Why My Husband Will Never Wear a Beard Again

With No Shave November so popular this fall, and the fact that we even have our own post on Beard Oil, this might seem like a weird post. Hubby has worn a beard for many years, almost to the point that I forgot what he looked like without it.  However, it’s true that my husband will never wear a beard again, and hopefully, we can help some other families in the process.

Why My Husband Will Never Wear a Beard Again

It might help if I share the backstory.  My husband was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, and while he had no family history of this, his weight has been an issue throughout most of our eighteen year marriage. About five years ago at a family dinner, he coughed until he passed out during a cold. This completely terrified my son and I, and those at the dinner table that night, so we scheduled an appointment, and the doctor didn’t feel it was a cause for concern.

Fast forward two and a half years, and I was pregnant with our son, and he did it again at the same dinner table, believe it or not. My mom is a nurse, and she though he was choking on a piece of corn, and even started the Heimlich maneuver from behind at the table. When he came to, it became more obvious that he had coughed until he passed out, and was definitely not choking, but they look very similar in the split seconds of an emergency situation.

This time he went back to the doctor, because he had been getting recurrent bronchial infections, and he was officially diagnosed with asthma after a pulmonary function test. From the time our second son was born in June of 2014, he was getting bronchial infections almost constantly, and he also started choking on food as well.  It was a mild choking, and he always coughed up whatever he seemed to be choking on at the time, but it was more like an aspiration than a true choking situation.

This went on for about a year, and we went back to the pulmonologist this fall desperate for answers.  I have to be honest, I was terrified that it was something major. The pulmonoglist ordered a chest x-ray and wanted a few other tests completed. The chest x-ray came back clear which showed no tumors in the chest itself. However, our insurance would not cover the cost of the other tests, saying they were not medically necessary, so his doctor referred him to an Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist for further testing.

The ENT completed a scope in the office and sent him for a barium swallow and a swallow study. It wasn’t until this time that we really started praying about re-homing our cat, because I was convinced the cat dander could possibly be adding to these symptoms.  A friend of ours lost her cat and had her seventh miscarriage in the same week, and I told her I was devastated that we were going to have to re-home the cat, but I needed to know if it was causing at least part of hubby’s symptoms. She offered to take the cat and see if he could at least stay with them for a few weeks.

She was very interested in seeing if Lucky would be open to living with her and her husband, and I have to be honest, I cried the entire way out to their house and was blue for several days, but even the next day I noticed about a 40% reduction in the symptoms my husband was having.  For about a month after the cat was no longer in the house, it was quite obvious that this had greatly contributed to my husband’s symptoms. However, that’s not the end of the story.

He was still coughing consistently everyday. While he wasn’t coughing as much, he was still having choking episodes and coughing each day. One day we were talking about his beard, and how it was so warm here this winter, and he really felt that it was making him more hot due to the warm weather and he decided to shave it off.

By the first evening his cough had completely stopped.  He coughed maybe two times the entire night, compared to two times per minute. By the next day it was obvious that the cough was almost completely gone.  Hubby even put his recent swallow study in Instagram, (He runs our account, so sometimes I don’t get to see what he posts until after the fact!), which he had done after the coughing had stopped.

After our visit to the ENT this week, it turns out that all of the allergens from the cat were trapped in his beard, along with other allergens in the environment that were causing his symptoms.  Since he showered in the mornings, the allergens throughout the day were trapped in his beard, and he should have really showered at night (even though I think he would have still had issues with coughing).  While the ENT did say that there is a little extra bit of tissue at his vocal chords that does inhibit complete closure at times, he may still have a risk of choking on food. However, he said as long as he chews his food thoroughly, that should not be a problem. Either way, I’m just so thankful that the coughing has finally stopped. The point is that beards aren’t for everyone, especially those with allergies or who might suffer from respiratory issues.

We’re hoping that you will share this with other guys who have beards who might have a recurrent cough, or some issue similar to ours, that will benefit from this information. We could have saved much money in doctor’s visits, unnecessary asthma medications and treatments (while he does still has asthma, he hasn’t used his rescue inhaler once since he shaved his beard).  We’re just hoping this can help someone else.

Do you know someone who has had this issue?  Comment below and let us know.