Is it really that unwise to have a transplant in your early twenties if you on Finasteride for several years and stabilised?

[MissMyLongHair]

Because I've been watching Dr. Lorenzo's YouTube videos and he seems to be willing to operate on this demographic with great results. I know most surgeons won't operate on someone under 25, but if a reputable surgeon such as Lorenzo is willing to take on these cases, would it really be that poor of an idea to get my hairline and right temple refined in a few years (e.g. at 23), considering I am stabilised on Dutasteride? 

 

I've linked three cases below.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6KrRqyJWAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkKNR0cKaDw

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by MissMyLongHair
Grammar

[BaldDude]

No just be prepared to need another HT years down the road. Hair loss can still occur with meds.  

[THE TRUTH]

Dr. Lorenzo does 4 surgeries per day,  outsources a lot of his work to young technicians and there is a significant turnover among them. I would take his videos with a grain of salt. 

I'd say yes it is but only if you are 100% sure that it is actually stabilized. You need to give Finasteride at least a good year and get assessed by a very good doctor with microscope and phototrichogram in order to evaluate whether there is still ongoing miniaturization while on the drug. 

Some of Lorenzo's patients do lose a bit of ground over the years even on Finasteride. He's got documented cases showing this. So the long term donor area planning must be done accordingly. That is very important. 

For example if you are already a Norwood 4-5 by the age of 25 then doing 5000  grafts with FUE is a very bad idea...That will deplete your donor area quickly and not leave much in cases you lose ground even on finasteride in your 30s or 40s. 

If you are Norwood 2-3 then 3000 grafts is reasonnable provided that you are on Finasteride. You know what I mean ?  

Using beard grafts to minimize donor area depletion is also a good alternative. 

Starting with FUT is recommended because FUT allows you to better optimize your donor area in the long run but many people refuse the linear scar. 

At the end of the day, it'll depend on your genetics and agressivness of hairloss. You may need additionnal adjunct treatments or go more agressive with Dutasteride, oral minox and topical AAs later on. 

Good luck and play it smart. 

Fighting hairloss for all your life is a neverending ultramarathon and you have only a limited number of cards that you can use. 

[rob7331]

I got my first HT at 26, but I was on fin for about 4 years before that and my hair loss had plateaued pretty clearly. I guess what it comes down to is how honest your self assessment is while trying to remain as non biased as possible (i.e. not rushing to surgery in any way, and only after all other avenues have been thoroughly considered). If a reputable doctor is willing to take you that's also a good sign, I think.

I'll be honest though, as a general rule I wouldn't recommend anybody under 25 get a hair transplant. But I'll admit that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and everyone's hair physiology is different. Like an above poster said, if you go through with it you should mentally prepare to require a second HT down the road, in case of further unforeseen loss.

Edited June 8, 2022 by rob7331

[NARMAK]

General rules of thumb are probably a good way to gauge whether to do or not do something and that's why imo medication plays such a crucial part alongside having pictures of the hair loss being stable over the period of time you take it to prove your hair loss has stopped or slowed down significantly. 

Chasing hair loss with a hair transplants a losing battle right now because of a finite donor area. If you had for example a Norwood 2/3 pattern in your early 20s and went lower on the hairline and temporal areas, but later progressed to Norwood 5 pattern or greater, even with medication, you simply might not have enough grafts to give a fuller dense look. However, say you waited till your early 30s when it had become a Norwood 4, you may have set a more higher and mature hairline that saved you grafts and gave that fuller look. 

Again, there's no one size fits all but i wouldn't also plan something like a hair transplant thinking you will get exceptional results but set a more average or slightly below average expectation and you might not be too disappointed as a result. 

Until we get unlimited hair grafts from cloning etc. i would be very wary of trying to do a hair transplant without medication to hold off further hair loss. 

People also seem to forget that everytime you do this, it can take 12+ months for your results to come in and whilst getting on with your life is possible, you still have to account for that. 

[Hairy Henderson]

No way! I got mine at 25 and it saved my 20s social life!  100% would do it again.

Got for it!

[Gatsby]

One of the main reasons surgery is not indicated in men as young as 20 is that the frontal lobes of the brain have not fully developed. This area is in part responsible for decision making. I have worked in disability for the past 32 years and the average of men who became paraplegic and quadriplegic is almost always around 18-24. I'm also guilty of this having two hair transplants starting from the age of 18! My thinking and decision making processing became much less influenced by impulse in my later 20's. I'm currently DMing with 'another' young 22 year old and trying to talk him out of having surgery 'now' because he believes he will not be worried about baldness when he is 30!!! 😟 I think it's getting better but psychological counseling by surgeons is still lacking as the most important factor in hair transplantation surgery.

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

12 hours ago, MissMyLongHair said:

Because I've been watching Dr. Lorenzo's YouTube videos and he seems to be willing to operate on this demographic with great results. I know most surgeons won't operate on someone under 25, but if a reputable surgeon such as Lorenzo is willing to take on these cases, would it really be that poor of an idea to get my hairline and right temple refined in a few years (e.g. at 23), considering I am stabilised on Dutasteride? 

 

I've linked three cases below.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6KrRqyJWAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkKNR0cKaDw

 

Hair transplant surgery can be done in patients above 20 years of age. However, it depends on a lot of factors.

If you are taking dutasteride and the baldness has stabilized then you can go for a transplantation procedure. Provided you are committed to the medication.

[BaldingtimetoLdar]

I had actually consulted with Lorenzo at 23 and he turned me down so I guess it depends on the extent of you hair loss.

 

 

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

Can you share some pictures of your scalp here? We would give you a detailed evaluation thereafter.

[Al - Moderator]

It depends on where you are at on the hair loss scale and what your expectations are. Young men with hair loss who want to get a hair transplant need to go with a high hairline and somewhat low density. The problem a lot of times is the high hairline they would need to receive is where the receding hairline they already have is at and they are trying to bring it lower to where it was a few years ago.

[Hairy Henderson]

I got mine done at 25 with a World Class surgeon regularly referred to on here.  Best decision I ever made!  My meds stabilized the loss and put 2000 into the front and never looked back.

[Z--]

Do not get a transplant under 25. It's just a bad idea 99.99% of the time. Your hair loss hasn't stabilized and isn't even near that point. Eugenix, if I'm not mistaken, points out the hair loss is most aggressive in the 20s. Even on medication, it's really risky. I'd wait until closer to 30 tbh or have a plan for multiple transplants over the next decade. 

For context, I wanted to get a transplant at 25. Fortunately, two doctors talked me out of it -- one even mentioned that I was heading to a NW6 (I was a NW3 at the time and surprise, surprise my entire crown is gone now with the front significantly thinned). Another great is example is Gatsby. 

Life is more than your 20s. Trust us that waiting is your best option right now. 

[TommyLucchese]

I know you saw my post in the long hair thread so I won't go into my background. 

Obviously from my experience it can turn out great but you need to plan for the future - don't go all out for that 16 year old hairline. Be conservative, save your grafts in case fin loses effectiveness and you lose more hair down the line. 

My advice is to make sure the loss is stabilised and then consult with skilled and ethical doctors. Hopefully your donor is good too. I had 2000 grafts over the entire frontal third, it went deep into the midscalp almost on the one side because my left side had more loss. The hairline still looks great when it's grown out and now it's been 10 years without any further loss I can lower it a bit.

I think fixing the hairline in your 20s is fine under the right circumstances but everyone says to avoid anything on the crown until late 30s or 40s. If you have loss there you just have to get by with concealer and styling. 

[Ajamilo]

On 6/8/2022 at 5:36 AM, Gatsby said:

One of the main reasons surgery is not indicated in men as young as 20 is that the frontal lobes of the brain have not fully developed. This area is in part responsible for decision making. I have worked in disability for the past 32 years and the average of men who became paraplegic and quadriplegic is almost always around 18-24. I'm also guilty of this having two hair transplants starting from the age of 18! My thinking and decision making processing became much less influenced by impulse in my later 20's. I'm currently DMing with 'another' young 22 year old and trying to talk him out of having surgery 'now' because he believes he will not be worried about baldness when he is 30!!! 😟 I think it's getting better but psychological counseling by surgeons is still lacking as the most important factor in hair transplantation surgery.

I found this right now on reddit. He got hair transplant at 23 and 5 years later (28) he is norwood 6 with low hairline. This must be the nightmare

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Ajamilo

[MissMyLongHair]

On 6/8/2022 at 5:44 PM, Eugenix Hair Sciences said:

Can you share some pictures of your scalp here? We would give you a detailed evaluation thereafter.

https://imgur.com/a/cEsyH5x

[MissMyLongHair]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I will avoid surgery till I'm 25+.

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

11 hours ago, MissMyLongHair said:

https://imgur.com/a/cEsyH5x

Thank you for sharing your pictures. According to your pictures, you would require only the hairline to be augmented. It is a good idea that you wait for some more years as your baldness is not massive. Your hairline has receded only slightly.

[Gatsby]

Wow! 😀 Going by your pictures no surgeon can compete with mother nature. If you are stabalized on dutasteride then it makes no sense to have surgery whatsoever when it's not required. You are doing everything right medically. Thanks for sharing and all the best!

[Al - Moderator]

From looking at the pictures you don't need a hair transplant. You only have some minor recession. This is exactly what I said earlier. Some guys look at other procedures that were done on young men and think they can get a hair transplant done also, but the hairline they are trying to "fix" is probably already lower than any hairline being done on the other 25 year olds they are looking at.

 

 

[NARMAK]

Whilst you don't "need" a hair transplant at any age, i think it's up to the individual who wants it to weigh up all the risks. 

Personally i could have left things well alone top, but there was a desire in me to finally get the hairline i wanted and i think even people with marginal hair loss, who are suitable want to be able to get the most aesthetic hairline they can. 

Just like a person who's got perfectly fine lips goes gets filler or a nose job, it's all optional and up to you to make that choice as an adult. I just think with hair transplants, age and where you're at in the progression of MPB is the main concern. 

[MAIZE1694]

On 6/9/2022 at 4:47 PM, MissMyLongHair said:

https://imgur.com/a/cEsyH5x

Not only do you NOT need a transplant, but if this is your hair at 25 you more than likely will never need one. Style your hair better if you want to hide the corners. (get a haircut)

Goodluck. 

[Dillpickle123]

Nope I’m in the same boat and I’m getting one in November, fin is a stabilizer as long as your committed to taking it then I don’t see why you couldn’t have a transplant before 25 especially if your not a high Norwood but you don’t even look like you have major loss your forehead is just naturally big you don’t need one imo I don’t see any hairloss 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Dillpickle123