Beards more hygienic than shaven skin

Beards may contain bacteria which could potentially be developed into new antibiotics, a study has found. Researchers found that clean-shaven men were more likely to harbour infection-causing bacteria resistant to antibiotics compared to bearded men. The study tested swabs from 408 hospital staff 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 on their cheeks as their bearded counterparts.

Clean-shaven men were also more than 10% more likely to have colonies of Staphylococcus aureus on their faces, a bacterium that causes skin, respiratory infections, and food poisoning. Researchers suggest this may be due to micro-abrasians caused by shaving in the skin, “which may support bacterial colonisation and proliferation“.