HT an option if I will be going totally bald?

[lea]

I'm 23 with receding at the front and enough thinning on top for me to notice. I notice it everywhere so I am pretty sure I will be totally bald sometime. Maybe a couple of years.

 

Is it pointless to consider a HT? Seems I would need an awful lot of hair if I wanted to keep up with the balding until it was done.

 

I've tried minox + proscar for over a year with no luck. I've stopped using minox since it just caused itching and I still use proscar in hope that it will slow everything down at the least.

[lea]

I'm 23 with receding at the front and enough thinning on top for me to notice. I notice it everywhere so I am pretty sure I will be totally bald sometime. Maybe a couple of years.

 

Is it pointless to consider a HT? Seems I would need an awful lot of hair if I wanted to keep up with the balding until it was done.

 

I've tried minox + proscar for over a year with no luck. I've stopped using minox since it just caused itching and I still use proscar in hope that it will slow everything down at the least.

[arfy]

You are smart to keep using Proscar, in my opinion. It may not regrow hair, but if it can slow down your hair loss it is worth it.

 

You can never restore all of your hair with a hair transplant. And so the balder you are, the less coverage you'll end up with, because a HT can only do so much. Look at the guys who have impressive results... usually the more hair they can hang onto, the better their HT looks.

 

Since it seems like you have a lot of general thinning, you need to beware that a hair transplant can accelerate your hair loss. Post surgery, you can have "shock loss". It doesn't happen to every guy, and sometimes the shocked hair grows back. But the weaker the existing hair is, the more at risk it is to shock fallout. Doctors will tell you that these hairs were destined to fall out anyway. Maybe so, but in the meantime they had been giving you some useful coverage and something to comb. It sounds like you have a lot of at-risk hairs and need to weigh this into your decision-making.

 

Yes you can still get a HT (although I would not get one yet if I were you) but you need to plan it out with the understanding that you will lose a lot more hair. This means your hair transplant shouldn't attempt to restore your teenage hairline, but be something that looks normal when you are older and have lost a lot more hair. Guys refer to this as a conservative approach.

 

If a guy with your kind of hair loss and your age tries to transplant your original hairline back, you stand a high risk of looking bizarre later in life, with a permanent hairline that is in a "young" position, and bald areas or extremely thin areas behind that. Since it sounds like you are not having a fanatstic response with Finasteride, that is one of your risks.

 

The problem is that a lot of guys your age aren't interested in a conservative hairline, they want to look like how they used to look before they lost any hair at all. A conservative approach will make you look like you've lost some hair, but also kept some too. A hair transplant will only give you "a little something to comb up there". Most guys your age think that is not a worthy goal, so they are either turned down by doctors, or they find a crook who will do whatever they want. So they can often look good in the short run, but live to regret their choices made in their 20s.

 

Guys who are your age often aren't thinking about the long term (and I mean "very" long term). A lot of young guys incorrectly presume that hair transplants can restore all of their hair. My advice to you is think long term, and don't do anything that will look bizarre if you lose the rest of your hair. Your hair transplant will still be there when you are 50. What will you look like in 10-20-30 years if you get a hair transplant? That is something you need to work out for yourself and understand.

 

[This message was edited by arfy on November 19, 2003 at 03:06 AM.]

[arfy]

Sorry, I goofed and posted my comments in the Ask A Doctor section.

 

Disregard my post, if you like.

[JohnH]

LEA, you're doing the right thing by researching your options. Many people find this forum after having jumped into a transplant only to find out that they could have done so much better.

Fortunately for you, HT technology has progressed quite a bit in the last few years. There are many top doctors mentioned here that are doing awesome work. The risk for people who don't do any research is this: There are a lot of doctors who have not embraced the new methods and are doing outdated/shoddy work. By reading though the posts here, you should be able to come up with a list of doctors that interest you.

You are young but it sounds like you have lost a significant amont of hair already. A top doctor will be able to give you a hairline that will look natural. A good (conservative) hairline

is the most important as it frames the face. A well done (all follicular unit) procedure should last you a lifetime. This is because the FUs look natural - even if you continue to lose hair.

If this was 10 years ago, I would tell you to wait. Things are different now. As long as you pick a top notch doctor, there's no reason that you should have to wait much longer. Do take the time, however, to read as much of this forum as you can - even the older posts. Then you'll be able to make the right decision.

[Dr. William Parsley]

Lea,

 

I am a transplant doctor, but can't answer your question better than Arfy. If you are losing that much at 23, there is a good chance you aren't a good candidate for transplanting. Whatever you do, let nature play its cards first- then you can decide with your doctor if transplantation is right for you.

 

You read a lot about the different techniques, etc., but the most important skill for the doctor is to make good judgments before he ever touches an instrument. An unsuitable candidate is going to fare badly even with the most skilled doctor.

 

Stick with the medications for now and let science develop. Watch for hair multiplication over the next few years.