Should I get a hairtransplant at 22 years of age?

[jojolux]

Hi guys, I‘m 22 and I‘m from Luxembourg. I first started to notice that I‘m losing hair when I was 18 years of age. Since then I‘ve used minoxidil and some other pills that didn‘t really work out. I‘ve now come to a point where I can‘t really hide it anymore and where I‘m embarassed to go out etc..For the past few months I‘ve seriously considered to do a hair transplant, the only issue that I have is my age. I‘m only 22 and I would say that that is pretty young to do a hairtransplant. Has anyone at my age got a hairtransplant in this forum? And if so which surgeon would you propose? I‘ve come across certains names as Dr.Bisanga and Dr Bruno Ferreira which do sound interisting considering that they‘re in Europe. Thanks in advance for the answers guys:)

[Britanium]

As you are losing hair so young then apart from minox have you been on fin ? 

[Britanium]

Yes 22 would be too young for most clinics to agree to doing a ht. 25 is usually the min age. They will usually expect you be on fin for at least a year. You really need to stabilise the loss. 

[jojolux]

Nah I‘ve never used finasteride mate, I‘ve read that they can have some serious side effects

[jojolux]

2 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Yes 22 would be too young for most clinics to agree to doing a ht. 25 is usually the min age. They will usually expect you be on fin for at least a year. You really need to stabilise the loss. 

Yeah that‘s what I thought, but does finasteride really work? or is it more of like a 50/50?

[Britanium]

For most people yes it works ! And is honestly something you should consider at least trying. Otherwise you will spend a lifetime chasing your progressing hair loss. 
If you try it and get side effects then you can see if they subside or reduce the dose. 

[nicoandgello]

22 is not too young, but I think you should start conservative on the hairline, not use more than 2500 grafts and choose FUT for your first surgery.

[Britanium]

Be good if you can share some pics of your current situation ? 🙏

[deitel130]

You should talk to your doctor and try to get on Finasteride. It is the best treatment available and when combined with Minoxidil should work really well. Sides seem to happen between 3-5% of the time but I'm the vast majority stop once you stop the meds. 22 in my opinion is too early for a HT. All the other pills you have tried which you say haven't worked is probably true. At this time all that we have FDA approved for hair loss is Finasteride and Minoxidil with Finasteride being highly effective. If you are worried about sides you can perhaps try topical Finasteride.

[jojolux]

11 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Be good if you can share some pics of your current situation ? 🙏

I would say that my hair loss is at a Norwood II stage

[jojolux]

1 minute ago, deitel130 said:

You should talk to your doctor and try to get on Finasteride. It is the best treatment available and when combined with Minoxidil should work really well. Sides seem to happen between 3-5% of the time but I'm the vast majority stop once you stop the meds. 22 in my opinion is too early for a HT. All the other pills you have tried which you say haven't worked is probably true. At this time all that we have FDA approved for hair loss is Finasteride and Minoxidil with Finasteride being highly effective. If you are worried about sides you can perhaps try topical Finasteride.

Thanks:)

[jojolux]

13 minutes ago, nicoandgello said:

22 is not too young, but I think you should start conservative on the hairline, not use more than 2500 grafts and choose FUT for your first surgery.

thx:)

[Curious25]

19 minutes ago, jojolux said:

I would say that my hair loss is at a Norwood II stage

NW 2 at 22 isn’t the worst situation in the world to be in ... albeit I totally understand your predicament and wanting to do something about it. 
 

If you began noticing hair loss at 18, and 4 years later have only reached the NW 2 stage, again I would say this isn’t the worst situation in the world . . and suggests you don’t have an astonishingly fast rate of loss.  
 

Unfortunately, like others have mentioned, finasteride is likely to be your best bet for the next few years to combat your hair loss ... if you deem this a higher priority and more important to you than potentially experiencing some of the known side effected associated with the medication. I would recommend researching and consulting with a urologist beforehand though, so you have all the information on board and necessary to make an informed decision. 
 

It would be great if you were able to post some pictures up . . Members would be able to provide much more thorough advice.  

[jojolux]

9 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

NW 2 at 22 isn’t the worst situation in the world to be in ... albeit I totally understand your predicament and wanting to do something about it. 
 

If you began noticing hair loss at 18, and 4 years later have only reached the NW 2 stage, again I would say this isn’t the worst situation in the world . . and suggests you don’t have an astonishingly fast rate of loss.  
 

Unfortunately, like others have mentioned, finasteride is likely to be your best bet for the next few years to combat your hair loss ... if you deem this a higher priority and more important to you than potentially experiencing some of the known side effected associated with the medication. I would recommend researching and consulting with a urologist beforehand though, so you have all the information on board and necessary to make an informed decision. 
 

It would be great if you were able to post some pictures up . . Members would be able to provide much more thorough advice.  

Bit humiliating  but there you go🤣

[Britanium]

Thanks 🙏 looks more like a progressing Norwood 3 to me. 

[jojolux]

2 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Thanks 🙏 looks more like a progressing Norwood 3 to me. 

Yeah could be idk haha

[Britanium]

Definitely need to consider starting on fin to stop it progressing any further. 

Edited February 12, 2021 by JohnAC71

[BLE123]

20 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

Unfortunately, like others have mentioned, finasteride is likely to be your best bet for the next few years to combat your hair loss ... if you deem this a higher priority and more important to you than potentially experiencing some of the known side effected associated with the medication. I would recommend researching and consulting with a urologist beforehand though, so you have all the information on board and necessary to make an informed decision. 
 

Just want to applaud for how you worded this, I find it pretty irresponsible when people casually tell others to "hop on fin bro".

Edited February 12, 2021 by BLE123

[Britanium]

What’s important here is considering fin after talking to your Dr. With progressing hair loss at 22 you need to find a way to stabilise it. The usual combo of Fin and Minox will help. And as I mentioned before it’s something that a lot of clinics will ask. But you can consider topical versions also. 
@Dr. Suhail Khokhar is a invaluable source of info ! 

Edited February 12, 2021 by JohnAC71

[gillenator]

1 hour ago, jojolux said:

Nah I‘ve never used finasteride mate, I‘ve read that they can have some serious side effects

This does not mean that you will in fact have those side-effects or as was suggested, you can start with the topical version of finasteride.

A couple of things...based on your pics, you are between a Norwood class 3-4 and no question that you have a diffused loss pattern and it's affecting the entire top of your scalp including the crown where finasteride is most effective.

Your crown is still in good shape so if you can stabilize the loss there, that would be a huge advantage.

[jojolux]

Anyways thanks guys, I guess finasteride will be my best bet for the next few years:) what about rogaine? has anyone tested rogaine

[Melvin- Admin]

57 minutes ago, jojolux said:

Bit humiliating  but there you go🤣

It’s not where you are, it’s where your headed. I hate to say it but you have aggressive hair loss. For your age, it’s definitely gonna progress and probably fast. I would wait at least a year and a half on finasteride before considering surgery. You definitely do not want to make the mistake of getting a low hairline. You will need grafts for the future.

[jojolux]

2 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

It’s not where you are, it’s where your headed. I hate to say it but you have aggressive hair loss. For your age, it’s definitely gonna progress and probably fast. I would wait at least a year and a half on finasteride before considering surgery. You definitely do not want to make the mistake of getting a low hairline. You will need grafts for the future.

Thanks for the honesty I guess🤣

I‘ll defintely try finasteride out and see where I‘m at in 12-18 months time

So do you think that I‘m one of the cases where the hair transplant is kind of not worth it because I have aggressive hair loss at such a young age?

[Britanium]

You have a lot of hair to save ! If it stabilises with the use of fin, then yes you can consider a transplant in the future. 
 

[Melvin- Admin]

4 minutes ago, jojolux said:

Thanks for the honesty I guess🤣

I‘ll defintely try finasteride out and see where I‘m at in 12-18 months time

So do you think that I‘m one of the cases where the hair transplant is kind of not worth it because I have aggressive hair loss at such a young age?

I don’t mean to be brutally honest, it’s just I’ve been there, so I know the signs. It’s not worth it right now. Maybe in a few years if your hair has stabilized. But not now.

This was me at 23 about a month shy of 24. 

29