Too young to have a transplant!

[Benko]

I started losing my hair when i was about 16. I'm 20 now. I have been taking propecia for about 18 months. I am only losing hair at the front and haven't experienced any hair loss in the crown area as yet.

I recently went to hair clinic to discuss having a transplant. They it it's a bad idea to have a transplant so young as they don't know how the hair loss will progress. I understand this but i would still like a hair transplant.

The area of hair loss is quite small so if i were to have a transplant to fill this area, i would only use a small amount of hair from the donor area. I can always have more transplants as my hair loss progresses. Obviously the donor area is limited and so i may run out depending on how severe my hair loss is. However i am more concerned with having hair at the front of my head than the top or back. If i have transplants at the front, using all my donor hair, but have have hair loss on the top or back, it wouldn't bother me as much.

What do you guys think?

Are there any other problems with having a transplant so young?

[Benko]

I started losing my hair when i was about 16. I'm 20 now. I have been taking propecia for about 18 months. I am only losing hair at the front and haven't experienced any hair loss in the crown area as yet.

I recently went to hair clinic to discuss having a transplant. They it it's a bad idea to have a transplant so young as they don't know how the hair loss will progress. I understand this but i would still like a hair transplant.

The area of hair loss is quite small so if i were to have a transplant to fill this area, i would only use a small amount of hair from the donor area. I can always have more transplants as my hair loss progresses. Obviously the donor area is limited and so i may run out depending on how severe my hair loss is. However i am more concerned with having hair at the front of my head than the top or back. If i have transplants at the front, using all my donor hair, but have have hair loss on the top or back, it wouldn't bother me as much.

What do you guys think?

Are there any other problems with having a transplant so young?

[nobuzz4me]

Benko,

 

I know it is frustrating to lose hair at a young age but you should wait a while for a HT. Continue on the meds and scalp care regimen meantime. Thank goodness the clinic you went to did you a favor by turning you down, others may not of. I know that may not be what you want to here but you need to listen to those who have gone thru this. We can help you further if you can give us more info, pics, family history of hairloss, do you have any hair minituration in other areas?

 

You really have to think longterm, what will you want to look like at 30,40,50,60???? I am not sure you will feel the same way years from now about having some hair up front and nothing on top or in the back. Trust me, you will want to look natural as you age. If you become NW6 with hair only in the front that will not look to natural particularly if you set your hairline to low.

 

Good luck and continue to do you research, The good thing you have going for you is your young age, there may be hope for a cure while you are young enough to benefit from it!!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hello Benko and welcome to the forums,

 

They it it's a bad idea to have a transplant so young as they don't know how the hair loss will progress. I understand this but i would still like a hair transplant.

 

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but the clinic has given you good advice. Age is not the only factor in determining if you are a candidate for a hair transplant, but it surely is one of them. The fact that you have very little loss at this point by your admission combined with the uncertainty of what hairloss may still come, adding a hair transplant to that could create a recipe for disaster. You seem to be aware already of your finite donor supply...this is good...but keep this in mind also. Let's follow this through a little bit:

 

Consider recipient area density verses the uncertainty of hairloss in your future. I imagine you will probably want decent density even in a small area, and even if you use only a little bit of donor hair now...what happens 1 year from now if/when you lose more hair? Will you continue to fill int the balding spots with dense packing? If you end up with a NW5+, you will wind up with no more donor hair eventually to fill in the balding spots leaving you with a very unnatural hair transplant. Giving you less than anything somewhat dense in such a small area will look unnatural too in such a small area, as you put it.

 

I know what you are feeling...you want your hair back now. Who doesn't? But as I've told people before...hair transplants are not a "cure" for hairloss, nor should they be looked at as a short term solution...it's very important to plan for the long term. Many people have stated in their ignorance (no offense to them) that they won't care what they look like when they are 30 or 40...they want their hair back now even if they look unnatural later in life. My friend...I'm 30 (in less than a month) and care just as much about my appearance as I did when I was 20. There are people here in their 40s and 50s too who are concerned about their appearance and are getting transplants. Your concern for your looks will stay with you..so plan LONG term.

 

In the meantime...there are things you can do:

 

1. Get on Finasteride (I recommend getting a prescription for Proscar and take 1/4 tablet per day rather than Propecia taking 1 tablet a day...you'll save money) and possibly minoxodil (Rogaine foam appears to be the best from what I heard...I don't use it)

 

2. Research on this and other forums...see what other people who are your age did...some have jumped the gun into hair transplants and are happy now. Some have lived to regret their quick decisions, and some have yet to know whether or not their HT will be successful long term or if they will need more transplants and what point they may run out of donor hair to keep it up.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Bill

[jai]

I am in the same boat as you. Ive been reading this site off and on for a longtime. Your post struck a chord.

I too have very little hairloss in front. Had noticed some thinning in the crown but that got rectified using Mintop for these past 4 months.

I think a couple of hundred graft will lower my temple recessions. But people are all the time talking about why it will be a bad idea. So, I decided to stop lurking and ask for advise actively.

 

So, I attached my pic. Any advise will be appreciated. I seriously want to get a full hairline today when I am young.

[Benko]

Thanks for your replies guys!

 

Originally posted by nobuzz4me:

We can help you further if you can give us more info, pics, family history of hairloss, do you have any hair minituration in other areas?

 

 

Yeah, I'll probably upload a pic soon. My dad and grandad on my mums side were both very bald! so i'm prepared for mine to be the same, especially as it has started so young. There is no miniturisation in any other areas yet, its only at the front. Maybe the propecia has been effective in preventing hairloss in the crown?

 

Originally posted by Bill:

In the meantime...there are things you can do:

 

1. Get on Finasteride (I recommend getting a prescription for Proscar and take 1/4 tablet per day rather than Propecia taking 1 tablet a day...you'll save money)

 

I actually use Fincar which is a generic version of Proscar and is a hell of lot cheaper!. I know some people who use it and they have actually had some regrowth, so i don't doubt it's effectiveness .

 

I understand what you are saying about not having enough donor hair to fill in balding spots, but to me it is more important to have hair at the front. It frame's the face and is generally the part of the hair most people look at. You say it would look unnatural, is this because the frontal transplant hair would look too thin without hair on the top of the head to kind of support it?

[Benko]

Originally posted by jai:

So, I attached my pic. Any advise will be appreciated. I seriously want to get a full hairline today when I am young.

 

Hi Jai,

I don't think you hair looks too bad. I'd swap it for my hairline anytime . I think temporal recession looks better than frontal recession. That central frontal part of the hair is the most important to me.

[hairbank]

Benko (& jai)-

 

I really can't add too much to Nobuzz & Bill's posts...........some really great advice for the both of you. I realize hair loss at such a young age (at any age for that matter) is very disheartening. There are varying opinions as to the "acceptible" age to receive a HT. IMO....20 years old is too young to consider.

 

I realize you want the low, dense hairline and appearance is important. Bill has a good point regarding this........when you reach 30, 40 or 50 you'll likely care just as much how you appear, and, if you happen to have used up all of your finite donor supply in front with nothing left for midscalp/crown and end up being Norwood 6, I believe you will regret it. I just turned 40 yrs old 2 months ago and have had 2 HT's in the past two years..........I can tell you it's just as important now to me as it was when I was in my 20's.

 

In the end, as in all cases here, it's up to you what you choose. My advice would be to stick with meds and other loss preventatives until you're a little older and better able to try and determine what your ultimate loss pattern may be.

 

Best of luck to you!

[jai]

Originally posted by hairbank:

Benko (& jai)-

IMO....20 years old is too young to consider.

 

I realize you want the low, dense hairline and appearance is important. Bill has a good point regarding this........when you reach 30, 40 or 50 you'll likely care just as much how you appear, and, if you happen to have used up all of your finite donor supply in front with nothing left for midscalp/crown and end up being Norwood 6, I believe you will regret it.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

I am not 20 years old. I am 27 years. My hairloss is not fast. Mintop has reduced whatever thinning I saw on the crown. My only prob. is that with the deep temple recessions, my grooming options are limited. I have to do what seems like a combover from the centre to both sides.

 

i understand your point that I may lose hair and become a norwood 6. But I do not plan to use a lot of hair. Just 400 should do the job.

If I do become a NW6, I will still have almost all of my donor intact. No?

[iwanthair]

I am 25. Guys you really should go and get consultations with doctors. I was reading this forum and it is a great place for info. But i went to see Feller recently and it much better to have consultation sitting in front of the doctor talking about your case, letting the doctor check your donor supply,, laxity of scalp, etc.

[Bill - Seemiller]

I am 25. Guys you really should go and get consultations with doctors. I was reading this forum and it is a great place for info. But i went to see Feller recently and it much better to have consultation sitting in front of the doctor talking about your case, letting the doctor check your donor supply,, laxity of scalp, etc.

 

iwanthair,

 

Yes, but one also has to be careful. Whereas you chose an excellent and ETHICAL doctor to examine you, not everyone is in an area where such doctor's exist. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors who aren't so ethical will take anybody with a few thousand dollars and give them a hair transplant. The doctor may not be using the latest technology and they may not be making ethical decisions in the patients best interest. I've seen this a thousand times over the last few years. Consultations are great...but make sure you choose a reputable doc. May I suggest looking here:

 

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

 

Bill

[nobuzz4me]

Iwanthair,

 

I agree with Bill - AND will add that you should EDUCATE yourself before you see any doctor so that you are armed with information, ask all the right questions and understand what the doc is talking about!

 

Information is power!!

[iwanthair]

Oh yes, absolutely. If i went to any doc without reading every single topic on this website it would be a waste of his and mine time.

I wanted to shave my head and do 3500-4000 grafts. After reading this forum i realized it might be a bad idea and i did not even know if it is possible to extract that amount from my head without giving me half inch wide scar.

Dr. Feller told me that it is bad idea indeed. While i have great laxity and good supply - i have too much hair on top which will most likely get shocked. And if i touch my bald spot on the crown i might end up with great hairline and "bushy" crown but with nothing inbetween. He absolutely turned the way i should aproach my hairloss suggesting to just rebuild hairline for now with approx. 2000 grafts.

[hairbank]

Originally posted by jai:

 

i understand your point that I may lose hair and become a norwood 6. But I do not plan to use a lot of hair. Just 400 should do the job.

If I do become a NW6, I will still have almost all of my donor intact. No?

 

jai-

 

400 grafts is little to nothing. If you're having temple work done on each side I'd say you're conservatively looking at 1000 grafts or so. One other thing to remember, I was advised by my consultant at Hasson/Wong that each strip surgery you are wasting precious grafts when harvesting the strip..........maybe up to 500 per session.

 

No way to tell how much donor you have..........only real way to tell is to have an in-person consult with a top doc who can check out the density of your available donor hair.

 

At your age, as long as your sticking with meds you may want to do some consulting and see what advice you get to best deal with your loss in the future.