One of the most popular beard styles is rocking a full-grown beard or a stubble with a bald head. Of course, you can achieve a bald head by shaving, but hey, some men just grow bald, especially with age.
I was wondering if, similar to the way the scalp loses hair, beards can also go bald. I conducted some research to find out and would love to share the results with you.
So, can beards go bald? In simple terms, no, beards typically don’t go bald unless affected by alopecia barbae, a condition where the immune system attacks hair follicles. Androgenic alopecia, which causes balding, is driven by dihydrotestosterone, a hormone that actually promotes beard growth. This explains why many, but not all, bald men tend to have beards.
Research on beard thickness with age suggests that balding of the beard does not cause the hair to become thicker. In fact, as men age, their beard hair tends to become sparser and thinner. Factors like genetics, hormones, and overall health play a more significant role in determining the thickness of one’s beard.
Mostly, the highest number of men who go bald happen to have a beard. Is this a coincidence? This is not to say that you have to have a beard for you to go bald.
Table of Contents
What is balding?
Balding is also known as hair loss or alopecia and refers to the loss of hair, either in the head or other parts of the body. There are several forms of balding such as:
Alopecia areata
Alopecia areata which describes sudden hair loss, which begins with circular bald patches which overlap with time.
Telogen effluvium
This form of baldness is caused by stress, stress makes your hair fall. However, the good news is this form of baldness is reversible.
Anagen effluvium
This form of baldness takes place during the anagen growth phase of the hair.
Why can’t men go bald in the beard yet they bald in the head
Male pattern baldness, medically known as androgenic alopecia, is primarily caused by hormonal factors.
Baldness on the head generally results from two factors: genetic predisposition and testosterone levels.
Both beard and scalp hair go through three growth phases: the anagen phase, known as the active growth phase; the catagen phase, where hair growth halts; and finally, the telogen phase, during which hair has reached maturity and begins to fall out.
Baldness in men is caused by dihydrotestosterone (DHT), synthesized from testosterone.
Now, here’s where it gets a bit confusing: DHT promotes beard growth. The more DHT a man has, the more beard they will grow.
However, DHT causes the hair follicles on the scalp to shrink across all three growth phases. Consequently, hair stops growing on the scalp due to the shrinking hair follicles.
This is how the entire process unfolds: within the hair follicles of both the scalp and facial hair, there exist receptors known as androgen receptors.
These receptors bind with DHT, influencing either hair growth or loss. Upon binding, these androgen receptors become activated, causing the hair follicles to shrink.
DHT’s potency surpasses that of testosterone; it binds to androgen receptors twice as rapidly as testosterone does.
Our genetic makeup determines the quantity of androgen receptors present in our bodies. The AR gene is responsible for producing these androgen receptors. Research indicates that the prevalence of the AR gene is directly linked to the extent of baldness.
The same study unveiled that men predisposed to balding possess higher quantities of this gene compared to those not prone to balding.
How does having more AR genes affect beard growth?
Well as mentioned above testosterone is responsible for influencing beard growth.
Based on research, and for reasons that are not yet clear, the androgen receptors located in the facial hair react differently with DHT.
Instead of causing hair loss, they cause facial hair growth. This reason explains why as men age they grow a fuller and thicker beard as the opposite happens in their scalps.
Are there benefits of going bald while you grow a beard?
Studies
suggest that women find bald men with a beard more attractive as compared with their beardless counterparts.
According to the same study, baldness is interpreted to mean that a man is socially mature and bears some form of dominance.
Beard is also associated with masculinity and wisdom. As a man ages they grow more beard, and with age comes more life experience and therefore you become considered wise. Testosterone levels and the sensibility of the androgen receptors affect beard growth and development.
Therefore, instinctively men who have beards are considered strong and hence their offspring are considered to be strong. Evolutionary survival instincts explain why women are attracted to men with beards.
So in case, you are going bald, and you are afraid that you will not appear attractive to your girlfriend. Relax and let your testosterone do the work and help you grow a beard.
You might find that women find you more attractive than before, and even make men who might have laughed and joked at your balding head feel threatened.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the chances that when you grow a beard you will go bald? The more likely a man can grow a beard the more likely he will go bald.
Is there a correlation between beard and hair loss? Yes, based on the above discussion and studies carried out independently, the androgen receptors receptive to DHT in the scalp lead to hair loss and surprisingly promote beard growth.
Does growing a beard increase hair loss? Growing a beard will not necessarily increase hair loss? Hair loss caused by DHT only takes place if your androgenic receptors in the scalp are sensitive to DHT.
