PLEASE HELP & ADVISE

[hairbank]

Ricky-

 

If you decide you want to consult, you may want to send Spex a PM.........he's located in the UK and is a consultant for Dr. Feller. Or send him an email at spexhair@aol.com. He's a great guy and, with his experience, I believe his evaluation of your situation would be "spot-on".

 

Glad to see you respond positively. We're just trying to advise you based on our own experiences or good/bad experiences we've seen from other's posting here.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Ricky,

 

Glad to know you are seeking answers to your questions. Try to remember, however...and this is no disrespect to younger people, but younger people have not been able to regret quick decisions yet...it's only the slightly older crowd who MADE decisions when they were younger that I've heard regret their quick decisions.

 

I do agree, however, that if you stick to the coalition doctors, that they won't do you wrong...I am betting the majority of them won't even consider you an HT candidate at this point and you'd be best to follow their recommendation. But research and educate yourself. Thanks for keeping an open mind my friend.

 

Glad we can help you in this process.

 

Bill

[MrJobi]

Rick

 

Hi brother.. Trust me my friend, I know it seems harded when you are 20 but it does not get easier regarding hairloss

 

Still the same jokes

Still the same internal feelings

Still the same results regarding female views

 

I feel the same way about it now as I did when I was 23. Now, 20 and 50 then it may be different but everything is relative and if it makes you feel poor than it doesnt matter what age you are..

[calvinmd]

Lots of good advice so far. Here's my two cents on the age/HT debate:

 

For a 20-year-old, I think it's mainly important to determine whether or not a class 6-7 is likely. If you're gonna bald that severely, then it's a different debate and your options at 20 years old are a lot smaller & riskier. But if you're probably only gonna do a NW#3-5 pattern, then I think an early transplant just into the center forelock & vertex may be pretty safe if you can say yes to these things:

 

 

-- Gotta be willing to live with HTs in general. Not shaving down short ever again, gotta be okay with the "illusion of density," etc.

 

-- Gotta be willing to get a strip-scar eventually, even if not at first. It's probably not gonna be feasible to do a major-league reconstruction without it. FUE is WAAYYY expensive, demands smaller graft numbers per session, and often still seems to be a bit lower-yield than strip.

 

-- Gotta be willing, both surgically and financially, to have multiple future HTs. Probably all the way to exhuasting your donor supply.

 

-- Gotta be willing to leave the temples recessed to some extent. NW1 is a pipe dream and NW2 isn't even a good idea. NW2.5-NW3 is a much better risk in front. I say this partly for graft conservation at a young age, and partly just for more natural looks if you can't cover the crown later in life.

 

-- Even after all this, gotta be willing to live without ever really covering the crown much. A bald spot may always be visible even after moving thousands of grafts and exhausting the donor area with multiple HT surgeries.

 

 

 

If you can say yes to all these things and you're not headed straight for NW#7 territory, then maybe an early HT at 20 years old isn't a bad idea. MAYBE. Just don't underestimate how much you'll care about your looks later in life. If you care enough now to get surgery, then you'll probably still care A LOT even decades from now.

 

And I still vote to wait a while. My case of hair loss TOTALLY contradicted to rest of my family and it didn't start to show until my mid-20s.

 

 

------------------------------------------------

[the B spot]

Getting a HT is not a immediate gratification choice.

 

The reason most feel younger men should hold off from chosing a HT is that they do not possess a crystal ball to see into the future.

 

You do not know to what level you will continue to lose hair.

 

You do not know if you will continue to be able to afford HT sessions in the future, which is something to REALLY consider.

 

At your age, I would not do a HT, BUT if you will not be deterred, you simply must do FUE, NO STRIP!!!!!!

 

Please heed my advice and the advice of others as you are not the first nor will you be the last to have this problem

 

I waited until I was 28 before my first HT and I had been bald NW5 for 3 years prior.

 

 

Take a deep breath, relax..... list all your goals now and in the future and weigh out what spot a hair transplant will occupy when measured against your list.

 

Take Care,

J