What Would You Say To Your Younger Balding Self?

[Melvin- Admin]

I would say having a low hairline isn't everything, once you start to lose the middle, and crown, a low hairline becomes somewhat irrelevant. When I was 23 I wanted to have a low and straight hairline, like I had in High School, but now I realize most people don't give a crap, as long as you have a mature hairline with good density.  Do not mind the cringe ass selfie, god it's embarrassing lol. I recall researching hair transplants back then, one of my best friends who I had a hair transplant last year, had actually had a hair transplant a year and half before this, at 21. There is life beyond your 20s, I look back and think wow, how warped was my mind. You get caught up in a bubble when you're that age, and things you think are so important you realize aren't. 

My Crown at 23

[jc80220]

I'd tell him having a bit of a thin crown isn't the end of the world. I'd then tell him to stop feeling sorry for himself and get finding a solution, otherwise you're in for a bumpy ride.

[Melvin- Admin]

21 minutes ago, jc80220 said:

I'd tell him having a bit of a thin crown isn't the end of the world. I'd then tell him to stop feeling sorry for himself and get finding a solution, otherwise you're in for a bumpy ride.

That’s key, so many guys I talk to via DM have a real defeated attitude, almost like they’ve given in to being doomed. There’s more to life than hair fellas, but all things equal, hair is nice.

[jc80220]

Maybe it depends on where you are in life. I'd had a hard time up until that point and even though I didn't realise it then, it was the final straw and I gave up for a good while.

Edited October 2, 2020 by jc80220

[Future Hair Doc]

I would have told my younger self to hop on finasteride and minoxidil ASAP and wish I had known about this forum so I could have made a better informed decision on which surgeon to go to.

[Britanium]

Visit this forum before doing anything! I went and had 2 FUT which were positively underwhelming in the Uk before discovering it.

I naively bought in to the “yes sir you just need 1 transplant” 

[Melvin- Admin]

5 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Visit this forum before doing anything! I went and had 2 FUT which were positively underwhelming in the Uk before discovering it.

I naively bought in to the “yes sir you just need 1 transplant” 

That’s unfortunately very common, promising the sun and the moon to younger guys. It’s shameful really.

[TommyLucchese]

Thankfully I'd say keep doing what you're doing. 

The month I turned 16 my mum said she thought my hair was receding... a few months later in September we want to a trichologist who analysed my hair under a microscope and said yes you have MPB.

There were some expensive mistakes - the minoxidil and weekly "treatments" at that place cost a fortune, then Belgravia Centre cost another fortune but at least it was all legit stuff - propecia and minoxidil.

Fortunately I found this place in 2011 and lurked for a while.

Nowadays you'd never think I started going bald 15 and a half years ago.

[aaron1234]

1) Get on Fin ASAP!

2) Go the best HT surgeon, not the closest or cheapest.

[Enhancer]

I would tell my younger self a few years ago that balding takes a lot longer than we initially think.

When I first noticed my hair loss at 31, I could have sworn I was losing it so fast that I'd be horseshoe by end of the year.  I wasted a lot of energy worrying about it.  But here I am 4 years later, still losing hair, but to an observer I look the same as before.  knowing my rate of loss makes me sleep easier, knowing I'll appear to have a full head of hair for another 2-3 years (without transplant).

[Curious]

In addition to what's been said, do not rush into surgery.  Find out who the top doctors are and try to have at least 4 or 5 consults before making a decision.  Spend the extra money to have the best of the best perform a HT surgery.  

[Curious25]

Don't worry and let it consume your life - we are fortunate today that there are decent options available, and they are only going to get better and better as time goes on. 

[Gareth]

Don't stress about it. By the time it really starts to become noticeable, the technology will be available

[Gatsby]

I would be telling my younger self "RELAX! There's a thing in the future called the 'internet' that has a thing called a hair loss forum! You can share your pain/depression and fear of losing all your curls and living a life of being bald! There will even be a drug called finasteride that might help stop your hair receding!"

If only I could have gone back and changed my perception of reality back then when I was 18 before I pulled the trigger on what turned out to be the biggest mistake in life so far (well not really. It's only a mistake if you learn nothing from it). But little did I know then the implications of what my decisions at the time would have on me for the rest of my life. I have a theory that at age 18 your brain hasn't fully developed in the frontal cortex region and doesn't fully mature until early/mid twenties. That's why you are most vulnerable in poor decision making in that early stage of life (in lots of areas). Another reason why holding off until your around 25 makes sense. Anyway I found a photo of myself at 17. In a year from when this photo was taken my scalp in the donor and hairline were unnecessarily ruined. The upshot of this is that the gift of getting older is wisdom.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Gatsby

[Melvin- Admin]

@Gatsby

The point you bring up at the brain not being fully developed is spot on, I believe it doesn’t fully develop until 25. Another reason to wait until you’re 25 before making serious decisions. You have a powerful story gats, glad you’re here sharing it. 

[Doron Harati]

"Take Duke Nukem with you and kill all the black market clinics with their agents" 👊🏻🤘🏻

[Al - Moderator]

21 hours ago, Gatsby said:

I found a photo of myself at 17. In a year from when this photo was taken my scalp in the donor and hairline were unnecessarily ruined.

Gatsby,

How much hair loss did you have when you had your first hair transplant? What would you change? Would you go with the hair piece sooner than you did?

 

[Gatsby]

To be honest I had very little hair loss at the time of my two hair transplants. I always had a high forehead and my temples were starting to recede. I had the surgery as much to lower my hairline (biggest regret) as much to fill in my temples. By 21 the recession was more and by 25 the crown was thin and as was the vertex. I’ll drag up some old pics and post them. 

[Seniormido]

Shave your head

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, Seniormido said:

Shave your head

You can do that now. 

[Seniormido]

10 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

You can do that now. 

Now I have scars !

[Gatsby]

On 10/5/2020 at 9:12 PM, BeHappy said:

Gatsby,

How much hair loss did you have when you had your first hair transplant? What would you change? Would you go with the hair piece sooner than you did?

 

In reality I had minimal hair loss at 18.. Also I wore my hair long and curly like a hippy (hell I was a hippy 🤣) so it was easier to disguise. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back I should have done nothing! At 18 I would have been on the first plane to Turkey if you could fast forward my younger 18 year old self to today! I probably would have gone with a hair piece eventually but the thought of growing 'your own hair' and the marketing at the time was something that I just fed into. That's why I'm so anti hair transplants in Turkey and in young people who are say 18-24. At that age your brain has not literally developed and hard wired in the frontal lobes to make executive emotional decisions. I just hope that my regrets can help prevent someone from making the same mistakes today. If I can prevent one person from doing that then what I went through was worth it.

[Melvin- Admin]

6 hours ago, Seniormido said:

Now I have scars !

Smp, @Gatsby has shared his pictures, he had really bad FUT scars, smp did an excellent job. It’s never too late to shave.

[Seniormido]

5 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Smp, @Gatsby has shared his pictures, he had really bad FUT scars, smp did an excellent job. It’s never too late to shave.

At the end it’s an ink on your head and it’s never the same as a non touched shaved head !

That’s what I tell to my younger self.

[hairlossPA]

I’d tell myself: you never know until you try

whether it be finasteride, or a hair transplant. the fear of finasteride deterred me for years before I tried it and had great results. if I hopped on sooner I wonder if I would’ve held on. the fear of transplant was, what if it doesn’t turn out good? well my results are still tbd, but I know if I never pulled the trigger I’d always wonder “what if”