Having a beard could be better for your health than going clean shaven, study finds

Thinking of going under the razor? Read this first...
Beards may be more hygienic and bacteria-resistant than shaven skin
Rex
Liz Connor21 January 2016

The beard revolution may be at its peak in London, but it turns out that there are hidden benefits to sporting facial hair - other than the obvious nod to the East End hipster trend.

Researchers have found that clean-shaven men are actually more likely to carry infection-causing bacteria resistant to antibiotics when compared to bearded men.

Infact, scientists now believe that beards may even contain bacteria which could potentially be developed into new antibiotics in the future.

The study, published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, swabbed the faces of 408 staff in two teaching hospitals, and compared the bacteria found on those both with and without facial hair.

According to the results, clean-shaven men are more than three times as likely to be carrying methicillin-resistant staph auerus (MRSA) on their cheeks as their bearded counterparts.

‘Our study suggests that facial hair does not increase the overall risk of bacterial colonisation compared to clean-shaven control subjects,’ the survey says. ‘Clean-shaven control subjects exhibited higher rates of colonisation with certain bacterial species.’

Clean-shaven subjects were also more than 10 per cent more likely to have harbour harmful Staphylococcus aureus on their faces, a bacterium that causes skin and respiratory infections.

The reason for this, the study explains, is that when you shave, you cause ‘microtrauma to the skin,’ resulting in tiny abrasions, which could support bacterial colonisation.

Haircuts of Hackney

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In a separate study, a microbiologist from University College London grew more than 100 different bacteria from a study of beard samples, and found the presence of a microbe that appeared to be killing the other bacteria.

Dr Adam Roberts isolated the microbe and tested it against a form of E. coli that causes urinary tract infections, and found the microbes killed the bacterium efficiently.

He concluded that there may possibly be antibodies in beards that can fight infection in the future.

In short? Time to put down the razor.

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