Health warnings and care tips for beard care

Beard Hygiene and Care

Most men grow beards after puberty. Beards grow faster than hair, a result of male hormones. The more vigorous the reproductive function, the faster the beard grows. The blood vessels in the beard area are more numerous than those at the hair roots, making it easier for nutrients to reach the beard. Therefore, even after shaving, beards grow back within a few days.

Beards should be shaved promptly to maintain a youthful appearance. However, in recent years, some men have even started growing beards. Unbeknownst to them, long beards can also affect health. Experts have found that beards have the property of absorbing harmful substances. When a person breathes, they exhale many harmful chemical gases, all of which can remain on the beard. The atmosphere contains many heavy metal particles, especially on busy streets, where polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and lead emitted from car exhaust can also be absorbed by the beard. For smokers, carcinogens such as benzo[a]pyrene from cigarette smoke also remain on the beard. Furthermore, the skin of a long beard produces more oil, which is often difficult to wash away with just water. Studies have shown that oil can attract dust and microorganisms.

Foreign experts have analyzed shaved beard hairs using gas chromatography and found various harmful substances, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, benzo[a]pyrene, and heavy metals like lead. Under a microscope, a large number of microorganisms were also visible on the beard hairs. These harmful substances could potentially be inhaled into the respiratory tract, harming health. Therefore, men are advised not to grow beards.

Additionally, adults should not use their beards to prick (or kiss) children, otherwise harmful substances and germs can transfer to the child's delicate facial skin or enter their mouth, transmitting many diseases.

Men should ideally shave after showering. After showering, the skin is relaxed, and the beard is softened, making it easier to shave cleanly without repeated shaving. Even if there is a cut, the chance of infection is minimized.

Plucking Mustache Hairs Causes Big Trouble

Beard growth is a characteristic of males and a normal part of physical development. Some young men find sparse beard growth unsightly and like to pluck them one by one with their hands or tweezers. This is unnecessary and very harmful.

During puberty, mature interstitial cells appear in the testes and secrete male hormones. These hormones promote the normal development of male organs and maintain their maturity; they also promote the development of secondary sexual characteristics, such as the Adam's apple and beard growth. Therefore, beard growth is a manifestation of male sexual characteristics, and plucking it is unnecessary and impossible. Even if you pluck it, the hair follicle is not destroyed, and the beard will grow back.

The area around the nose and lips has a rich network of blood vessels that communicate with intracranial blood vessels. This area is medically known as the "danger triangle." If you pluck your beard indiscriminately, bacterial infections of the skin around the lips, hair follicles, and sebaceous glands can easily spread to the cavernous sinuses within the cranial cavity, potentially causing meningitis or septicemia, which is extremely dangerous.

The frequent irritation from plucking beards causes the regrowth to become deformed, discolored, uneven in length, and jagged, ruining one's appearance. Furthermore, plucking damages surrounding tissues; in mild cases, it causes pain, and if left untreated, bacteria can damage hair follicles, causing folliculitis. Further inflammation can lead to boils and even cellulitis, resulting in permanent hair loss. Clearly, this practice is futile and harmful.

In addition, even if a skin infection caused by plucking is cured, severe damage may leave scars, nodules, or pigmentation, resulting in a more unsightly appearance instead of a desired one.