Advice anyone?

[Rowan]

Got a smooth patch formed on my beard, just to the side of my chin. The size of a 5 cent piece or a 'dime'. Never had anything like this before, so I saw 2 different doctors. Both assured me it was nothing to worry about and both sugguested to see a dermatologist. Unlucky for me, I didnt realise dermatologists were in high demand with the wait exceeding 2 months.

What I'd like to know is , what the **** is this, will it spread and has anyone else had this before?

I dont want people researching the internet. All you need to tell me is if you know if something like this has happened to you or someone you know.

[Sasquatch]

Did you first notice it when you grew facial hair in the first place, or did it used to have hair there before and it just disappeared?

I have slightly thinner hair on the front of my chin (not really noticeable for anybody but me) because of scars, from just a scraped-up chin once. (A few years ago, I tried jumping on a friend's car after he dropped me off, and the dumbass floored it, so I rolled off the trunk and landed chin-first on the pavement. And yes, I was very drunk.) And I have a scar on one side under my chin, from one of the old big orange metal Tonka dump trucks when I was two years old. When I don't shave for a while, it's noticeable because no hair grows over the scar, but otherwise it doesn't really stand out.

So if you haven't had hair on that spot before, it's probably a scar of some sort -- even if it's not noticeable, you might have a scar there that you got when you were too young to remember, and the first few layers of skin might have grown over the scar tissue, but not enough to contain hair follicles.

But if you had hair there, and it suddenly stopped growing ... well then hell, I got nothin'.

By the way, are five-cent-pieces "dimes" in Australia? In America, five cents is a nickel, ten cents is a dime. Do they call them differently there, or am I just making myself look like an ass by inadvertantly suggesting that my country's money is superior to another country's money and that only ignorant people don't call their coins by the same names I do? Because I don't mean to be an ass. Really, not this time.

[LocoColt04]

I've got a bald spot under my chin slightly on the right side - very noticeable if you catch me from underneath the jaw, but otherwise most people never see it. I do have a whole thin patch on the right side of the jawline though, which is why (November excluded) I don't typically attempt to maintain a full beard or chinstrap.

My dad's got a similar spot under his chin like mine. Could be hereditary. You don't HAVE to grow hair everywhere to be normal, you know.

[Rowan]

Not too sure sasquatch, I'm on my phone right now so I can't be bothered looking up comparisons.

The size is irrelevant, what's important is that I had a fully consistent beard up until 3 weeks ago when this patch began. If you saw it you would assume its a scar since there are no hair folacles at all, but there use to be up until 3 weeks ago. I've made an appointment for a dermatologist do I can get it checked out, because whilst it looks like a badass scar, I'm concerned as to why this occurred in the first place.

Will keep you posted, my appointment is on Tuesday.

[Sasquatch]

I can't think of the name of it right now, but there's a name for that ... There's a "something" (wouldn't be right to call it a disease or anything" that is usually caused by stress, where hair stops growing in small patches, often in facial hair, but it only lasts for a few months. Six months from now, it'll more than likely be like it never happened, you just might have to keep clean-shaven until then so it's not noticeable. Or you can just say it's a scar from something badass you did. Either way.

But then again, I'm not a dermatologist. It's probably best to listen to what he says about it.

[Rowan]

I've read that, yes. I think my biggest mistake was taking it to google. Apparantly there's a chance it's alopecia bareta (balding of the beard) I've clean shaven for the first time in a year and a half, I hate it. My skin is incredibly irritates for not having done a clean shave in over a year and the patch is still noticable, obviously not as much as when I had stubble.

Hopefully the doc has some good news

[LocoColt04]

Well now that you've clarified it by stating the patch appeared after having been filled in before, then yes, it's certainly something to keep your eye on. Let us know what's up. With any luck it's just stress-related.

[Rowan]

Okay, so my appointment is today. Ive been told by my sister to cancel it because shes friends with a person who is friends with the dermatologist I'm going to see. I come up in conversation between my sister and her friend which is how she found out about waht she told me. My doctor (who shall remain nameless) diangoses patches on the beard from people all the time and says that its stress related. These people have grown back their facial hair within a few months. Since mine has been this way for a month, im still concerned as to whether or not this is the cause. I really havnt heard of a way to diagnose soemthing like this, but i guess thats what im going to see the dermatologist for. My problem is that It's going to cost $100 dollars and thats a little expensive for me since its so close to christmas and im going on 5 weeks unpaid leave (working in a school doesnt pay over christmas holidays unless you use annual leave) and Im not sure if I should go just to be told 'its stess'. It doesnt seem like it would be worth paying $100 for, especially since thats what the general consensus is leaning toward.

Knowing me, ill probably just go anyway for peace of mind. Appointment is in 3 hours.

[Quistis]

Yeah I hear you about going anyway..I tend to freak out about stuff like that. Stress does do a body a lot of harm in more ways than we can imagine.

Did you try to research it online? Like WebMD or something? Sometimes that's what I do if I don't feel like going to a doctor.

[Rowan]

Okay, so Im home now. The appointment went as predicted. Not even a dermatologist can directly diagnose a cause for patches in the beard. She told me that it could be one of two things. As mentioned above by sasquatch, it could be stress related and come back within a year or two. Otherwise, its alopecia areata. Patches forming in the beard are a cause of immune disorder. The immune system overracts and destroys random patches of hair on the face and head. The reason for this is unknown. She told me that for men, its common for them to have patches in the beard (due to this immune disorder) but it is uncommon for them to also have them in the hair on top of the head. She sugguested cortezone injections to help with the hair regrowth but I assured her it was unnecessary as im only interested in long term solutions and that if this was to happen again, I would not be interested in an immediate fix.

Although im optimistic. If I continue to have patches, I dont mind. If I end up getting the full deal and unlikely scenario of having them happen on my head, I would do a complete bald shave and just learn to deal with it. Being someone who hasnt done a clean shave in years and always has stubble, you could understand how I identify myself to people and how its my style. But things happen and whatever does happen, Ill learn to adapt and create a new style for myself.

Thats if worse comes to worse. Hopefully its as simple as a random patch that will grow back and never come back. Thanks to everyone for their advice, I value it as much as the dermatologist who validated everything that was contributed here.

[Quistis]

Good to hear that it wasn't anything serious or life threatening. If it is indeed immune system related, minimizing stress should help.