So, you’ve decided you want to try growing a beard, or facial hair, but it just isn’t coming in quick enough. Don’t worry, there are many things you can do to grow a faster beard, but how is that done?

To grow a beard faster you can try old wife’s tales such as shaving more to stimulate growth, or you can try some of these proven methods:

• Increase vitamin intake
• Manually stimulate hair follicles
• Moisturize and exfoliate
• Have good beard hygiene
• Get checked for deficiencies in testosterone and other stimulating hormones

According to Gillette, men’s facial hair grows an average of .27mm every 24 hours. This means that the average bead grows about 3.8 inches every year. If you are trying to grow out your beard faster than this, read on!

Choosing the right vitamins to enhance beard growth

Vitamins come with many health benefits and each vitamin has a specific yet important job to do. However, with so many to pay attention to, it can be overwhelming to discover which are known to help grow facial hair. If you are considering an increase of vitamins, it is best to talk to a physician to discuss potential side effects, but for now, here are here are five common vitamins for you to consider that can help.

• Biotin (Vitamin B7)Biotin is the best nutrient for beard growth. It helps to increase the thickness of the beard over time. And studies have shown that biotin deficiency can reduce the growth of beard hair.
• Vitamin A stimulates the pituitary gland, signaling it to release hormones that are known to stimulate hair follicles. Since hair follicles grow your hair, stimulating them can increase growth. Vitamin A is also easily obtained through many common foods and can also be found in supplement form for less than $10.
• Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) though lesser known, is also a great vitamin to help your beard grow faster. Not only does it increase cell growth, but it also prevents you from losing hair you already have. Cells are in the hair follicles and healthy cells, means healthy beard growth. This vitamin is also available as a supplement for around $15.
• Vitamin B3 (Niacin) promotes blood flow which is needed for healthy skin. While healthy skin isn’t our topic, it is necessary for fast beard growth. Without healthy skin, those hair follicles are not in the best shape to produce facial hair, which means a slower growth time. Supplements for this vitamin are available for about $10.
• Vitamin C is responsible, in part for forming collagen, a connective tissue that promotes healthy hair bulbs. Hair bulbs are also known as the part that keeps your hair in place at the root. As hair grows longer, it needs a health bulb to remain. Supplements for this can be found for this vitamin for about $12
• Vitamin D helps regulate hair growth through a complex process which you can read more about. Without this vitamin to stimulate this process, regulation and production of hair growth can be difficult. Supplements for this vitamin are available for about $10.

How to stimulate hair follicles to grow beard faster

So, if you have been reading through this article, you have seen the term hair follicles thrown around more than a few times and are probably wondering why they are so important when trying to grow a beard faster. Well, the hair follicle is where the hair begins to form under your skin, and is also what keeps it in place. Without a follicle, there is no place for hair to grow. Though these wonderful hair anchors often do well on their own, they sometimes need a little help to increase function.

One tried and true way to stimulate the hair follicles, is to massage your face in the areas you would like to increase growth. Mechanical stimulation increases blood flow and encourages new growth for hair. As you might have read above, another way to stimulate follicles is from the inside out using vitamins. If you haven’t read this section already, vitamin A is a good one for this function, but I would also encourage you to visit that section for more information.

Why moisturizing and exfoliating is important to grow beard faster

• Removes dead skin
• Reduces clogging

I know, this headline might make some roll their eyes, or others scoff, but I know there are plenty of men out there who understand the benefits of moisturizing and exfoliating while others just need more education. If you are reading this, chances are you want to make your beard grow faster. To do that, you need to have healthy skin to optimize growth patterns. Hair cannot grow if dead skin is clogging up those precious hair follicles.

First, moisturizing is recommended. Skin is like an onion that has layers and if you have ever seen an onion, you know the top often flakes off while the inside does not. Skin is the same and to reduce flaking, it needs to be moisturized.

If you decide this step isn’t for you and you want to continue letting your skin flake off, you will eventually end up with dead skin in your pours and hair follicles. Hair follicles that are full of dead skin struggle to produce hair, and certainly do not grow at a fast pace if any is produced. Even if you are an avid moisturizer, some skin will eventually flake off as new skin is produced underneath. To avoid these flakes falling into the wrong areas and hindering hair growth, it is recommended you exfoliate.

How good beard hygiene help beard grow faster

• Gentle cleaning
• Moisturizing

Beard hygiene is an important part of promoting fast hair growth, it removes anything that has been collected throughout the day, including dead skin. If beard hygiene is new to you, don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be cumbersome. In fact, gently washing it with you face, or even the hair on top of your head (if you have any) is a great way to remember to do it. A shampoo that already works with your skin type for your hair can also be used for your beard.

After washing your beard, you might find some tangles need to be worked out gently with a comb. Carefully managing this phase is worthwhile to prevent breakage. Beard oils or moisturizers can also be effective. If the goal is to grow your beard, having hard earned strands break off might bring a moment of defeat and rightfully so. Taking care to clean, detangle and hydrate both your skin and your beard will produce worthwhile results and encourage that fast beard growth.

How hormones can affect beard growth

• Talk with you physician if you suspect your hormones to be off
• Hormones control many parts of our bodies, including beard growth

If you have tried everything you can think of or read about and still are not seeing results, try talking with you physician. Believe it or not, hormones might be the problem and the only way to know for sure is by having your physician test your levels. We have over 50 hormones in our bodies, some of which effect our hair growth which you can read more in depth about  here.

In men, testosterone is one of the hormones largely responsible for facial hair growth. It is also not uncommon to see fluctuation in these levels due to many factors and for various age groups. Seeking advice from a medical professional regarding this is encouraged as there may be other hormones or causes of slow facial hair growth.

Key takeaways:

Growing a beard faster can be difficult for some but promoting hair growth doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many ways you can help your hair grow on your own, and other ways to expedite the process with the help of a physician. Vitamins are a natural way to help your body regulate facial hair growth from the inside out, while exfoliating, moisturizing, completing hygiene, and stimulating hair follicles are ways you can help from the outside.