What to Choose Beard Transplant or Minoxidil (Rogaine)

It can be frustrating when you’ve tried everything you could to grow a beard, but you still look like a teenage kid in your business suit. You don’t want to be a baby faced hipster, you want people to know you enjoy a good IPA when you walk into the bar. If your beard just isn’t playing ball, and you wake up each day hoping that your beard hair will fill in, it might be time to start looking for other solutions. Solutions like beard Transplants or Minoxidil (Rogaine).

A beard transplant is a one-off surgical procedure to grow hair with permanent results, allowing the patient continue growing and cutting the hair long after the procedure. Using Rogaine is a much less invasive way to regrow beard hair, but is slower to work. It also requires daily application to maintain growth.

A beard transplant might cost upwards of $5000 dollars for a full beard and scales down to $3000 – $7000 if you just need patches filled in. Minoxidil (Rogaine) can be a bit cheaper but takes applying the solution to your trouble areas twice a day for 6 months, which takes a bit of dedication and time to work but may be something to look into if cost is an issue as a 3 month supply can be had for $50 or less at any popular retailer.  

What is beard transplant?

A beard transplant is transplanting hair from one part of your body generally the back of the head where the hair tends to grow thicker and is less likely to be a balding area like follicles on the top of the head might be, to the area you want beard growth a follicle at a time. If you want a beard transplant, schedule an appointment with a hair transplant surgeon who will do an initial consultation to see if they believe you will be a suitable candidate for the surgery.

Since not everyone is suitable for beard transplant, the surgeon will first examine your face and see if you are a suitable candidate for the beard transplant.

There are two approaches to beard transplant, FUE and FUT.

FUE (Follicular unit extraction): This is the most common approach to beard transplant because it is less painful and leave just small scars. It involves harvesting follicle grafts one at a time from the donor area. A good surgeon can harvest and implant 1500-2000 grafts per day.

FUT (Follicle unit transplant): This involves cutting a small strip of tissue, which contains multiple hair follicles, from the back of the head or any other donor area.

Pros and cons of beard transplant

Pros

• You will get the beard you’ve always wanted without the hassle of having to apply a topical solution multiple times a day
• It feels like natural hair as it’s your own body hair, you can shave and trim as the hair grows back
• The recovery time of beard transplant is quick and you can shave and trim the new hair within a couple of weeks
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Cons

• Beard transplant is expensive. It can cost up to $15000 dollars.
• There may be a charge for the initial consultation so you will want to be quite sure that you will want to go down this road
• Beard transplant like every other cosmetic surgery can go wrong in rare case. Speak with the surgeon to understand the risks involved before going forward with the transplant. However, beard transplants going wrong is rare luckily.
• Not all beard transplant clinics are professional. So do your research before visiting one to make sure they are reputable.

Minoxidil

If surgery is not your thing, the alternative is Minoxidil (Rogaine).

Rogaine is a topical treatment, to stimulate beard growth. The active ingredient in Rogaine is Minoxidil. Though, Rogaine is recommended for the scalp, people have been using it for facial hair and they have seen positive results with consistent use.

Check popular forums like Reddit or check “Minoxidil” groups on Facebook and join the discussion.

That said, it has side effects, but the side effects are typical of the ones experienced when used on scalp. They include slight headache, itching, dizziness, and irregular heartbeat. You may experience one of these side effects and you may not experience any side effects.

It takes 6 to 12 months to see results and applying the solution twice a day. If you don’t see results after 12 months Minoxidil medication may not be for you.

How to use Rogaine for beard growth

We recommend applying 0.5 mg of Rogaine to dry facial hair twice per day. Apply it on your hand, use your hands to rub it on the area you want beard growth. Wash your hands after usage and wait a few for hours before moisturizing the area. After applying to the problem areas you can give the rest of your beard a good rub in order to stimulate a good overall growth pattern for your beard.

Conclusion

Beard transplants are a great way to achieve the look your after with minimal care needed and you can have the beard you’ve always desired in a couple of weeks after the transplant. Minoxidil (Rogaine) is cheaper but needs to applied twice a day for 6 months or more to achieve the same effect but is much cheaper and maybe a good thing to try before going the surgery route if money is an issue. There are definitely a few options you can look into for beard care.