Why Is My Beard Growing So Slow & Can I Speed It Up

Having bushy and long facial hair is not only a sign of masculinity.

It has become one of the premier styling choices in the modern era as a lot of men are really prideful of their beards.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of guys that are slow beard growers.

They can’t grow long facial hair nor they are able to do it as fast as their friends can.

It can be embarrassing and quite an inconvenience.

All is not lost as there are still ways to speed things up.

You just have to be vigilant, patient, and carefully consider the advice we are about to give you.

We’ve constructed this article with the aim to help guys that can’t grow their beards as fast as others.

If you’re one of them, keep reading.

Why Does a Beard Grow Slow

For some men, growing a beard usually takes a long time. On average, men grow their beard at a rate of one-half inch every month. Some men, however, have a slower pace and growth rate than that.

If you are one of those whose beard grows slowly even if you are using and choosing beard vitamin supplements, then note that several factors may cause it. Things and factors like your lifestyle, DHT and testosterone levels, habits, and age can impact the rate of beard growth.

Your body’s sensitivity to hormones that stimulate the growth of beard or facial hair may also cause your beard to grow slowly. Let’s delve deeper into the factors that trigger slow beard growth through this article.

Causes Of Slow Beard Growth

Genetics

Your genes can significantly affect the actual rate of your beard growth. As an example, it has been discovered that Caucasian men can grow their beard at a faster rate than the Japanese.

Age

You may also notice some changes in the rate of your facial hair growth as you age. It is highly likely for you to experience a speedy beard growth when you are still in your twenties but expect this rate to decline once you grow older.

Once you start to produce white hair, expect the rate to increase again. Note that the fluctuations still differ from one person to another, but the mentioned general patterns are often seen in men as far as age is concerned.

Hormones and Receptors

Your beard or facial hair can be classified as androgenic hair. You can, therefore, expect its growth to be maintained and controlled by DHT and testosterone – both of which are men’s main hormones.

Testosterone is the one responsible for priming hair follicles so they will grow thicker and faster. DHT, on the other hand, improves linear beard growth. It is also the one that causes the thin vellus hair to mature, producing thicker terminal hair.

The problem is even if you have high levels of the mentioned hormones, you can’t still expect your beard to grow quickly. The reason is that both hormones still need to be absorbed by your hair follicle cells. To make that happen, your follicles will need the help of androgen receptors.

The androgen receptors in your face should be active and sensitive enough for them to bind DHT and testosterone from your blood, thereby encouraging beard growth. With that said, it is safe to assume that male hormones and receptors have a say on the speed of your beard growth and how they respond to the world’s best beard growth serum.

Area of Beard Growth

The exact area where the beard grows also has a say on the speed of facial hair growth. Note that you can’t expect all types of facial hair to grow at a steady pace. In most cases, mustache hair boasts of a quicker growth rate than the hair you grow on your neck and cheeks. Regardless of the area of facial hair growth, you need an awesome beard grooming kit to help support the growing process.

Poor Diet

The quality of your diet can also significantly affect your facial hair growth. You need a well-rounded and healthy diet rich in Omega-3 and protein to support the growth of your beard. It is also advisable to reach the required amount of Vitamin E and iron through your diet. You also need to eat foods that have trace minerals, like selenium, magnesium, and copper, as they can lead to faster and healthier beard growth.

Vitamin Deficiency

A deficiency in specific vitamins can also lead to the slow growth rate of your facial hair. Being deficient in biotin or Vitamin B7, for instance, can cause hair loss, which may also affect your beard or facial hair. This means that aside from ensuring that you get the therapeutic benefits of face creams for men, you also need to ensure that your body receives all the vitamins and nutrients required for proper and quick beard growth.

Sleep

Sleep is also a significant contributor to the speed of beard growth. The reason is that testosterone is mainly released as you sleep. If you do not get enough sleep or deal with fragmented sleep, sleep apnea, or any other sleep problems and disturbances, then testosterone production can be significantly affected. This can result in the slow growth of facial hair or beard.

Exercise

You also need adequate exercises to support beard growth. Exercising regularly can affect the growth of your facial hair as it can improve blood circulation while keeping your stress level low.

Terminal Length

You may also experience slow beard growth once your facial hair gets into the terminal length, the time when your hair gets at the end of its growth phase. Once this stage comes, expect your hair to go dormant before they fall out altogether. It may last for around two to six years, with a few differences depending on the part of your face.

Breakage

Breakage is also another major factor that may cause significant changes in the length of facial hair and its growth rate. Overmanipulating your facial hair or beard may result in the strands breaking, which also causes a break in the growth cycle. Moreover, this may cause your hair to dry out, further resulting in its brittleness.

Beard and Skin Care Routine

Your beard and skincare routines may also disrupt the pace of beard growth, especially if those are particularly damaging. Among the detrimental habits for your beard are towel-drying, constant touching, and overgrooming. Ensure that you do not do that to your beard. Avoid playing with it too roughly.

Give it the proper care it needs, like using a premium beard comb to support and stimulate healthy growth. Avoid using a hairdryer and beard straightener, too. Exfoliators remove dead skin cells through abrasion, so it also helps to include the use of these products in your beard and skincare routine.

Excessive Trimming

Trimming your beard excessively may also result in a slow-growing beard. Excessive beard trimming may cause your facial hair to grow slower than usual, even to resolve split ends or maintain a clean look.

Split Ends

Split ends are also signs of damage. With that said, they may also negatively affect beard growth, causing the entire growing process to slow down.

Naturally Slow Growing Beard

It could also be that it is in your nature to grow a beard at a slow pace. It could be because of your genes. Don’t worry if that is the case, though, as eventually, it will grow at the rate you want. Just be extra patient and wait for your beard to grow at your desired length.

You Shave Often

Shaving too often than necessary may also trigger slow beard growth. While too frequent shaving may cause your beard to get thicker, note that it only happens because you cut off the fine tips then leave the thicker and coarse ones. The truth is that it did not cause your beard to grow thicker or faster. Frequent shaving only causes the tips to appear rougher.

Stages of Beard Growth

Anagen or Growing Phase 

The anagen is the initial phase when your hair tends to grow at the fastest rate. It is, therefore, the period wherein your beard grows based on its fullest potential and length. It can last for around 2 to 7 years.

Catagen or Transition Phase

During this phase, your strand will be separated from your hair follicle then attached to your skin. It also results in the complete stop of blood supply to the roots of your hair. The entire phase lasts for around 2 to 3 weeks.

Telogen or Resting Phase

Lasting for around 1 to 4 months, this phase is characterized by your beard or facial hair falling out. This can provide room for the growth of new facial hair.

If the anagen phase is just short for you, only lasting for a couple of years, then expect the total length to become shorter, too. With that, you will most likely believe that the growth rate decreased.

Methods to Speed Up Beard Growth

Be Patient

You need to be extra patient if your beard growth rate is classified as slow. Note that despite the slow growth, you will still notice an increase in the length soon, so wait patiently for it to happen.

Choose the Right Foods

Ensure that you are eating the right foods, specifically those that contain nutrients designed to speed up the process of growing a beard. It can greatly benefit you if you eat foods that positively influence beard growth hormones, namely testosterone and DHT. Some examples are alfalfa sprouts, sorghum, and olive oil.

Try Beard Growth Products

You may also want to start using beard growth and grooming products. For instance, you can use a quality beard balm with essential oils that can stimulate speedy growth. You may also want to take advantage of beard growth products in topical and pill forms. Just make sure that the products are safe and scientifically proven to grow hair, so you can get the results you want.

Change Beard Care Routine

You should also try to make some changes to your beard or facial hair care routines, especially if the present ones are damaging and unhealthy for you. One simple routine that you can do is brush your beard or facial hair upwards first before going downwards.

That way, you can make it appear like it has significant volume. Make sure that you are also using a natural beard brush too. If possible, it should feature offset bristle lengths to guarantee great-looking results.

Another facial hair care routine you may want to follow is to use hydrating bar soap and a conditioner, such as a quality beard balm. Such products serve as styling agents designed to retain a lighter hold on your beard, thereby causing it to look fuller and grow longer.

Use Minoxidil

You may also want to start using Minoxidil, a popular over-the-counter drug that can help deal with hair loss. Taking and using this treatment can boost the rate of your beard growth. Minoxidil is even an active ingredient in a popular solution, called Rogaine, approved by the FDA for hair regrowth.

Improve Your Lifestyle

To deal with slow beard growth, making some huge improvements in your current lifestyle can also help. For one, you should learn how to manage your stress level and keep it as low as possible. Learn to relax.

It also helps to maintain a balanced diet, exercises regularly, and drink plenty of water. Doing that will ensure that you will stay in tip-top shape while keeping your stress level low. This can further result in the proper functioning of your body, especially when it comes to encouraging facial hair growth.

Improve Your Diet

Make sure that you improve your diet, too. You should start following a healthy diet as poor eating habits may also lead to your beard growing at a significantly slower rate or pace. Among the vitamins and nutrients, you should focus on when planning to speed up facial hair growth are Vitamin A, B-vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E.

Some foods that can supply you with such vitamins are sweet potatoes, green leafy foods, like kale, carrots, whole grains, seafood, strawberries, avocados, sunflower seeds, almonds, and citrus fruits.

Improve Beard Circulation

Another solution for the slow growth of your facial hair is to improve beard circulation. You need to enhance your facial hair’s blood flow and circulation to ensure that hormones and nutrients flow constantly and smoothly to your follicles. This can lead to your hair sprouting quickly. In that case, you need to improve blood flow.

One thing you can do to improve blood flow is to have a relaxing face massage every day. A short session lasting only 5 minutes daily can already help. Just focus on adding pressure to your cheek specifically, as it is the exact area that has the weakest flow.

Beard exfoliation can also help. It involves exfoliating the skin beneath your beard to get rid of dead skin cells and unclog pores.

How to Grow a Beard Faster

Step 1 – Give your beard the care it needs

One facial hair care routine you can do is wash your face two times daily, which can help unblock hair follicles. Massaging your face every day can also stimulate your follicles. Exfoliate your face every week and apply a face moisturizer for sensitive skin, too.

Step 2 – Stick to a healthy lifestyle and diet

If you notice your beard growing slower than usual, then maybe it is time to recheck your diet and lifestyle and make some positive changes to them. Include more foods rich in B vitamins as these vitamins can promote fast and healthy hair growth. Ensure that your diet is well-balanced and contains other nutrients, like Vitamins A, C, and E.

Step 3 – Try medical options

If natural solutions for beard growth don’t seem to work, then you may want to seek the help of medicine. Seek the advice of a medical professional, especially when it comes to your testosterone and DHT level. You may also want to use products like Minoxidil.

Do’s and Don’ts With a Slow Growing Beard

Do’s

• Exfoliate. This should form part of the process of caring for your beard and face. Begin by cleaning and moisturizing your face and skin, then exfoliating correctly. Do it once a week to promote faster beard growth.
• Maintain the cleanliness of your facial skin. You can also deal with a slow-growing beard by ensuring that your facial skin remains clean. Make sure to wash your face regularly with warm water. Use a mild cleanser, too. By keeping your skin clean, you can encourage new hair growth.
• Moisturize. If possible, use a moisturizer with eucalyptus as such an ingredient also supports facial hair growth.

Don’ts

• Do not trim too frequently. If you wish to make your beard grow long fast, resist the urge to shape or trim it. A wise piece of advice is to groom, trim, or shave your beard only after around 4-6 weeks have passed, the time when your facial hair is already full.
• Do not use medical solutions without the doctor’s advice and guidance. Make sure that you consult a doctor first before using pills, injections, creams, and other medical products designed to boost your testosterone levels. This is to ensure that you will not suffer from unwanted side effects that may only impede the growth of your facial hair.

FAQ About Slow Growing Beard

Can you slow down beard growth?

Yes, you can slow down the beard growth process. The reason is that several critical factors can impede its growth, including your lifestyle, diet, genes, and age, among many others.

Does your beard grow slower as you age?

Yes, beard growth may decline as you age. This is especially true once you reach around 40 to 60 years old. Expect your beard to grow slowly at that age, as your testosterone level will also drop significantly.

Can beard growth products speed up beard growth?

This depends on the quality of the beard growth products in question. You have to make sure that you are buying those products guaranteed to speed up growing your facial hair. You may also consult your doctor to ensure that what you will be getting is genuinely safe and effective.

Do testosterone levels affect beard growth?

Yes, testosterone is one of the main male hormones that contribute a lot to the growth of your hair, including your beard. With that said, you have to make sure that your testosterone level is high if you want your beard to grow at a faster rate.

Does beard growth slow down as it gets longer?

Left untrimmed, your beard can grow up to 3 feet long. It is often the max length that your beard can grow. Once it reaches that length, it would be unlikely for your beard to grow anymore. It is the reason why beard growth also tends to slow down when it reaches a particular length.