Beard flaking cause

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hello Everyone,

This maybe a TMI question, but it’s bothering me and I can’t seem to find the answer anywhere. For a decade or so I have been sporting a goatee. It looks good and balances out my bald head. I keep it trimmed and well groomed. Every now and then it becomes itchy or just generally annoying so I will shave it off and let it grow back in. however, my wife likes it so much she doesn’t ever want me to shave it, so I no longer get the occasional period where my chin gets to"breathe".

Lately I have noticed it has been feeling somewhat scratchy and tonight it was really bothering me so I gave it a good hard scratch. While doing this I noticed a good amount of “flaking” falling of the beard and landing on my shirt. WTF?! Is this dandruff of the chin? Is that even possible? I wash it everyday, sometimes twice in the shower using bar soap, but recently my wife has gotten me to use a (can’t believe I am admitting this) pouf and body wash. It is Oil of Olay and it is a moisturizing wash and the rest of my skin feels very moisturized so I figure my chin under the beard must be too.

So anyways, there it is. Any suggestions what the problem might be and how to fix it? I would be embarrassed if everytime I were to scratch my goatee I would get fallout on my shirt. I will now go hide in shame and await a reply. Thanks.

2

Well, a more narrow Google search has confirmed that you can get dandruff of the beard and it is quite common. So the question now is any suggestions the best way to cure the problem?

3

Head & Shoulders?

4

Possibly, but I wonder if that might be too harsh for the skin on my face.

5

yep beard dander.

head shampoo can be irritating to face skin. mild body wash won’t irritate, may help.

it is a curse we must bear.

6

Yep, dandruff. I get it about once a month or so, and washing once with a dandruff shampoo clears it right up.

7

Beard message boards will recommend either a dandruff shampoo or jojoba oil. About a month ago I finally made the leap from goatee to full beard and I just ordered some jojoba oil because the skin under my beard is a bit dry (never had the problem with my goatee though).

8

I (and all of the male members of my family) suffer from seborrhoeic dermatitis. For me, the over the counter remedies don’t work and I have to resort to a prescription shampoo with ciclopirox. Your problem does not seem to be that severe, but if you exhaust all the dandruff shampoos out there without getting relief, talk to a dermatologist.

9

There are some commercially available shampoos, conditioners, and oils which claim to be specially formulated for use on beards. Bluebeards Original and Jenulence come to mind. I’ve tried products from both ranges and find that the leave-in conditioners keep the skin from drying out and forming dandruff. The beard shampoos I’m not so sure about; I do need to also shampoo regularly to prevent dandruff, but I haven’t so far noticed any difference between using specialty beard shampoo and regular hair shampoo.

10

I wash my beard (and what’s left of my head hair) with Head & Shoulders twice a week and the dandruff stays away.

11

Let’s movwe from General Questions to IMHO.

samclem, Moderator

12

You are not alone, clearly. I get goatee dandruff too, but Head and Shoulders seems to keep it at bay, and doesn’t irritate the skin.

13

Thanks to everyone for responding. I will pick up some Head and Shoulders tomorrow and see if that doesn’t salve the problem.

14

Picking up the thread a little late, I had the same problem recently. It seemed to lie with the bar soap. Stopped using that and began shampooing the beard instead and had no more trouble. Didn’t even use a dandruff shampoo, just the regular stuff.

15

Pun?