Painful to grow my beard

I love having a beard, but after about a week of growth it starts to get progressively itchy/painful on my jaw line and neck. When I examine the affected area in the mirror there are red bumps and there are white heads around my hairs. The itchiness and painfulness gets worse and worse as my beard gets longer. I've tried putting lotion on it to see if it would help, but it doesn't. Around 3 weeks I usually give in and have to shave it off so I can get some relief. What do you all recommend? I would love to grow my beard out, but this is a big problem for me.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the issue here. Likely possibilities are folliculitis, dermatitis etc. When growing facial hair it is advised to use anti-seborrheic shampoos containing ZPTO or ketoconazole; and if acne like lesions recur, you could try using ointments containing benzoyl peroxide/ clindamycin and see if these seem to help. If you still continue to have symptoms, you may consider an evaluation by a dermatologist for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!