One side of your beard growing more than the other is very common. In fact, an uneven beard is so common that the vast majority of men grow more on one side.
It’s partly psychological
Humans aren’t proportional in any way: one foot is bigger than the other; you measure your dominant hand when determining your glove size; your nostrils are different sizes; your fingers and toes of the opposite limb are different lengths.
While these things are hard to notice without busting out a measuring tape, one part of the reason they’re hard to notice is because you’re used to it. The mind conditions itself in a way that things may seem proportional even when they aren’t. When using minoxidil to grow your facial hair, particularly for those that started with almost nothing, your mind hasn’t yet gotten used to this.
But it is physical too…
Along with the psychological aspect, there is also the simple fact that, yes, your beard truly is uneven. Either your left or right side will have more hair than the other, and this will always remain true. For men that don’t and have never used minoxidil for beard growth, they too have more hair on one side than the other.
It’s much more noticeable during minox usage due to the rapid growth and change that’s taking place over the weeks and months. A naturally maturating beard takes years to develop, whereas one grown with the help of minoxidil makes the hair come out much faster. With a lot of new vellus, transitional, and terminal hair growing, it’s easy to notice when certain areas have more hair than others. Over time, this starts to subside as more hair maturates.
Fixing the uneven beard issue
That is really the only way of “fixing” an uneven beard: wait it out and let more facial hair become terminal. As you’re starting to reach your beard’s full potential, you won’t notice the difference between each side nearly as much. It will always be there, and one side may pass the originally-stronger side, but it becomes substantially less noticeable.
Also, during this minoxidil journey we tend to examine our faces in the mirror all the time. Like with other things in life, such as our physiques, we will judge ourselves more harshly and notice things that other people don’t.
So if the unevenness of your beard is an issue because you fear other people notice it — trust me, they more than likely don’t.
Need a guide to using minoxidil? Check out that article over on Beard Profile, or stick around this site and read the Minoxidil Beard FAQ.