(Photo : https://pixabay.com/photos/beard-face-man-model-mustache-1845166/)

SWITZERLAND -- Swiss researchers collected swabs from the facial hair of men and the necks of dogs from different breeds and compared the results of the two. They collected samples from 18 men and roughly 30 different dogs and the results are amazingly gross!

The report was released by the Hirslanden Clinic in Switzerland. In the research, the data shows bacteria found in a man's beard is far worse in number than those found in dogs. Initially, the research was to find out if men's beards could pick up diseases from dogs through their facial hair. However, upon analyzing the data, it tells a different story. Professor Andreas Gutzeit, the author of the study, said researchers found a significantly more bacteria in men's beards compared to the dog's fur around the neck.

The single men that were collected samples from, ranges between 18 to 76 in age. Most of them were found with high counts of bacteria in their beards. On the other hand, only 23 out of the 30 dogs were found with similar results. Some of the men who underwent the test were carrying so much bacteria in their beards that there were at risk of getting sick.

"The bacterial content on men's beards come in high loads. They were found to be dirtier than that of a dog's fur," Gutzeit said. "Based on the findings of this study, it is fairly easy to say that dogs can be considered cleaner than that of bearded men."

In fact, some of the men that were tested were found to be carrying microbes that usually threatens human health. The experts say that men should be told to wash their beards too.

Perhaps it might be time to tell the man of the house to go and shave!