Advice for 19yo male in Australia

[Guest]

Hi All,

I would firstly like to thank you all for a great forum. It has really helped me and given me hope looking at everyones experiences and knowing that im not alone.

 

I am 19 currently working full time, my hair loss is affecting my life more than I could ever imagine. I have been losing my hair since I was 16, and have been on 1/4 proscar for about 2.5 years, however I stopped about a month or 2 ago (just to give the body a break). I am back on it now though (since yesterday).

 

I am running out of time so I will post more info later, but find the photos attached. Money is not a factor, all I want is to be able to gell my hair or atleast not hide in the shadows when in public.

[Guest]

Hi All,

I would firstly like to thank you all for a great forum. It has really helped me and given me hope looking at everyones experiences and knowing that im not alone.

 

I am 19 currently working full time, my hair loss is affecting my life more than I could ever imagine. I have been losing my hair since I was 16, and have been on 1/4 proscar for about 2.5 years, however I stopped about a month or 2 ago (just to give the body a break). I am back on it now though (since yesterday).

 

I am running out of time so I will post more info later, but find the photos attached. Money is not a factor, all I want is to be able to gell my hair or atleast not hide in the shadows when in public.

[Guest]

pic

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dopey,

 

Interesting alias...if I was going to call myself one of the names of the seven dwarves, I'd probably call myself Sleepy...that is one right? Eh well...I'm not up on my dwarves

 

Anyway...I digress. Welcome to the forums!

 

Unfortunately the pictures you are showing us are not very high quality...quite blurry, but from what I can tell you have lost quite a bit of hair.

 

At 19 years old, however, I think you ought to be very cautious and not jump into anything. Though age is not THE primary factor in considering an HT, it is important to gauge that you're most likely going to lose more hair. People who start losing hair at an early age typically have very aggressive hairloss and are destined for a high level on the NW scale. I'm not trying to discourage you of course. The fact that you are on Finasteride is a GREAT thing...I'd encourage you to stay on it if you want to keep the hair you have. Has the medication been working for you, to at least keep the hair you have? have you regrown any? Are you losing any hair in the crown (yet)?

 

Being that you are probably destined for much hair loss, I'd say if you are going to consider an HT at all, be very conservative in the beginning. You are not going to want to get a 5000 graft surgery or anything in the front half while dense packing it...you're going to want to save grafts from the finite donor supply for future loss.

 

Though this is probably not what you want to hear, I'd consider waiting a little bit before you have surgery. Maybe consider shaving your head and growing a goatee and see if the look suits you. I know a lot of men that look awesome with it and still get a lot of women . Seriously though...it is worth considering at this point.

 

What's your family hairloss history like? Is your father, dad's father, or mom's father completely bald? I'm not sure how educated you are about hair transplants, but ultimately, someone who is destined for a NW7 (not saying you are) should seriously consider NOT having an HT...simply because you'll never get a lot of density all over your scalp.

 

I do recommend, however, to consult with a few of the coalition doctors and try to map out a long term game plan for your hair. An ethical surgeon would look out for your best interest in the long run and wouldn't just simply do anythihng to get you in the chair. Your best bet is to click on the link below and consult with a few surgeons to see what they recommend. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

 

http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/hair-loss-content...s/our_physicians.asp

 

Bill

[pushing 40]

Here's some asswipe advice: shave your head, get on propecia, lift weights to muscle up, and wait a few yrs. From the pics at your age , it looks like you are going to be extensively bald. Anything you do now at this age in regards to surgery will probably be a major mistake. I've been reading every post on this forum for a while now. I do not have extensive balding and so only recently became aware of the signifigance of density issues thanks to some of these guys on here. I've also been drinking this morning because I just finished finals for the semester so I'm not even sure I'm really typing this right now.

[NervousNelly]

I know that this is a difficult time for you. Many of us on this forum have been thru it and it does suck. I think that the above guys have given you some good advise but I would like to go a little further and be more straight to the point. Even though right now you probably want to do just about anything under the sun to have hair and stop the hairloss, please DO NOT consider getting a hair transplant now even if money is not a factor. There is nothing wrong with educating yourself right now about HT's so you can plan things for the future but at your age you should not go thru with the procedure. I rather doubt that you'd find an ethical doctor that would work on you at your age anyways. In case you are not educated now on HT's my main reasoning is that no one can predict your future hairloss and therefore it is difficult for the surgeon to know where to place the hairline and how much hair they will have to work with (donor hair). You don't want to do something now that you will regret 10 years from now. Once you go thru with the procedure there is no turning back. It is a lifelong decision. I hope that this helps you.

[bayscholar]

Well D I'll play Devils advocate here... pushing 40 is drinking, and I am at work on Saturday (congrats on finishing finals that's always reason to drink)... listen you do not have to shave your head get buff 2 accentuate your chrome dome (that's the nonsense I was told at 24, look I did it and I did not look tuff + I have trouble gaining mass- I am slender....so slender shaved head = cancer look...thus the shaved head pump iron theory is not for every one). Second your picture is not the best quality as Bill mentioned so until you can improve the picture quality... your current state is a guess to us, and it will be difficult for any one on this forum to accurately inform you on what is possible. Example...from your pic as poor as it may be, it appears as though you have major hair loss in your frontal 1/3 region (i.e. hairline to midscalp region) if and I stress if you notice your family loss patterns to be one in which the front goes early and the crown stays you are not as dead in the water as some may imply. You see the point that Bill makes 4 you is very sound and comes from having experience with HT's & being a very helpful person - to a lucky newbie like yourself... find out what you are dealing with (family hair loss patterns, hair quality, and get some opinions form coalition docs... that will require getting better images to them) before you begin your fight... again the more prepared your are for battle the more likely you are to win....so take a year and research research and research some more...look for people with your hairloss patterns and similarities in hair. Find out which cases have been successful and which have not... be informed and reasonable in your expectations and anything is possible....rush into with a pipe dream and your likely to have your dream burst (and as others have said, once your start there is no going back).

 

Stay up hairloss brother anything is possible

[Guest Cousin_It]

Welcome to this forum, guys here will try to steer you in the right direction.

 

Though your pictures are kind of iffy, you got the point across. At your age you certainly have quite a bit of hair loss, and the outlook in really not that good. I feel a transplant at this time would not be advisable, you will end up having an unacceptable appearance as time and hair loss progresses.

 

But all is not without hope, various medications and protocols may be able to slow/stop/regrow hair long enough to a time when a transplant may be a viable alternative. Obviously the main two components you must employ in your assault would be Propecia and Rogaine Foam, but do not stop with these alone. There are a number of additonal drugs, though not FDA approved when used in conjuction may be able to do this. If you would like some additional info on some very aggressive protocols you can PM me, I will be more than glad to share the knowledge I have acquired from considerable research. I only wish the solution was much simplier.

[nobuzz4me]

Dopey,

 

All advice above is great and you need to take heed. I am sorry your hairloss looks very aggressive and in ten or twenty years you could very easily end up a Norwood scale 7, I would say Norwood 6 at the very least if you are lucky. IMO you do not look like a good candidate for HT since you are only 19 and you have this much loss. This is just my opinion and I am no expert so check in with a ethical doctor first and do not commit to anything, just see what he thinks your hairloss future holds.

 

I am sorry to be this blunt, but I know the trauma you are experiencing and do not want you to make a bad decision based on emotion.

 

OK, now the good thing you have going for you is that you are only 19, (most of us woud love to be your age again) this means any cures for baldness via cloning, better drugs, etc., you will not be too old to take advantage of the new technoligies which may be 5-10 yrs away, who knows?.

 

You may want to consider a hair piece system for the time being until such time for a cure hopefully comes. It is a option that I think most NW 6-7 cases are left to consider since HT rarely gives enough coverage that one is happy with. Please do a lot of research on this option as it requires a lot of maintenance/cost to look natural.

 

Stay patient you have time.

[Guest]

Hi all,

Thankyou for the responses! I wasnt expecting any for a while (thats why I havent put the rest of the photos up). Although the general concensus is not what I want to hear, I am happy that you are being honest.

 

The shaved look for me is definately not a good look, I have been strongly considering it recently, but everyone I ask says I will look terrible.

 

In regards to HT, I was considering visiting Dr Woods clinic (local to me) for a consult. I agree that a huge graft session is not a good idea, but I was thinking maybe getting 500 - 1000 FUST to build the hairline a little more. My question is if i get this done and shave my head later on in life, will the scars be noticable? My research on Dr Woods shows no, but I am be wrong.

 

My grandfather (mums side) lost his hair quite young aswell, he had no hair on top at all, but I will ask about when it got really bad.

 

However, since quite young I have had alot of hair on my body. When I was young I hated maturing early and having heaps of hair everywhere, however now that I am loosing it on my head I dont know what to think. How is body hair transplants looked apon? Although it may never give the look I desire, wouldnt some on top be better then none?

 

My leg hair grows longer than the hair on my head! Which I guess is from the proscar/propecia..... I found that the proscar helped a great deal to slow down the hair loss. I am currently on 1ml of rogain 5% liquid per night (as it makes my hair look see through and "combed over" for work if i do it in the morning), does anyone know of another form of rogain (other than liquid)? Cousin it mentioned something about rogain foam?

 

Please note that all these photos were taken under a bathroom heat lamp to show the hair loss. I will post one of me my at a chrissy party on friday in natural light aswell.

 

Awaiting your responses,

Dopey

[Guest]

pic

[Guest]

another pic

[Guest]

crown

[nobuzz4me]

Dopey,

 

Good point on body hair as a possibility down the road. From what I hear and this is still somewhat controversial, body hair is better to fill in the crown so any scalp hair which is used to transplant would be best suited for the hairline.

 

A HT via strip with your scalp donor would leave a scar which is easily covered unless you shave it down real close.

 

Your crown pic looks a bit better than I thought it would, I hope the propecia helps you keep what you have now.

 

I would proceed with caution on the Body hair route, wait awhile and see what new technology develops. Again, time is on your side!

[UGLY MAN 4 LIFE]

Originally posted by pushing 40:

Here's some asswipe advice: shave your head, get on propecia, lift weights to muscle up, and wait a few yrs. From the pics at your age , it looks like you are going to be extensively bald. Anything you do now at this age in regards to surgery will probably be a major mistake. I've been reading every post on this forum for a while now. I do not have extensive balding and so only recently became aware of the signifigance of density issues thanks to some of these guys on here. I've also been drinking this morning because I just finished finals for the semester so I'm not even sure I'm really typing this right now.

 

Yeap, you are an asswipe.

[UGLY MAN 4 LIFE]

Dopey

 

I'm from Australia and have sent you a PM.

[hairbank]

Dopey,

 

You've gotten lots of advice, the majority of which I agree with. As has been said.....at your age with the loss as aggressive as it has been, I'd steer clear of a HT for awhile and see how you do with the meds. I would encourage you to consult with a few of the Coalition Surgeons recommended here for professional advice on how best to approach your situation as it is somewhat unique. As for Body Hair, there are a few examples of this if you'll search using the "find" feature on this site...........one in particular looks very good but the jury is still out on BHT as to whether the hairs are susceptible to MPB.

 

Good luck!