How young is too young for a HT

[Guest]

I'm new to this Forum and I've been reading quite a bit of the posts. I see a lot of people referring to old HT's, and some of these same people seem to be in their thirties, putting their first HT in their late 20's. So how young is too young. Or is it not age at all, but the progression of your pattern baldness.

[Guest]

I'm new to this Forum and I've been reading quite a bit of the posts. I see a lot of people referring to old HT's, and some of these same people seem to be in their thirties, putting their first HT in their late 20's. So how young is too young. Or is it not age at all, but the progression of your pattern baldness.

[Guest]

The popular opinion is - one cannot predict their hairloss. The older you are the more accurate prediction you can make. If you wait long enough, you may even decide you don't want an HT in the first place. If you're young and losing hair, or your father/grandfathers are bald - chances are you'll end up high on NW scale and will need a number of transplants to keep up with progression of hairloss. This may lead to depletion of your donor supply. First thing you should try is medication - especially Propecia. Late twenties, early thirties seem to be acceptable by most posters here to get an HT.

 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

[Guest]

Thanks for your response,

 

I've been on Propecia for about a year, and Rogaine, or generic Walmart Minoxodil 5% for almost two. My hair is hanging on in the rear, my hair loss "pattern" is identical to Futzyhead's. Only difference is I am not nearly as far along as he was pre HT. I've got the front thinning big time now, first the power alleys, then kinda coming into the middle, now its kinda starting to give that little island in the front. Basically the Propecia is keeping good density in the back, or crown, virtually unnoticable. But I kinda feel like its getting that time to either do something about it, or let it go. I just don't wanna do something I will regret.

[Guest]

Definitely a good approach - don't rush into it. Spend the time doing some reading of all the useful stuff on this site. It's very easy to get an HT - it's also easy to end up with bad results. The last thing you want is end up looking worse after an HT, than before. Do your hw, and you'll be fine. How old are you by the way?

 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

[Guest]

I'm 24, and by the way sorry for messing up your name in the first reply. Yeah, I have been reading like crazy and researching like a mad man. Seems to me if I don't really try to lower my hairline and don't try to fill in the power alleys too much I can achieve desired density and still leave room for donor areas. See I have been losing my hair for many years. I am very comfortable with the power alley's. Could care less. Looks almost mature in my opinion. Accepted may be a better term. But the thinning sucks. I just want dense hair where I got hair, and none where I don't. I have always had a big forehead anyways. I am tryin to get Futzyhead to Email me. I wanna pic his brain just a bit. Like I said earlier he seems to be the blueprint of my hair. Both in Norwood class but in color and texture as well.

[FUTzyhead]

you've got mail!

[Guest]

Is it safe to assume that since I started balding earlier that my balding will be worse (meaning a lot higher on the Norwood). Or does the age you start losing and the final Norwood you end up with not depend on each other. Example: some older men start balding late in life and then only end up a Norwood 3. So by my starting in my 20's am I guaranteed to lose a ton more hair, ending up a 6 or 7, or could my pattern just have started earlier and will not necessarily end up much worse, just get there quicker persay.

[Guest]

Thanks to all who have answered so far, but please anyone who can chime in on this would be most helpful. I have been considering this off and on and I'm not the type to make a rushed decision, and a short lived one. I know if I go to a doc he will probably let me have a HT even at my age. But I wanna know from you guys, the ones who've had them. Am I too young. I'm too young to be wise, but I'm old enough to know to listen to those who are.

[HotCreek]

Jrod,

 

You're definitely doing the right thing by reading, asking questions and learning. However, you seem to want a "definitive" answer. So, I'll "echo" the words of one of the better HT docs who posts here: No age is too young to get an HT so long as you go "conservative" enough. In other words, if you simply presume you'll be a Norwood class 7 (worst case MPB), and have the work done with that in mind, then even if you do progress to the worst case, you'll be fine.

[Guest]

Where on NW scale is your father/mother's father? Although not an exact science - it can more or less give you an idea of where you may end up.

 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

[Ironman]

jrod-

 

We're about the same age as I'm 23. My hair loss is in the NW3/NW4 area and I've considered a transplant, although there are still too many question marks for me.

 

Anyway, my main suggestion would be to look around your family(any immediate male relatives) and see where they are in their hairloss. If they still have full heads of hair then I have no idea what that means, but usually someone who is losing hair in their early 20s will find that their male relatives have also experienced hair loss. In my case my dad and my uncle(dad's side) would both be classified as a NW6(unfortunately I have no immediate male relatives on my mom's side), and I assume that I'll end up somewhere around there when my hair loss has completely run its course(they both lost hair at a young age also).

 

However, you may observe that all of your male relatives have receded temples(a "mature" hairline) and some crown loss but still have a good deal of hair. Ask them and you might find out that they, like you, started to lose their hair in their early 20s but that it just kind of stopped once it reached a certain point. If you'd be content with their hairlines then I suggest to take propecia(which you should take regardless if hair loss concerns you) and forget about a transplant. If even their level of hairloss bugs you then I suggest getting on propecia and seeing what it does for about a year and then re-examining your situation. At that point, and with the right family history, you might be able to go for a more aggresive transplant, but in any other situation I would probably go conservative by thinking about how much more hair you're going to lose before it stops.