Why can't I grow a mustache?

[Dominick_81]

I'm over 3 and half years on T and I still can't grow a mustache or decent facial hair. Why is this? I know it's all about genetics, but all the guys in my family can grow mustache's and great facial hair.  Any other guys who have been on T for years and having the same problem?

[King Malachite]

Sometimes certain types of genetics can skip a generation.....I think. 

[XiaoMei]

I'm a MTF, but I think it could be genetics. My father couldn't grow a beard until he was 30 years old - and he was 100% male! not Trans. Unluckily for me I started when I was about 13-14...

It's possible that you may need a higher dosage or perhaps you may need to wait a little longer? How old are you?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[wheat thins are delicious]

I know this won't be what you want to hear, but three years isn't really that long in terms of puberty.  Many cis males begin puberty around 12 or 13 and can't grow decent facial hair until they are 20 or older.  And generally the older you grow, the better your facial hair is able to grow/the more of it you are able to grow.  Many trans men who have been on T for longer than 5 years even say they didn't get good facial hair until at least the 5 year mark. 

And yes, it's genetics, but you can't just assume that because people in your family can grow good facial hair, that you will be able to too.  That trait could have skipped you or you could be the only one who has a certain trait.  Like for instance in my family we are all short (me:5'5, sister:5', dad:5'7, mom:5'2,) yet my brother (6'3) obviously got a part of the genes that we didn't. 
'

[Dominick_81]

Sometimes certain types of genetics can skip a generation.....I think. 

That sucks.

@XiaoMei: I'll be 33 yrs. old in less than a month. And it takes like a month or longer for me to grow out my facial hair. I don't grow it out real long b/c it looks bad, but it's patchy on one side and I can't even grow it up over the chin so I can't grow anything really decent, imo.

@wheat thins are delicious: In Feb it will be 4 years on T.  That sucks if the trait skipped me. If at 5 years and I still can't grow anything that's gunna really suck. All the guys on youtube  grow great facial hair within the first year of T.  I don't think I've seen a guy that hasn't got'n good facial hair within a year on T.  Hopefully my facial hair will get better. But I haven't had any changes in over 3 years.

[Missy~rmdlm]

Time for a clichéd "I'll trade you" story. I grew very prominent secondary sexual characteristics at an early age fueling my self loathing. Unfortunately I have been on HT for years now which hasn't done much for the secondary characteristics I desire. I think it's just fate that I have to take some extraordinary measures(read augmentation surgery/ other work).

[Dominick_81]

I'm sorry you haven't got'n the desire characteristics that you wanted. I know it sucks after being on HT  for that long and not getting that desire outcome of what you were hoping to get.

[Carrie Liz]

Going to reiterate what was said...

HRT is basically like going through puberty again. We kind of get blinded to that fact because we're adults, and thus we're always comparing ourselves to other adults, when in reality when you start HRT you're basically resetting your hormonal age to the age of 12/13.

And, well, you've been on T for 3 years. So let me ask you, how many 15/16-year-old cis males have you ever seen who can grow facial hair? Probably not a lot. There was exactly ONE guy in my entire high school class who was able to grow a beard, and one or two guys who had some degree of dark-colored mustache fuzz.

In all honesty, most cis guys don't really start growing a significant amount of facial hair until their late teens and early 20s, so it's probably unreasonable to expect the same until you've been on T a few more years.

And, well, not even every MAAB person ever grows facial hair. It's a genetic crapshoot. I pretty much never grew facial hair at all, to the point that I didn't have any shadow whatsoever and it only took like one laser session for me to be completely smooth, while others are still hacking down hair-forests every morning even despite having had laser. It takes a long long time, and it's never a guarantee.

[Dominick_81]

My cousin is 18 and he's getting some hair under his chin that he says he has to shave it every day.  Though, that might have came when he was 17. I shave every 1 -2 months b/c my facial hair grows so slow. Hopefully within the next few years more facial hair will come in and grow thicker, cause my facial hair isn't thick at all. Maybe that's what I'm thinking of...? My facial hair needs to be thicker? It's so thin. Will it ever get thicker?

[Adam (birkin)]

It is only fairly recently that I've gotten decent enough hair to grow out...probably happened around the 2.5 year mark. And even at that I still can't grow a mustache. It is starting to get darker but it's definitely not as prominent as it should be. I think I saw a guy on Tumblr a while back that didn't have much in the way of facial hair around 3 years, and then over a few months it was like BAM lol. he has a mustache and soul patch and everything now.

[Missy~rmdlm]

Going to reiterate what was said...

HRT is basically like going through puberty again. We kind of get blinded to that fact because we're adults, and thus we're always comparing ourselves to other adults, when in reality when you start HRT you're basically resetting your hormonal age to the age of 12/13.

And, well, you've been on T for 3 years. So let me ask you, how many 15/16-year-old cis males have you ever seen who can grow facial hair? Probably not a lot. There was exactly ONE guy in my entire high school class who was able to grow a beard, and one or two guys who had some degree of dark-colored mustache fuzz.

In all honesty, most cis guys don't really start growing a significant amount of facial hair until their late teens and early 20s, so it's probably unreasonable to expect the same until you've been on T a few more years.

And, well, not even every MAAB person ever grows facial hair. It's a genetic crapshoot. I pretty much never grew facial hair at all, to the point that I didn't have any shadow whatsoever and it only took like one laser session for me to be completely smooth, while others are still hacking down hair-forests every morning even despite having had laser. It takes a long long time, and it's never a guarantee.

That would have been me. I have an infamous story about how awesome my mustache was at 13, I was not thrilled.

[Mr.X]

I'm not really sure that counts for everybody, Missy.
I'm one and a half year on T, and after a year I already had some serious beardage going on. I have never seen a 13/14 year old with that. So for some reason certain aspects of this second puberty can go a lot quicker compared to a 'normal' puberty. It's probably just a YMMV thing.

[wheat thins are delicious]

@wheat thins are delicious: In Feb it will be 4 years on T.  That sucks if the trait skipped me. If at 5 years and I still can't grow anything that's gunna really suck. All the guys on youtube  grow great facial hair within the first year of T.  I don't think I've seen a guy that hasn't got'n good facial hair within a year on T.  Hopefully my facial hair will get better. But I haven't had any changes in over 3 years.

You can't keep comparing yourself to everyone.  There are tons of guys out there who are way further along than 1 year on T and don't have great facial hair.  Heck, half the guys who you are saying have great facial hair, may feel their facial hair is inadequate.  I for one couldn't grow anything more than a few wisps on my side burns area and under my chin until this past year and a half and I'm a little further along on T than you.  Have you had your levels checked and made sure everything was right?  As I see it now, you have two options.  One is to get bloodwork and make sure you are on the correct dosage, if you've done that already the other option is to stop worrying so much about how much facial hair you have or don't have  and realize that you might just not be one who will grow much facial hair (I know it's hard, I myself have agonized over it and still do) and to stop comparing yourself to others (stop frequenting threads where trans guys post progress pics, don't watch trans guys youtubes, etc. if you have to, because distancing yourself from the visual images of other trans guys will help you quit comparing yourself to them. 

I'm not really sure that counts for everybody, Missy.
I'm one and a half year on T, and after a year I already had some serious beardage going on. I have never seen a 13/14 year old with that. So for some reason certain aspects of this second puberty can go a lot quicker compared to a 'normal' puberty. It's probably just a YMMV thing.

I don't think it's certain aspects at all, just that some are genetically predisposed to rapid, thick facial hair growth, like that one guy everyone has in their high school that grows the thickest and darkest facial hair first and has a beard/goatee/mustache in his yearbook pic while everyone else is sporting the dirt stain on their lip. 

[aleon515]

My understanding is that even if you may eventually grow facial hair it can take five years or more. You're still in puberty, it's obvious that except for quite hairy guys a lot of guys don't really get much hair til after 5 years. I have a bit of a stanche but it's very light and not too filled.

--Jay

[Arch]

Remember that dosage has a lot to do with it. A couple of years ago, you were saying that you were on a ridiculously low dose. If that hasn't changed, or if your dosage hasn't increased all that much, you could be in for a bit more waiting.

[blink]

All the guys on youtube  grow great facial hair within the first year of T.  I don't think I've seen a guy that hasn't got'n good facial hair within a year on T. 

There are thousands of trans people out there, the ones on youtube or wherever are a small sampling with inherent bias. An ultra-buff bodybuilder is more likely to want to post his shirtless pics all over than tiny skinny dudes or fat guys. In the same vein, guys who are real proud of their changes on T are more likely to want to show it off than guys disappointed with their changes.

[LordKAT]

5 years on T and still no 'stache, a few hairs that get long but that is it.  Beard is skimpy, but sort of long. Long enough to braid anyway.

[Arch]

Dominick, what is your ancestry?

[Dominick_81]

Thanks for all the replies.

Remember that dosage has a lot to do with it. A couple of years ago, you were saying that you were on a ridiculously low dose. If that hasn't changed, or if your dosage hasn't increased all that much, you could be in for a bit more waiting.

Dominick, what is your ancestry?

They can grow good facial hair. Though, they are pretty much clean shaven guys. Two of my uncles just grow their mustache's out. My aunt told me that my uncle has a patchy beard that's why he shave's and only has a mustache. But all my other uncles grow facial hair just fine, they just choose to shave it all off.

I don't think my dosage really changed. But instead of having my shot every 2 weeks, I'm getting it every 10 days now so my levels are more steady. My doctor said before they were up and down when I was getting them every 2 weeks.

It is only fairly recently that I've gotten decent enough hair to grow out...probably happened around the 2.5 year mark. And even at that I still can't grow a mustache. It is starting to get darker but it's definitely not as prominent as it should be. I think I saw a guy on Tumblr a while back that didn't have much in the way of facial hair around 3 years, and then over a few months it was like BAM lol. he has a mustache and soul patch and everything now.

Nice!

You can't keep comparing yourself to everyone.  There are tons of guys out there who are way further along than 1 year on T and don't have great facial hair.  Heck, half the guys who you are saying have great facial hair, may feel their facial hair is inadequate.  I for one couldn't grow anything more than a few wisps on my side burns area and under my chin until this past year and a half and I'm a little further along on T than you.  Have you had your levels checked and made sure everything was right?  As I see it now, you have two options.  One is to get bloodwork and make sure you are on the correct dosage, if you've done that already the other option is to stop worrying so much about how much facial hair you have or don't have  and realize that you might just not be one who will grow much facial hair (I know it's hard, I myself have agonized over it and still do) and to stop comparing yourself to others (stop frequenting threads where trans guys post progress pics, don't watch trans guys youtubes, etc. if you have to, because distancing yourself from the visual images of other trans guys will help you quit comparing yourself to them. 

Yeah, I've had my levels checked. Last blood test they were a little low, but still in the normal male range, but the dr. didn't want to change my dosage. I just got them checked again b/c I'm seeing my dr. tomorrow so I'll see what she has to say then.

5 years on T and still no 'stache, a few hairs that get long but that is it.  Beard is skimpy, but sort of long. Long enough to braid anyway.

I'm sorry about that. I hope your able to grow some facial hair soon.

There are thousands of trans people out there, the ones on youtube or wherever are a small sampling with inherent bias. An ultra-buff bodybuilder is more likely to want to post his shirtless pics all over than tiny skinny dudes or fat guys. In the same vein, guys who are real proud of their changes on T are more likely to want to show it off than guys disappointed with their changes.

That makes sense.

My understanding is that even if you may eventually grow facial hair it can take five years or more. You're still in puberty, it's obvious that except for quite hairy guys a lot of guys don't really get much hair til after 5 years. I have a bit of a stanche but it's very light and not too filled.

--Jay

I hope eventually my facial hair will get more thicker and fill in better.  How long have you been on T? Can you grow a beard? Or is it just your mustache that's light?

[wheat thins are delicious]

They can grow good facial hair. Though, they are pretty much clean shaven guys. Two of my uncles just grow their mustache's out. My aunt told me that my uncle has a patchy beard that's why he shave's and only has a mustache. But all my other uncles grow facial hair just fine, they just choose to shave it all off.

I'm pretty sure he means your ethnic background.