when your skin and facial hair get dry, but following the steps above will fix the problem before it becomes unbearable. And most beard men will tell you that the worst itching occurs during the initial growth stages.
How do you stop itching when you grow a beard?
Same as said, use a high-quality beard oil (or balm, if you prefer). Another thing you can do is inspect your beard a few times a week to find ingrown hairs.
Ingrown hairs are also known as the cause of itching, so you should treat them early with tweezers.
That way, you kill two birds with one stone: ingrown facial hair and excessive beard itch.
How to stop your beard itch with home remedies
A healthy lifestyle is the best natural remedy for beard itch. You know what this means.
If you want a healthy, strong, and itchy beard, avoid stress, make sure you drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest, and quit smoking. If you do all these bad things, expect an itchy beard.
A crucial home remedy to master the ability to stop beard itch is proper nutrition. Admit you saw it coming.
Your diet should contain the right vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Start with the best-known natural hair growth supplement: biotin.
Conclusion
If you’re one of the many men who suffer from beard itch, don’t despair – there are ways to get rid of it for good.
The first thing you should do is try to identify the cause. It could be due to dry skin, ingrown hairs, or fungal infection. Once you know the cause, you can take steps to treat it.
If your itch is due to dry skin, you can try using beard oil or conditioner to hydrate your skin. You can try using a warm compress to help open up the hair follicles if it’s due to ingrown hairs. And if it’s due to a fungal infection, you can try using antifungal cream.
There are plenty of solutions to fix itching: solutions that keep you on track to grow the kind of beard you’ve always wanted. We hope that the above (remedies) will help you how to stop beard itch.
Growing a beard is a significant obligation. But with the right preparation, you can avoid significant problems.
And you? Have you experienced beard itch? What did you do to fight it? As always, we welcome your comments.
- baldingbeards.com
- beardoholic.com
- wisebeards.com
