I’m trying to grow a mustache and/or a goatee. My current hair growth is very sparse, and has been all my life, so I know my chances are slim.
Are there any non-chemical tricks I can use? (e.g. trimming daily)
I usually shave around 3 times a week.
Or, would Rogaine or another over the counter solution help me more?
Assuming adequate nutrition there is no non-chemical way to make your facial hair grow faster or more densely. Trimming the dead ends of the hairs has no effect on the live follicles under the skin, they have no way of knowing you’ve just cut the end off.
Well, I put in 3 minutes worth of effort to find an answer.
I’m assuming there’s some vitamin/mineral that can spurt hair growth. After searching wiki for facial & pubic hair, and getting a couple of pictures of some rather fuzzy genetalia (didn’t know they did any nudity on wiki), I concluded my search.
Just to offer a guess, sunlight/vitamin D seems to spurt hair growth (in the summer months), maybe a tan could help out?
I really appreciate the 3 minutes you put into my question. However, I have lived in a sunny environment for 35 years and have not seen it have any affect at all on mustache or goatee growth, as, as I said, I shave about 3 times a week and hair growth has been the same regardless of 350+ days of sunlight per year.
How old are you? Hair growth can change (either increasing or decreasing) with age.
Regardless of age, I have had the same hair growth around my mouth since I was in high school.
Hair patterns are mostly genetic. As mentioned trimming doesn’t do anything but make the hair shorter.
Rogaine is effectively against male pattern baldness where the hair follicles shrink and stop producing hair. It reverses that process, but it can’t grow hair where none has ever grown in the first place.
If you’ve never had thick growth there, sorry, you never will.
But, if my goal is a goatee (which is relatively thin compared to a beard) how can I make the hairs longer?
Just so we’re clear, you’re a guy, right?
I couldn’t grow a decent looking mustache until I was well into my 20s, and couldn’t grow a decent looking goatee until I was in my early 30s.
I had some serious lung problems back when and was on high doses of corticosteroids; maybe that helped.
Minoxidil (rogaine) will thicken a beard, despite assertions to the contrary.
How much it will work is another question, but it’s probably your best chance.
There’s no way to do it.
If you should discover a way, expect to beocme an overnight millionaire - a method of stimulating hair growth is the Holy Grail for millions suffering from baldness around the world!
The only way to make the hairs longer is to stop shaving. Waiting is the hardest part.
Well, I stand corrected, because you oughtta know, but if so what is going on clinically and why is that inconsistent with Rogaine’s explanation of how it works (see #13)?
Minoxidil also stimulates the follicles which produce fine vellus hair on the body; the stuff you usually can’t see without a magnifying glass. These hairs are found on the beard area (along with the ears, nose, etc) and in response to minoxidil, many vellus follicles start sprouting thicker, darker hairs.
I’ve a few patients on minoxidil pills for severe blood pressure issues. These guys are so hairy it’s stunning at times, as their beards get thick, their ears get hairy, and even the backs of their fingers sometimes need combing.
It’s a sad situation when a woman actually needs to take minoxidil to control her blood pressure, because she will tend to get as much hair growth as the guys do.
When minoxidil first came out, and before it was available topically, a fellow resident I know would have a compounding pharmacist make him a minoxidil solution to apply to his face and make his beard come in thicker. He eventually had to be very careful where he applied it on his face, because he was having to shave much too close to his eyelids…
[sub]true story[/sub]
I hope he wore gloves to keep the lotion off of his palms.
Remember that only a portion, roughly 1/3, of your facial hair is growing at any one point. And it may easily take several months to complete a full cycle of growth. In my experience a lot of men with sparse growth can get a respectable looking beard by waiting out at least one full growth cycle.
One acquaintance of mine has very sparse facial hair. He grew out a respectable goatee. But it took him around six months to get to the respectable stage. So I would recommend extreme patience.
My fiancee has a very sparse beard, but surprising goatee growth. It took him a few months though before it was truly thick.
Yep, this is the effect I’m seeing. It’s thicker the longer I leave it alone.
Thanks. 
Become an Evil Overlord.
A Ming the Merciless type pencil mustache & goatee will appear overnight, like magic!
Or if you like big, black, bushy beards, become an Anarchist.