Men's Health Community

Probably not the full beard you are thinking of. Facial hair, and body hair do not always have broad coverage on your skin. Many guys have "patterns" of hair growth with areas of the face remaining completely free of hair while some areas produce a thick pelt. Body hair can be even more radical with patches showing up on part of the chest and nowhere else or sprouting on shoulders while leaving even the abdomen free of any. For many men only pubic hair and under arm hair are consistent.

Enjoy the goatee if you want and as you get older you will end up having a little more hair here and there - but for a lot of guys who have been endowed with a great deal of hair, your situation is actually envious. Enjoy what you have - it's enough so don't worry.

Everyone is different, even within offspring of the same father. This is totally genetic and can vary widely from almost nothing to heavy heavy beards in a day. This also varies widely with different ethnicities. Just the way you are.

This is a personal experience, not a professional opinion. All I could grow at 19 was a thin mustache. I shaved about every third day, but nothing grew until sometime in my 19th year. I was simply a late bloomer in the beard department. It began to grow that year, although it was several years before I really had a "full" beard. By the time I turned 45, I faced a choice of either growing a goatee or shaving twice a day to avoid looking scruffy. (I grew the goatee.) My point is that it's possible you're like me. The first thing to try might be patience.

I feel your pain! I'm 62, but remember going to college and shaving once a week just to keep from looking scraggly. Then a guy on my dorm floor was talking to me one day and said he truly envied me. He then related that he had to shave every morning, noon, and again after dinner if he was going out because his beard grew so heavy and quickly.

It's mostly genetics, as it was in my case. Even today I don't have a heavy or full growth, and would never be able to grow a beard that looked like anything. If you remain concerned, have your doctor check your testosterone level to make sure it's OK.

The important thing is not to become self-conscious about it. You are who you are. On the plus side, you probably will always look younger than your years, as I do. I'm a proud father of three and grandfather of six.

I always wished I had hairs on my chest like my friends did but now i,m glad and happy without any ,my friend are envious of me and some go to waxing to have the hairs on their back removed.

You have the rest of your life to shave. Enjoy it while you can. Facial hair does not make the man

I am so jealous and I hate you guys for complaining. I live in Florida and my wife has to use Nair for men twice a month to keep it off my back. I don't really care if it grows anywhere else though trimming the pubic area keeps her interest peaked in that region, but on the back it itches, captures moisture so I don't wear any type of dress shirt without a tee shirt underneath it. It sucks. I had to shave every other day when I graduated fro high schooI and I was about 26 when I noticed how much was really growing on my back. I say don't rush it. When it comes, it's going to grow everywhere but where you want it to grow.

Isn't it interesting that facial hair/body hair is a "grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" situation? Personally, when I was a teen and into my 20's and 30's I longed for thick facial and body hair. I could barely grow a mustache and then a goatee. As I approached 40 my beard started to come in thicker and I was ecstatic! My chest hair was visible and finally I looked like a real man! Then the hair didn't stop growing and popping up in new places. More hair on my arms - ok not a problem. more hair on my legs, not bad for a manly look. More hair on my neck - yeah that's normal - right? Hair in my nose - well that can be trimmed. Hair in my ears - ok now I;m starting to look like my grandfather. Hair on my back -fuzzy at first like down on a duck. Now at 45 it's getting thicker and coarser. I also understand why bears scratch their backs on the bark of trees. I've shaved it, naired it it just keeps coming back. I don't mind how it looks - so far I don't have a hair suit going on, but it just gets so itchy! And my father is not nearly as hairy as I am. He has more head hair and thicker facial hair (think Sam Elliot) while I have much more body hair than he does. And the men on my mothers' side went bald at early ages. Guess we're just not happy unless we have something to complain about! Back to the original statement - don't worry about it at 19 because you never know how it's going to turn out!

I'm 35 and I can finally (barely) pull off a small goatee on my chin, and it's yet to actually match my hair color. Still looks darker like pubic hair (and kinda feels like it) or it has no color like really thick peach fuzz. Or I'm going gray Yet I have an abundance of body hair everywhere else - arms, legs, back, shoulders, etc.. Just not on my face.

My dad can grow a full beard, yet hasn't got a lot of body hair. Apparently it's similar on my mom's side of the family, and we do have a dash of Native American on that side, which may be contributing to it.