“My beard hurts!” “My beard feels tender!” “My beard itches” “I have irritated skin!” Trust us; we have heard it all before. Many men out there encounter a painful sensation under their beard and in the roots of the beard hairs. If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re one of these men.
As with many of our beard care and beard health articles, the essential part of curing and preventing beard pain is understanding where it comes from in the first place.
So, why does my beard hurt? Common underlying causes of beard pain is lack of moisture and dehydration, resulting in itchiness, dry skin, ingrown hair, and irritated skin. Other more severe beard pain causes include folliculitis, beard acne, and seborrheic dermatitis and may require visiting a dermatologist or your local GP for treatment.
For a long time, I couldn’t find anything on the subject of beard pain and beard care. It is more specific than regular skincare routines, and even dermatology websites lacked detail on the subject. As beard popularity only really started emerging for the first time in recent years, there isn’t much information about this subject.
So, today I’m hoping to change that! If you find this article and you’re struggling with this issue, I hope to help you get past it. We’re going to break down each cause and how to combat it, so strap in and get ready to take on those painful follicles and beard hairs!
Lack of Moisture
Lack of moisture in your beard can lead to all kinds of problems, including painful roots. When your beard dries out, it starts to itch and produce a build-up of flakes and dead skin cells, appearing like beard dandruff (beardruff).
The irritation caused by scratching at your itchy beard will lead to pain and the build-up of dead skin cells, which clog your pores, leading to ingrown hairs and even infected follicles.
A re-moisturizing your beard moisture is unbelievably easy. All you have to do is incorporate a solid beard care routine, including a morning routine for conditions and styling for all bread styles and an evening routine that traps moisture in your beard overnight.
Many high-quality beard care products act as moisturizers for your beard, including the JC Grooming ranges of beard oil, beard balm, and beard butter.
Dehydration
Dehydration causes similar problems as dried out crusty beard does, but its treatment comes from internal hydration.
If you don’t drink enough water or increase your alcohol, coffee, or tea consumption, you may be causing dehydration, dries out your beard and skin beneath it.
Ensure that you’re taking care of yourself, and try to drink at least 103 ounces (13 cups) of water a day to maintain a healthy level of hydration.
Shampoo Residue
When you wash your beard, you need to be extra careful to wash out all of the soap, whether you use a specialized beard shampoo or regular shampoo.
When you leave soap on your beard, it can irritate the roots, leading to dryness, irritation, and flaking.
Simply make sure you spend extra time rinsing out beard wash with warm water after using it, and always follow it up with beard oil to prevent the wash from over-drying your beard.
Natural Oil Build-up
Many men suffer from oily skin, and while beard growth hides the visible symptoms, beard pain reminds us that we may need to change our skincare routine.
A major cause of oily skins and oily beards can be under-washing your beard resulting in your skin overproducing natural oils and over-shedding of dead skin cells. This creates the perfect conditions for yeast and bacteria, which increases skin inflammation under the facial hair.
A common misconception is that beards are dirty. Some studies have found men with beards are less likely to have certain bacteria on their faces than clean-shaven men.
Some people just have naturally oily skin and therefore may benefit from a beard care routine and an oily skin care routine simultaneously to remove the oil build-up.
New Beard Growth
Beard tenderness and beard itch are entirely normal for first-time beard growers and new hair growth.
Often this can confuse first-time beard growers as they want to move away from razor bumps and ingrown hair caused by wet shaving.
The beard pain is usually most prevalent in the morning, but be aware this will eventually go away – practice good beard care, and you will have a lush beard in no time!
Seborrheic Dermatitis
Seborrheic dermatitis is a common skin disease for the scalp and facial hair regions that cause an itchy rash with flaky skin scales. Dermatologists also refer to it as beard dandruff, seborrhea, seborrheic eczema, and seborrheic psoriasis.
Seborrheic dermatitis usually flares up in response to the factors:
- Stress
- An overproduction of yeast living in your beard.
- Certain medicines
- Cold, dry weather exposure
- Medical Conditions
- Genes
It usually clears up itself with a good beard care routine, but some extreme cases require dermatologists’ intervention.
Folliculitis
In more serious cases, there is the potential that the beard pain and sensitivity you’re experiencing is due to a case of folliculitis or infection of hair follicles. This is fairly common but requires careful attention to treat it and prevent it from progressing.
Folliculitis is characterized by clusters of small red bumps or pimples that appear around hair follicles, itchy or burning skin, tender skin, and follicles. Sometimes it presents as large swollen bumps or mass near your hair follicles.
Severe cases of folliculitis will need to be treated by a doctor, possibly with antibiotics, but most cases should go away after a few days.
If you encounter a minor case of folliculitis, avoid shaving the area, clean it thoroughly using antibacterial soap, and avoid contact with the area. If the condition doesn’t go away on its own after a few days, see a healthcare professional.
My beard hurts – So What Can I Do?
Use JC Grooming’s high-quality beard care products
The great news is that beard pain is usually easy to treat through regular beard care routines and high-quality beard care products. Here are three important things to remember about beard pain:
- New Beard growth pain is normal – practice good beard care in the first place, and you will be fine!
- Establish regular beard care routines – morning routine for conditions and styling and evening routine for moisture retention.
- Use high-quality beard care products to moisturize your facial hair, such as beard oil, beard balm, and beard butter
At JC Grooming, we work with 100% natural and organic ingredients and are hand-made in the USA:
- Beard Oil
Our beard oil is a must-have for new beard growers and lush, fully grown beards. We have designed the oil to fights skin irritation, beard-itch, and “beardruff.” It is absorbed into the beard fast to avoid grease and residue. Our beard oil is high-quality, using only the finest natural and organic ingredients and easily added to your beard care routine.
- Beard Balm
Our beard balm is a high-quality beard conditioner with an enriching formula to revitalize your beard hair and roots, perfect for any beard style. JC Grooming beard balm quickly melts in your palm for a smooth velvety texture; high concentrations of organic jojoba oil and shea butter make the perfect moisturizer for your beard.
- Beard Butter
Our beard butter is a perfect addition to your morning beard care routine with all organic ingredients rich with shea butter, jojoba oil, and argan oil that prevents drying out. Use a beard comb to style any way you please. It is infused with essential natural oils for fragrance and nourishment.
Painful tender beard hairs are common but, fortunately, are simple to treat. Take care of yourself and make sure you identify the cause and treat it appropriately. And the painful beard hairs will start to take care of themselves! Simply put, for most cases of painful beard follicles, a proper beard care routine and healthy levels of hydration will get rid of those painful beard hairs.
In Conclusion
Painful tender beard hairs are common but fortunately are simple to treat. Take care of yourself and make sure you identify the cause and treat it appropriately and the painful beard hairs will start to take care of themselves! Simply put, for most cases of painful beard follicles, a proper beard care routine and healthy levels of hydration will get rid of those painful beard hairs.
