Things you didn’t know about beardruff

The beardruff is more common problem than most men/women might imagine. In reddit there are many discussion about the subject. Here is one of them by “HXCg4m3r”: 

“Simply put, I like wearing dark colors and I'm experiencing a rather embarrassing amount of beardruff.

Would you guys happen to have any techniques or products you employ that you'd be willing to share? I'm tired of it snowing year-round."

Most of the comments in reddit about treating the beardruff are helpful but lets see what really causes the beardruff and what else can we do about it except of course – use a high quality beard oil.

Too much or too little soap?

The common belief is that using too much soap and avoiding over washing the beard area is beneficial against beardruff. However the doctors don’t agree with this completely. Thing is, you have to know what’s wrong with your beard, or actually the skin under it.

The difference comes from knowing what causes the problem. If the problem is just dry skin, too much soap and shampoo can be harmful. The beardruff in this case is really fine and can be noticed easiest on a black shirt. Then the beard oil is the most straight forwarded and quickest help you have at your disposal. However some men have noticed the beardruff still remains even if they use beard oil.

Here is why.

Another type of beardruff doesn’t come from dry skin, it actually develops when the bacterial and yeast (who are having constant everlasting battle on your skin) balance get’s disturbed. Seborrheic Dermatitis is a common condition that causes oily skin. It can be found also on other parts in your facial area - your hair and eyebrows, even behind your ears. The reason can be also Fungus (Malassezia) that has grown out of control.

Then the reason is actually is too oily skin that the yeast can feed on causing the skin to shed and clump into big flakes. They don’t come off easily under the beard and the skin is reddish.

The treatment here is to actually wash it consistently and properly with products that match your skin type. See your doctor about it if you have no idea what skin type means. The mistake most people do here is that they don’t wash it off properly and the remaining shampoo or soap irritates the skin. You have to get off that unhealthy oil in your skin. If it is a yeast, sunlight counteracts it. You’ll notice you might be sensitive to yeast, if your skin is doing much better doing the summertime than in the winter. Finnish it with high quality beard oil to balance the pH levels and to help the hair follicles and cells to be clean and unclogged of debris.

 Stop eating what you might love to eat

Sugar has been one of the biggest dietary issues of our generation. To avoid sugar completely is surprisingly hard, the hidden sugar can be found in most of our daily food supply. A diet high in sugar that raises the level of blood sugar quickly can make the beardruff situation worse. Dandruff is often attributed to the Candida yeast, and sugary foods promote the overgrowth of this yeast in the body.

Sugar also depletes your vitamin B’s in your body, which are a key component of any anti-dandruff diet. A high intake of sugar also impacts the levels of antioxidant vitamins C and E in the body.

Diets high in saturated and trans fats cause your sebaceous glands to produce more oil, which makes dandruff worse. Avoiding these fats, as well as incorporating varied fruits and veggies that contain zinc and vitamins B, will help keep the flakes at bay. Some experts say that people who do not consume enough foods that contain zinc, vitamins B, and some types of fats are more prone to dandruff.

Food allergens are also big issue in beardruff business. IBS is one of the dietary problems (very personal favorite of mine) that are hard to notice at first. IBS makes you avoid FODMAP carbohydrates, which are known to cause different health issues among IBS patients, beardruff being one of them.

Stress

We all know that avoiding stress is very important to all men health related issues (also drops the testosterone levels). Stress causes over body dramatize sudden changes, which affects our hormones. These changes in hormones can cause an over-secretion of oil on the skin, leading to beardruff. Keeping stress levels to a minimum and making subtle changes in lifestyle can reduce the likelihood of its occurrence. And when you are stressed, you might scratch that itchy beard and infect the skin even more. Not helping buddy!

 Take a hike! No really, it might actually help if you do it often enough.

So what should I do?

If your beardruff is very persistent talk to your doctor about the shampoo and soap types that matches your skins needs. Start eating healthier, pay attention to vegetables that are rich in vitamin B, C and zinc. Find out if you have special dietary problems and try to live without sugar, white bread and dairy products if nothing else helps. Regular exercise can diminish dandruff. This is because vigorous exercise spikes your heart rate, which improves circulation. Improved circulation below the skin means healthier appearance above – and less beardruff, as a result. Avoid tobacco, alcohol, stress (pretty hard with all these new life changes), spicy food and try to get adequate amount of sleep every night.

Last but not least, remember to Finnish your style with magnificent beard oil to treat the skin with healthy natural oils that are packed with ingredients that help you tackle different skin conditions. That just had to be said.

After all these life improvements just to fight beardruff, you might notice some other positive effects as well.

Further read and sources: 

http://urbanbushbabes.com/there-is-a-difference-between-dandruff-dry-scalp/

http://thescienceofeating.com/2015/08/18/causes-of-dandruff-simple-home-remedies/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/88218.php

http://www.hyvaterveys.fi/artikkeli/kauneus/hilse_ja_kutina_pois

https://nationaleczema.org/eczema/types-of-eczema/seborrheic-dermatitis/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22875203

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20606879

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21919896

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21919899

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19681345