Beard Genetics – Why Can’t Some Men Grow Beards?

If you’re one of the many beardless men that have wondered “Why can’t I grow a beard?!” then you’ve come to the right place. Even if your situation is indeed hopeless – which it usually isn’t even if it seems that way – we’ll still try to at least give you an answer to the bad facial hair conundrum.

So, why can’t some men grow beards? What are the beard genetics at work to create this cruel joke on hundreds of millions of men? The quick and simple answer is that there are multiple reasons why you might not be able to grow a beard – some being genetic while a lot of the others are mostly circumstantial. Either way, rest assured that “you’re not man enough” is never the actual answer to the no-beard problems.

The myth of the missing testosterone

Society has actually convinced a lot of men that not being able to grow a beard means that you lack testosterone, which, in turn, is typically associated with manliness. What further helps push this myth forward is that having a smooth face isn’t the best look for some men and makes them look younger and, well, immature.

That’s not exactly the case, however. While testosterone is very much related to beard growth as well as to a lot of other features that are associated with manliness, not being able to grow a beard actually has to do with Dihydrotestosterone (DHT, for short), which is a variation of testosterone but is not actual testosterone.

DHT is what testosterone turns into in our skin to help facilitate hair growth but if you’re lacking DHT that’s typically not because you don’t have testosterone but simply because it isn’t transforming into DHT properly. You may as well be bursting with testosterone – and a lot of beardless teenagers do indeed have quite powerful growth spurts in their twenties – but you may still not be able to grow a beard.

Genetic reasons why some men can’t grow facial hair

Genetics is typically the first thing people look at when someone can’t grow a beard. And there’s indeed a lot to examine there. If your father or grandfather has had problems growing a beard, you may very likely inherit that trait from them. Genetics isn’t always a “sentence”, however, and there are ways our genes expressions can be influenced. Additionally, it’s very likely that your father or grandfather wasn’t able to grow a beard for non-genetic reasons and just thought that was the case and gave up.

Testosterone

While not being able to grow a beard isn’t necessarily due to a lack of testosterone, it still could be. There are certain medical conditions that can cause a distinct lack of testosterone in your body. If you’re not just having troubles growing a beard but you’re also experiencing hair loss, erectile dysfunction, reduced bone mass, reduced muscle mass, trouble sleeping, increased body fat, and severely decreased energy levels – you’re likely having a significant testosterone problem. In these cases, contacting a medical professional is of the utmost importance.

If you’re not experiencing any of these issues, however, chances are that you don’t have a low testosterone problem. What’s more, if you are in a good shape, if you don’t have problems building up muscle mass and you’re not experiencing any trouble with your sex drive and abilities, you likely have excellent levels of testosterone. But – you may still not be able to grow a beard. That’s where DHT comes in.

Dihydrotestosterone

DHT is an endogenous androgen sex hormone and steroid. As we mentioned, it’s a formation of testosterone and it’s catalyzed thanks to the 5α-reductase enzyme. DHT is normally formed in certain parts of the body such as the prostate gland, the epididymides, the liver, and the brain, as well as the skin and hair follicles.

Compared to testosterone, DHT is much more potent and it’s what actually determines how well or fast your hair is going to grow. It also determines the functions of other organs in our bodies too, so don’t view DHT is just “the hair hormone”. For example, too much DHT can lead to a higher prostate cancer risk, so there are pros and cons to DHT as there are with everything else.

The key thing to note here, however, is that not having enough DHT in your skin and body doesn’t mean that you’re lacking testosterone – it could mean that but it likely just means that your body is having problems synthesizing testosterone into DHT. And there are different possible reasons why that could be the case, most of them being affected by your diet and fitness levels.

Hair follicles density

This is rarely talked about but the density of your hair follicles is also something that’s determined by your genetics and it can easily affect the quality of your beard. Having too scarce hair follicles isn’t going to stop you from growing a beard, of course, but it can make it look too sparse and unappealing which dissuades a lot of men from growing their beards.

While there isn’t much that can be done about this, we would generally recommend that you give your beard a try anyway. The fact that it will be a bit too sparse and unappealing in the beginning doesn’t mean that it won’t look good when it grows a little longer.

Circumstantial reasons why some men can’t grow facial hair

So, if the genetic factors are not as much of a problem as you thought, the “Will I ever be able to grow a beard?” starts sounding more manageable, right? Indeed, there are lots of other circumstantial reasons why you might not be able to grow a beard, a lot of them – perfectly treatable. Here are the main things you should take a look at first if you’re having troubles growing facial hair. Even if you do have low testosterone or DHT levels, tweaking any of the factors below can still lead to some quite significant effects.

  • Hormonal balance
  • Poor nutrition or hydration
  • Underlying health conditions
  • Stress and anxiety

Do beards stop growing with age?

Not really, unless you’ve developed a medical condition that stunts hair growth. If you are in good health and you maintain good fitness and diet, however, you can very well expect your beard to keep growing regardless of your age.

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