Why does my beard itch?

Symptoms:

» You’ve developed some red, itchy bumps in your beard and it looks like hair follicles are inflamed.

You have a » tendency to get dandruff and a red scaly rash on the greasy parts of your skin. You’ve noticed itchy scaling in your beard.

» You’ve had an infection in your beard area ever since you got your beard trimmed at a barber’s shop and it’s getting worse.

It could be:

» Ingrown hair when a hair grows back into its follicle leading to inflammation. Curly hair is prone to ingrown hair.

» Seborrheic dermatitis, which affects oily skin, probably caused by the yeast pityrosporum which naturally lives on the skin but isn’t usually a problem.

» Sycosis barbae, a chronic bacterial or fungal infection, probably picked up at the barber’s, where bugs burrow deep into the hair follicles. It’s not just on the surface.

Stop it:

» Shave your beard or wash your beard with a mild exfoliating cleanser to remove dead skin cells. Try to extract the ingrown hair after softening the skin by washing with warm water then very gently pulling the hair out.

Use the same antidandruff » shampoo you use on your head for your beard area, very gently massaging to a lather, leave, then rinse off thoroughly. Use it twice a week, no more.

» Shampoo with an anti-acne wash and apply an antifungal cream from your pharmacist. If it persists, see your doctor as you may require oral antibiotics.