# Is there any cure for a sparse beard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294 "2002-04-07T08:25:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/1 "2002-04-07T08:25:40Z")
I’m 21 years old, and very proud of having a beard. Or part of one. See, even if I don’t shave for a month, all I get is this sparse, patchy mess over my face. There are parts of my face where there is just NO hair growing, and I find this disconcerting. Am I cursed with a sparse beard? I’ve always assumed a man’s beard grows uniform over the face but all I have is this crooked mockery of a beard favoring the right side of my face. Is there any hope? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/2 "2002-04-07T10:07:12Z")
Your still just a young chap! The only cure is time. I’m 31 and I had the same problem as you at your age. Heck mine didn’t start coming in fully untill about a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/3 "2002-04-07T12:08:45Z")
Fake beards have been popular throughout history from ancient egypt onwards. Could be worth a try ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/4 "2002-04-07T12:37:20Z")
I’m 45 and still cannot grow a full beard. I have settled on a mustache/goatee combo. I have to keep the end of the mustache long enough to meet the beard part because I have no hair growing in the area just below my mouth. I have an area on my right cheek the size of a quarter that might have 3 hairs, looks funny if I go a week without shaving my cheeks. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/5 "2002-04-07T13:25:41Z")
Pick up a can of Ron Popeil’s Spay-on Beard. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/6 "2002-04-07T14:07:24Z")
Stay vigilant. The more you shave the more you stimulate the folicles to grow, and the stronger they will become. But of course there has to be folicles there to grow. Some men simply can not grow a full beard… I suggest shave shave shave for a few months, don’t just grow what you can and hope. You have to stimulate the skin to grow thicker beards… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/7 "2002-04-07T15:32:09Z")
Rogaine helps some people grow thicker beards. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/8 "2002-04-07T16:40:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phlosphr \* > \*\*Stay vigilant. The more you shave the more you stimulate the folicles to grow, and the stronger they will become. > … > I suggest shave shave shave for a few months, don’t just grow what you can and hope. You have to stimulate the skin to grow thicker beards… \*\* **Urban Legend Alert!** Sorry, but there’s no evidence that shaving has any affect on promoting beard growth. This has been covered on the SMDB a long time ago, and I think Cecil even discussed it at one point but I can’t find anything these days. ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/9 "2002-04-07T17:44:57Z")
If there was a product for making beards grow thicker and fuller, don’t you think it would be applied to bald heads around the world as well? Heck, the hairs on my neck grow sideways. Looks funny after a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/10 "2002-04-07T18:09:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racer72 \* > \*\*I have an area on my right cheek the size of a quarter that might have 3 hairs, looks funny if I go a week without shaving my cheeks. \*\* You mean I’m not the only one with a facial bald spot? I’ve got a rather heavy beard, except for this one flattened penny (you know, the type you get at tourist traps) size bald spot below the jaw line of my left cheek. Even after a shave it’s noticable. Forget about going two or three days without shaving. I’ve had them in the past, in all sorts of places, but they usually go away after a few months. This one has hung around for a year now. Quite annoying. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-cure-for-a-sparse-beard/102294/11 "2002-04-07T21:47:18Z")
Just be glad you weren’t living in Afghanistan when the Taliban were in power. Men were required to wear long beards that could be grasped by both hands. Clean-shaven men were thrown in jail until their beards grew.